LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

AT  URBANA-ChlAMPAIGN 

977. ^y 
B52 


I.K.3. 


THE 


Biographical  Review 


OK 


ohnson,  Massac,  Pope  ^t^  Hardin  Counties 

ILLINOIS 


Containing  Biographical  Sketches  of  Prominent  and 
Representative  Citizens 

ALSO  BIOGRAPHIES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


CHICAGO 

BIOGRAPHICAL  PUBLISHING   CO. 

1893 


c2 


pi^Ep/^(?E. 


L:reatest  of  English  historians,  Macaulat,  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant  writers  of 
present  century,  has  siid:  "The  history  of  a  country  is  best  told  in  a  record  of  the 
lives  of  its  puuple."    In  conformity  with  this  idea  the  Poktrait  asd  Bioguaimiical 
^  "■"'  of  this  county  has  been  prepared.     Instead  of  going  to  must}-  records,  and 
g  therefrom  dry  statistical  matter  that  can  be  appreciated  by  but  few,  our 
•rps  of  writers  have  gone  to  the  people,  the  men  and  women  who  have,  by  their 
enterprise  and  industry,  brought  the  county  to  rank  second  to  none  among  those 
comprising  this  great  and  noble  State,  and  from  their  lips  have  the  stor_v  of  their  life 
struggles.     No  more  interesting  or  instructive  matter  could  be  presented  to  an  intelli- 
gent public.     In  this  volume  will  be  found  a  record  of  many  whose  lives  are  worthy  the 
imitation  of   coming  generations.     It  tells  how  some,  commencing  life  in  poverty,  by 
industry   and   economy   have   accumulated  wealth.     It  tells  how  others,  with  limited 
p     advantages  for  securing  an  education,  have  become  learned  men  and  women,  with  an 
3T.;  influence  extending  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.     It  tells  of  men  who 
^-  />\    '^       have  risen  from  the  lower  walks  of  life  to  eminence  as  statesmen,  and  whose  names  have 
V^  «  \>^      become  famous.     It  tells  of  those  in  every  walk  in  life  who  have  striven  to  succeed,  and 
■^  ^  records  how  that  success  has  usually  crowned  their  efforts.     It  tells  also  of  man}',  very 

many,  who,  not  seeking  the  applause  of  the  world,  have  pui-sued  ''the  even  tenor  of  their  way."  content 
to  have  it  said  of  them  as  Christ  said  of  the  woman  performing  a  deed  of  mercy — "they  have  done  what 
they  could."  It  tells  how  that  many  in  the  pride  and  strength  of  young  manhood  left  the  plow  and  the 
anvil,  the  lawyer's  office  and  the  counting-room,  left  every  trade  and  profession,  and  at  their  countrj-'s 
call  went  forth  valiantly  "to  do  or  die,"  and  how  through  their  efforts  the  Union  was  restored  and  peace 
once  more  reigned  in  the  land.  In  the  life  of  eveiy  man  and  of  every  woman  is  a  lesson  that  should  not 
be  lost  upon  those  who  follow  after. 

Coming  generations  will  appreciate  this  volume  and  preserve  it  as  a  sacred  trejisure,  from  the  fact 
that  it  contains  so  much  that  wt)uld  never  find  its  w.ay  into  public  records,  and  which  would  otherwise  be 
inaccessible.  Great  care  has  been  taken  in  the  compilation  of  the  work  and  every  opportunity  possible 
given  to  those  represented  to  insure  correctness  in  wiiat  has  lieen  written,  and  the  publishei-s  Hatter  them- 
selves that  they  give  to  their  readers  a  work  with  few  errors  of  consequence.  In  addition  to  the  biograpb 
ical  sketches,  portraits  of  a  number  of  representative  citizens  are  given. 

The  faces  of  some,  and  biographical  sketches  of  many,  will  be  missed  in  this  volume.  For  this  the 
publishers  are  not  to  blame.  Not  liaving  a  proper  conception  of  the  work,  some  refused  to  give  the 
information  necessary  to  compile  a  sketch,  while  others  were  indifferent.  Occasionally  some  memlwr  of 
the  family  would  oppose  the  enterprise,  and  on  account  of  such  opposition  the  support  of  the  interested 
one  would  lie  withheld.  In  a  few  instances  men  could  never  be  found,  though  repeated  calls  were  made 
at  their  residence  or  place  of  business. 

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I 


HE  Father  of  our  Country  was 
born  in  Westmorland  Co.,  Va., 
'  Feb.    22,   1732.     His  parents 
were     Augustine    and     Mary 
(Ball)  Washington.  The  family 
to  which  he  belonged  has  not 
been    satisfactorily  traced    in 
England.      His     great-grand- 
father, John  Washington,  em- 
igrated to  Virginia  about  1657, 
and    became     a     prosperous 
planter.      He  had   two   sons, 
Lawrence    and     John.      The 
former   married    Mildred    Warner 
and    had    three    children,    John, 
Augustine  and  Mildred.      Augus- 
tine,  the   father  of   George,  first 
married    Jane   liutler,    who    bore 
him  four  children,  two  of  whom, 
Lawrence  and  Augustine,  reached 

f       maturity.     Of  si.\  children  by  his 
second  marriage,  George  was  the 
eldest,   the    others    beins:    Betty, 
i  Samuel,  John   Augustine,  Charles 

and  Mildred. 
Augustine  Washington,  the  father  of  George,  died 
in  1743,  leaving  a  large  landed  property.  To  his 
:ldest  son,  Lawrence,  he  bequeathed  an  estate  on 
the  Patomac,  afterwards  known  as  Mount  Vernon, 
and  to  George  he  left  the  jiarental  residence.  George 
received  only  such  education  as  the  neighborhood 
schools  afforded,  save  for  a  short  time  after  he  left 
school,  when  he  received  private  instruction  in 
mathematics.       His    si>ellin6  was   rather   defective. 


I 


Remarkable  stories  are  told  of  his  great  iihysica- 
strength  and  development  at  an  early  age.  He  wa.s 
an  acknowledged  leader  among  his  companions,  and 
was  early  noted  for  that  nobleness  of  character,  fair- 
ness and  veracity  which  characterized  his  whole  life. 

When  George  was  1 4  years  old  he  had  a  desire  to  go  to 
sea,  and  a  midshipman's  warrant  was  secured  for  him, 
but  through  the  opposition  of  his  mother  the  idea  was 
abandoned.  Two  years  later  he  was  appointed 
surveyor  to  the  immense  estate  of  Lord  Fairfax.  In 
this  business  he  spent  three  years  in  a  rough  frontier 
life,  gaining  experience  which  afterwards  proved  very 
essential  to  him.  In  1751,  though  only  19  years  of 
age,  he  was  ajJiwinted  adjutant  with  the  rank  of 
major  in  the  Virginia  militia,  then  being  trained  for 
active  service  against  the  French  and  Indians.  Soon 
after  this  he  sailed  to  the  West  Indies  with  his  brother 
Lawrence,  who  went  there  to  restore  his  health  They 
soon  returned,  and  in  the  summer  of  1752  Lawrence 
died,  leaving  a  large  fortune  to  an  infant  daughter 
who  did  not  long  survive  him.  On  her  demise  tlie 
estate  of  Mount  Vernon  was  given  to  George. 

Ujxin  the  arrival  of  Robert  Dinwiddle,  as  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor of  Virginia,  in  1752,  the  militia  was 
reorganized,  and  the  province  divided  into  four  mili- 
tary districts,  of  which  the  northern  was  assigned  to 
Washington  as  adjutant  general.  Shortly  after  this 
a  very  perilous  mission  was  assigned  him  and  ac- 
cepted, which  others  had  refused.  This  was  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  French  ix)st  near  Lake  Erie  in  North- 
western Pennsylvania.  The  distance  to  be  traversed 
was  between  500  and  600  miles.  Winter  was  at  hand, 
and  the  journey  was  to  be  made  without  military 
escort,  through  a  territory  occupied  by  Indians.     The 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


trip  was  a  perilous  one,  and  several  limes  he  came  near 
losing  his  lite,  yet  he  returned  in  safety  and  furnished 
a  full  and  useful  reixirt  of  his  expedition.  A  regiment 
of  300  men  was  raised  in  Virginia  and  put  in  com- 
mand of  Col.  Josiiua  Fry,  and  Major  Washington  was 
commissioned  lieutenant-colonel.  Active  war  was 
then  begun  against  the  French  and  Indians,  in  which 
Washington  took  a  most  imjwrtant  part.  In  the 
memorable  event  of  July  9,  1755,  known  as  Brad- 
dock's  defeat,  Washington  was  almost  the  only  officer 
of  distinctior.  who  escaped  from  the  calamities  of  the 
day  with  life  and  honor.  The  other  aids  of  liraddock 
>vere  disabled  early  in  the  action,  and  Washington 
alone  was  left  in  that  capacity  on  the  field.  In  a  letter 
to  his  brother  he  says :  "1  had  four  bullets  through 
my  coat,  and  two  horses  shot  under  me,  yet  I  escaped 
unhurt,  though  death  was  levelin"  my  comi)anions 
on  every  side."  An  Indian  sharpshooter  said  he  was 
not  born  to  be  killed  by  a  bullet,  for  he  had  taken 
direct  aim  at  him  seventeen  times,  and  failed  to  hit 
him. 

.\fter  having  been  five  years  in  the  military  service, 
and  vainly  sought  promotion  in  the  royal  army,  he 
look  advantage  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Duquesne  and  the 
e-xpulsioh  of  the  French  from  the  valley  of  the  Ohio, 
to  resign  his  conmiission.  Soon  after  he  entered  the 
Legislature,  where,  although  not  a  leader,  he  look  an 
active  and  important  part.  January  17,  1759,  he 
married  Mrs.  Martha  (Dandridge)  Custis,  the  wealthy 
widow  of  John  Parke  Custis. 

When.the  British  Parliament  had  closed  the  port 
^f  Boston,  the  cry  went  up  throughout  the  provinces 
that  "The  cause  of  Boston  is  the  cause  of  us  all." 
It  was  then,  at  the  suggestion  of  Virginia,  that  a  Con 
grass  of  all  the  colonies  was  called  to  meet  at  Phila- 
delphia.Sept.  5,  1774,  to  secure  their  common  liberties, 
peaceably  if  possible.  To  this  Congress  Col.  Wash- 
ington was  sent  as  a  delegate.  On  May  10,  r775,  the 
Congress  re-assembled,  when  the  hostile  intentions  of 
England  were  plainly  apparent.  The  battles  of  Con- 
cord and  Lexington  had  been  fought.  Among  the 
first  acts  of  this  ("ongress  was  the  election  of  a  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  colonial  forces.  This  high  and 
responsible  office  was  conferred  u\)on  Washington, 
who  was  still  a  memberof  the  Congress.  He  accepted 
it  on  June  19,  but  upon  the  express  condition  that  he 
receive  no  salary.  He  would  keep  an  exact  account 
of  expenses  and  expect  Congress  10  pay  them  and 
nothing  more.  It  is  not  the  object  of  this  sketch  to 
trace  the  military  acts  of  Washington,  to  whom  the 
fortunes  and  liberties  of  the  people  of  this  country 
were  so  long  confided.  The  war  was  conducted  by 
him  under  ever\  possible  disadvantage,  and  while  his 
forces  often  met  with  reverses,  yet  he  overcame  every 
obstacle,  and  after  seven  years  of  heroic  devotion 
and  matchless  skill  he  gained  liberty  for  the  greatest 
nation  of  earth.  On  Dec.  23,  t7S3,  Washington,  in 
a  parting  address  of  surpassing  beauty,  resigned  his 


conunission  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  array  to 
to  the  Continental  Congress  sitting  at  Annapolis.  He 
retired  immediately  to  Mount  Vernon  and  resumed 
his  occupation  as  a  farmer  and  planter,  shunning  all 
connection  with  public  life. 

In  February, 1 7S9,  Washington  was  unanimously 
elected  President.  In  his  presidential  career  he  was 
subject  to  the  peculiar  trials  incidental  to  a  tiew 
government ;  trials  from  lack  of  confidence  on  the  part 
of  other  governments ;  trials  from  want  of  harmony 
between  the  different  sections  of  our  own  country; 
trials  from  the  imiwverished  condition  of  the  country, 
owing  to  the  war  and  want  of  credit;  trials  from  the 
beginnings  of  party  strife.  He  was  no  partisan.  His 
clear  judg.nent  could  discern  the  golden  mean  ;  and 
wliile  perhaps  tiiis  alone  kept  our  government  from 
sinking  at  the  very  outset,  it  left  him  exposed  to 
attacks  from  both  sides,  which  were  often  bitter  and 
very  annoying. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  first  term  he  was  unani- 
mously re-elected.  At  the  end  of  this  term  many 
were  anxious  that  he  be  re-elected,  but  he  absolutely 
refused  a  third  nomination.  On  the  fourth  of  March, 
1797,  at  the  ex[)iraton  of  his  second  term  as  Presi- 
dent, he  returned  to  his  home,  hoping  to  pass  there 
his  few  remaining  yeais  free  from  the  annoyances  of 
public  life.  Later  in  the  year,  however,  his  repose 
seemed  likely  to  be  interrupted  by  war  with  France. 
At  the  prospect  of  such  a  war  he  was  again  urged  to 
take  command  of  the  armies.  He  chose  his  sub- 
ordinate officers  and  left  to  them  the  charge  of  mat- 
ters in  the  field,  which  he  superintended  from  his 
home.  In  accepting  the  command  he  made  the 
reservation  that  he  was  not  to  be  in  the  field  until 
it  was  necessary.  In  the  midst  of  these  preparations 
his  life  was  suddenly  cut  off.  December  12,  he  took 
a  severe  cold  from  a  ride  in  the  rain,  which,  settling 
in  h's  throat,  produced  inflammation,  and  terminated 
fatally  on  the  night  of  the  fourteenth.  On  the  eigh- 
teenth his  body  was  borne  wi'h  military  honors  to  its 
final  resting  place,  and  interred  in  the  family  vault  at 
Mount  Vernon. 

Of  the  character  of  Washington  it  is  imix)ssible  to 
speak  but  in  terms  of  the  highest  respect  and  ad- 
miration. The  more  we  see  of  the  operations  of 
our  government,  and  the  more  deeply  we  feel  the 
difficulty  of  uniting  all  opinions  in  a  common  interest, 
the  more  highly  we  must  estimate  the  force  of  his  tal- 
ent and  character,  which  have  ben  able  to  challenge 
the  reverence  of  all  parties,  and  principles,  and  na- 
tions, and  to  win  a  fame  as  extended  as  the  limits 
of  the  globe,  and  which  we  cannot  but  lielieve  will 
be  as  lasting  as  the  existence  of  man. 

The  jierson  of  Washington  was  unusally  tan,  erect 
and  well  proportioned.  His  muscular  strength  was 
great.  His  features  were  of  a  beautiful  symmetPi'. 
He  commanded  respect  without  any  ai.pcnrance  o< 
haughtiness,  and  ever  serious  without  lAeinc  dull. 


■«^ 


Jf'''. 


'■^/V  ^7r//mid 


se::ond  president. 


»—« »^ 


_^--aom.r'»t-%p  . 


'(^--"'"::i5^ 


OHN  ADAMS,  the  second 
.  President  and  the  first  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Braintree  ( now 
Quincy  ),Mass.,  and  about  ten 
'^  miles  from  Boston,  Oct.  ig, 
1 735.  His  great-grandfather,  Henry 
Adams,  emigrated  from  England 
I  bout  1640,  with  a  family  of  eight 
sons,  and  settled  at  Braiatree.  The 
parents  of  John  were  John  and 
Susannah  (Boylston)  Adams.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  of  limited 
means,  to  which  he  added  the  bus- 
iness of  shoemaking.  He  gave  his 
eldest  son,  John,  a  classical  educa- 
tion at  Harvard  College.  John 
graduated  in  1755,  and  at  once  took  charge  of  the 
school  in  Worcester,  Mass.  This  he  found  but  a 
'scijool  of  ;iffliction,"  from  which  he  endeavored  to 
gain  relief  by  devoting  himself,  in  addition,  to  the 
study  of  law.  For  this  purpose  he  placed  himself 
under  the  tuition  of  the  only  lawyer  in  the  town.  He 
had  thought  seriously  of  the  clerical  profession 
but  seems  to  have  been  turned  from  this  by  what  he 
termed  "the  frightful  engines  of  ecclesiastical  coun- 
jils,  of  diabolical  malice,  andCalvanistic  good  nature,'' 
of  the  operations  of  which  he  had  been  a  witness  in 
his  native  town.  He  was  well  fitted  for  the  legal 
profession,  possessing  a  clear,  sonorous  voice,  being 
ready  and  fluent  of  speech,  and  having  quick  percep- 
tive jMwers.  He  gradually  gained  practice,  and  in 
1764  married  Aljigail  Smith,  a  daughter  of  a  minister, 
ind  a  lady  of  superior  intelligence.  Shortly  after  his 
narriage,  (1765),  the  attempt  of  Parliamentary  taxa- 
'ion  turned  him  from  law  to  politics.  He  took  initial 
-teps  toward  lioldin^  a  town  meeting,  and  the   resolu- 


tions he  offered  on  the  subject  became  very  populai 
throughout  the  Provmce,  and  were  adopted  word  for 
word  by  over  forty  different  towns.  He  moved  to  Bos- 
ton in  176S,  and  became  one  of  the  most  courageous 
and  prominent  advocates  of  the  popular  cause,  and 
was  chosen  a  member  of  the  General  Couit  (the  Leg- 
lislature)  in  1770. 

Mr.  Adams  was  chosen  one  of  the  first  delegate.^ 
from  Massachusetts  to  the  first  Continental  Congress, 
which  met  in  1774.  Here  he  distinguished  himselt 
by  his  capacity  for  business  and  for  debate,  and  ad- 
vocated the  movement  for  independence  against  ti- = 
majority  of  the  members.  In  May,  1776,  he  mcveci 
and  carried  a  resolution  in  Congress  that  the  Coloniea 
should  assume  the  duties  of  self-government.  He 
was  a  prominent  member  of  the  committee  of  fivej 
appointed  June  11,  to  prepare  a  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence. This  article  was  drawn  by  Jefferson,  but 
on  Adams  devolved  the  task  of  battling  it  through 
Congress  in  a  three  days  debate. 

On  the  day  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  passed,  while  his  soul  was  yet  warm  with  th; 
glow  of  e.xcited  feeling,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  his  wife 
which,  as  we  read  it  now,  seems  to  have  been  dictated 
by  the  spirit  of  prophecy.  "Yesterday,"  he  says, "the 
greatest  question  was  decided  that  ever  was  debated 
in  America;  and  greater,  perhaps,  never  was  or  wil 
be  decided  among  men.  A  resolution  was  passed 
without  one  dissenting  colony,  '  that  these  United 
States  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  inde- 
pendent states.'  The  day  is  passed.  The  fourth  of 
July,  1776,  will  1)6  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  history 
of  America.  I  am  apt  to  believe  it  will  be  celebrated 
by  succeeding  generations,  as  the  great  anniversary 
festival.  It  ought  to  be  commemorated  as  the  day  of 
deliverance  by  solemn  acts  of  devotion  to  Almighty 
Ck)d.     It  ought  to  be  solemnized  with  pomp,  show% 


/OJIN  ADAMS. 


games,  spurts,  guns,  bells,  bonfires,  and  illuminations 
Ironi  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  otlier,  from  tiiis 
lime  forward  for  ever.  Vou  will  think  nic  transix)rted 
with  enthusiasm,  but  I  am  not.  I  am  well  aware  of 
the  toil,  and  blood  and  treasure,  that  it  will  cost  to 
maintain  this  declaration,  and  supixjrt  and  defend 
these  States;  yet,  through  all  the  gloom,  1  can  see  the 
rays  of  light  and  glory.  I  can  see  that  the  end  is 
Worth  more  than  all  the  means;  and  that  iwsterity 
will  triumph,  although  you  and  I  may  rue,  which  I 
hope  we  shall  not." 

In  November,  1777,  Mr.  .Vdams  was  apjiointed  a 
dtiegate  to  France  and  to  co-operate  with  Benijamin 
Franklin  and  Arthur  Lee,  wiio  were  then  in  Paris,  in 
the  endeavor  to  obtain  assistance  in  arms  and  money 
from  the  French  Government.  This  was  a  severe  trial 
to  his  patriotism,  as  it  separated  him  from  his  home, 
compelled  him  to  cross  the  ocean  in  winter,  and  ex- 
ix)sed  him  to  great  peril  of  capture  by  the  British  cruis- 
ers, who  were  seeking  him.  He  left  France  June  17, 
1779.  In  Se|)tember  of  the  same  year  he  was  again 
chosen  to  go  to  Paris,  and  there  hold  himself  in  readi- 
ness to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace  and  of  commerce 
with  Great  Britian,  as  soon  as  the  Britisii  Cabinet 
might  be  found  willing  to  listen  to  such  proiX)sels.  He 
sailed  for  France  in  November,  from  there  he  went  to 
Holland,  where  he  negotiated  im[)orlanl  loans  and 
formed  important  commercial  treaties 

Finally  a  treaty  of  peace  with  England  was  signed 
Jan.  21,  1783.  The  re-action  from  the  excitement, 
toil  and  anxiety  through  which  Mr.  Adams  jiad  passed 
threw  him  into  a  fever.  After  suffering  from  a  con- 
tinued fever  and  becoming  feeble  and  emaciated  he 
was  advised  to  goto  England  to  drink  the  waters  of 
Bath.  \Vhile  in  England,  still  drooping  and desixsnd- 
ing,  he  received  dispatches  from  his  own  government 
urging  the  necessity  of  his  going  to  .Xrasterdam  to 
negotiate  another  loan.  It  was  winter,  his  health  was 
delicate,  yet  he  immediately  set  out,  and  through 
storm,  on  sea,  on  horseback  and  foot, he  made  the  tri[). 

February  24,  1785:  C'ongress  apjxjinted  Mr.  Adams 
envoy  to  the  Court  of  St.  James.  Here  he  met  face 
to  face  the  King  of  England,  who  had  so  long  re- 
garded him  as  a  traitor.  As  England  did  not 
condescend  to  apjioint  a  minister  to  the  United 
States,  and  as  Mr.  Adams  felt  that  he  was  accom- 
plishing but  little,  he  sought  permission  to  return  to 
nis  own  country,  where  he  arrived  in  June,  1788. 

When  Washington  was  first  chosen  President,  John 
Adams,  rendered  illustiious  liy  his  signal  services  at 
home  and  abroad,  was  chosen  Vice  President,  .\gain 
at  the  second  election  of  Washington  as  President, 
Adams  was  chosen  Vice  President.  In  1796,  Wash- 
ington retired  from  public  life,  and  Mr.  Adams  was 
elected  President,! hough  not  without  muchoj)]iosition. 
S-.;rving  in  this  office  four  years, he  was  succeeded  by 
Mr.  Jefferson,  his  o|)]xinent  in  politics. 

While   Mr.  Adams  was  Vice  President  the  gre.T* 


French  Revolution  shook  the  continent  of  Euroi>e, 
and  it  was  ujxjn  this  ix)int  which  he  was  at  issue  with 
the  m.ijority  of  his  countrymen  led  by  Mr.  Jefferson. 
Mr.  Adams  felt  no  symiiathy  with  the  French  people 
in  their  struggle,  for  he  had  no  confidence  in  their 
power  of  self-government,  and  he  utterly  abhored  the 
classof  atheist  [)hilo!:o[>hers  who  he  claimed  caused  it. 
On  the  other  hand  Jefferson's  sympathies  were  strongly 
enlisted  in  behalf  of  the  French  jjeople.  Hence  or 
iginaled  llie  alienation  between  these  distinguished 
men,  and  two  [xjwerful  i)arties  were  thus  soon  organ- 
ized, .'\dams  at  the  head  of  the  one  whose  sympathies 
were  with  England  and  Jefferson  led  the  other  in 
sympathy  with  France. 

The  world  has  seldom  seen  a  spectacle  of  more 
moral  beauty  and  grandeur,  than  was  presented  by  the 
old  age  of  Mr.  Adams.  The  violence  of  party  feeling 
had  died  away,  and  he  had  begun  to  receive  that  just 
appreciation  which,  to  most  men,  is  not  accorded  till 
after  death.  No  one  could  look  upon  his  venerable 
form,  and  think  of  what  he  had  done  and  suffered, 
and  how  he  had  given  up  all  the  prime  and  stren;,th 
of  his  life  tu  the  public  good,  without  the  deepest 
emotion  of  gratitude  and  respect.  It  was  his  [)eculiar 
good  fortune  to  witness  the  complete  success  of  the 
institution  which  he  had  been  so  active  in  creating  and 
supixjrting.  In  1824,  his  cup  of  hajipiness  was  filled 
to  the  brim,  by  seeing  his  son  elevated  to  the  highest 
station  in  the  gift  of  the  jieople. 

The  fourth  of  July,  1826,  which  completed  the  hall 
century  since  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, arrived,  and  there  were  but  three  of  the 
signers  of  that  immortal  instrument  left  upon  the 
earth  to  hail  its  morning  light.  And,  as  it  is 
well  known,  on  that  day  two  of  these  finished  theii 
earthly  pilgrimage,  a  coincidence  so  remarkable  as 
to  seem  miraculous.  For  a  few  days  before  Mr. 
Adams  had  been  rapidly  failing,  and  on  the  morning 
of  the  fourth  he  found  himself  loo  weak  to  rise  from 
his  bed.  On  being  requested  to  name  a  toast  for  the 
customary  celebration  of  the  day,  he  exclaimed  "  In- 
DF.PENDENCE  FOREVER."  When  the  day  was  ushered 
in,  by  the  ringing  of  bells  and  the  firing  of  cannons, 
he  was  asked  by  one  of  his  attendants  if  he  knew 
what  day  it  was?  He  replied,  "O  yes;  it  is  the  glor- 
ious fourth  of  July — (}od  bless  it — God  bless  you  all." 
In  the  course  of  the  day  he  said,  "  It  is  a  great  and 
glorious  day."  The  last  words  he  uttered  were. 
"Jefferson  survives."  But  he  had,  at  one  o'clock,  re- 
signed his  spiiit  into  the  hands  of  his  God. 

The  ])ersonal  appearance  and  manners  of  Mr 
Adams  were  not  particularly  preixissessing.  His  face, 
as  his  ]iortrait  manifests.was  intellect iial  and  expres 
sive,  but  his  figure  was  low  and  ungraceful,  and  h^s 
manners  were  frequently  abruiit  and  uncourteoiis 
He  had  neither  the  lofty  dignity  of  Washington,  ni>i 
the  engaging  elegance  and  gracefulness  which  marked 
the  manners  and  address  of  Jefferson. 


,*f 


/  r      / 


J/l>^^J^'  y.'  Y//7 


THIBD  PRESIDENT. 


-^^. 


HO.MAS  JEFFERSON  was 
lorn  April  2,  1743,  at  Shad- 
^''well,  Alhermarle  county,  Va. 
His  parents  were  I'eter  and 
Jane  (  Randolph)  Jefferson, 
the  tbnner  a  native  of  Wales, 
and  the  latter  born  in  Lon- 
don. To  them  were  born  six 
daughters  and  two  sons,  of 
whom  Thomas  was  the  elder. 
When  14  years  of  age  his 
father  died.  He  received  a 
most  liberal  education,  hav- 
ing been  kept  diligently  at  school 
from  the  time  he  was  five  years  of 
age.  In  1760  he  entered  William 
end  Mary  College.  Williamsburg  was  then  the  seat 
if  the  Colonial  Court,  and  it  was  the  obode  of  fashion 
i.id  splendor.  Young  Jefferson,  who  was  then  17 
years  old,  lived  somewhat  expensively,  keeping  fine 
horses,  and  much  caressed  by  gay  society,  yet  he 
was  earnestly  devoted  lo  his  studies,  and  irreproacha- 
able  in  his  morals.  It  is  strange,  however,  under 
such  infiuences,that  he  was  not  ruined.  In  the  sec- 
ond year  of  his  college  course,  moved  by  some  un- 
explained inward  impulse,  he  discarded  his  horses, 
society,  and  even  his  favorite  violin,  to  which  he  had 
previously  given  much  time.  He  often  devoted  fifteen 
hours  a  day  to  hard  study,  allowing  himself  for  ex- 
ercise only  a  run  in  the  evening  twilight  of  a  mile  out 
of  the  city  and  back  again.  He  thus  attained  very 
high  intellectual  culture,  alike  excellence  in  philoso- 
phy and  the  languages.  The  most  difficult  Latin  and 
Greek  authors  he  read  with  facility.  A  more  finished 
scholar  has  seldom  gone  forth  from  collei;e halls;  ami 


there  was  not  to  be  found,  perhaps,  in  all  Virginia,  a 
more  pureminded,  upright,  gentlemanly  young  man. 

Immediately  \x\x>n  leaving  college  he  began  the 
study  of  law.  For  the  short  time  he  continued  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession  he  rose  rapidly  and  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  energy  and  accuteness  as  a 
lawyer.  But  the  times  called  for  greater  action. 
The  policy  of  England  had  awakened  the  spirit  of 
resistance  of  the  American  Colonies,  and  the  enlarged 
views  which  Jefferson  had  ever  entertained,  soon  led 
him  into  active  [lolitical  life.  In  1769  he  was  choset 
a  member  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  In 
1772  he  married  Mrs.  .Martha  Skelton,  a  very  oeauti- 
ful,  wealthy  and  highly  accomplished  young  widow 

Uixm  Mr.  Jefferson's  large  estate  at  Shadwell,  thire 
was  a  majestic  swell  of  land,  called  Monticello,  which 
commanded  a  prospect  of  wonderful  extent  and 
beauty.  This  sjwt  Mr.  Jefferson  selected  for  his  new 
home;  and  here  he  reared  a  mansion  of  modest  ye* 
elegant  architecture,  which,  next  to  Mount  Vernon 
became  the  most  distinguished  resort  in  our  land. 

In  1775  he  was  sent  to  the  Cdonial  Congress 
where,  though  a  silent  member,  his  abilities  as  a 
writer  and  a  reasoner  soon  become  known,  and  he 
was  placed  uixsn  a  number  of  ini|X)rtant  committees, 
and  was  chairman  of  the  one  appointed  for  the  draw- 
ing up  of  a  declaration  of  independence.  This  com- 
mittee consisted  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Adams, 
Benjamin  Franklin,  Roger  Sherman  and  Robert  R. 
Livingston.  Jefferson,  as  chairman,  was  apiwinted 
to  draw  up  the  paper.  Franklin  and  Adams  suggested 
a  few  verbal  changes  before  it  was  submitted  to  Con- 
gress. On  June  28,  a  few  slight  changes  were  made 
in  it  by  Congress,  and  it  was  passed  and  signed  July 
4,  1776      What  must  have  been  the  feelings  of  that 


28 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


man — what  the  emotions  that  swelled  his  breast — 
who  was  charged  with  *he  preiJaraiioii  of  that  Dec- 
laration, which,  while  it  made  known  the  wrongs  of 
Ameiica,  was  also  to  [tiiblish  her  to  the  world,  free, 
boverign  and  independent.  It  is  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable pajjers  ever  written  ;  and  did  noother  effort 
of  the  mind  of  its  author  exist,  that  alone  would  l)e 
sufficient  to  stamp  his  name  with  immortality. 

In  1779  Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected  successor  to 
Patrick  hienry,  ;.s  (iovernor  of  Virginia.  At  one  time 
the  Rritisii  officer,  Tarleton,  sent  a  secret  expedition  to 
Moniicello,  to  capture  the  Governor.  Scarcely  five 
minutes  elapsed  after  the  hurried  escape  of  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson and  his  family,  ere  his  mansion  was  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Hritish  troops.  His  wife's  health,  never 
very  good,  was  inuch  injured  by  this  excitement,  and 
in  the  summer  of  1782  she  died. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1783. 
Two  yeirs  later  he  was  apiwinted  Minister  Plenipo- 
tentiary to  France.  Returning  to  the  United  States 
in  September,  1789,  he  became  Secretary  of  State 
in  Washington's  cabinet.  This  position  he  resigned 
Jan.  I,  1794.  In  1797,  he  was  chosen  Vice  Presi- 
dent, and  four  years  later  was  elected  President  over 
Mr.  Adams,  with  Aaron  Burr  as  Vice  President.  In 
1804  he  was  re-elected  with  wonderful  unanimity, 
and  George  Clinton,  Vice  President. 

The  early  part  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  second  adminstra- 
tion  was  disturbed  by  an  event  which  threatened  the 
trancpiilily  and  jieace  of  the  Union;  this  was  the  con- 
spiracy of  Aaron  Burr.  Defeated  in  the  late  election 
to  the  Vice  Presidency,  and  led  on  by  an  unprincipled 
ambition,  this  extraordinary  man  formed  the  plan  of  a 
military  expedition  intc  the  Spanish  territories  on  our 
southwestern  frontier,  for  the  pvirixase  of  forming  there 
a  new  republic.  This  has  been  generally  supposed 
was  a  mere  pretext ;  and  although  it  has  not  been 
generally  known  what  his  real  plans  were,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  they  were  of  a  far  more  dangerous 
character. 

In  1809,  at  the  expiration  of  the  second  term  for 
which  Mr.  JelTerson  had  been  elected,  he  determined 
to  retire  from  [xjlitical  life.  For  a  period  of  nearly 
forty  years,  he  had  been  continually  before  the  pub- 
lic, and  all  that  time  had  l)een  employed  in  offices  of 
the  greatest  trust  and  responsibility.  Having  thus  de- 
voted the  best  part  of  his  life  to  the  service  of  his 
country,  he  now  felt  desirous  of  that  rest  which  his 
declining  years  required,  and  uix>n  the  organization  of 
the  new  administration,  in  March,  i^^og,  he  bid  fare- 
well forever  to  public  life,  and  retired  to  Monticello. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  profuse  in  his  hospitality.  Whole 
families  came  in  their  coaches  with  their  horses, — 
fathers  and  mothers,  boys  and  girls,  babies  and 
nurses, — and  remained  three  and  even  six  months. 
Life  at  Monticello,  for  years,  resembled  that  at  a 
fashionable  watering-place. 

The  fourth  of  July,  1826,  being  the  fiftieili  .nnniver- 


sary  of  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence, 
great  preparations  were  made  in  every  |iatt  of  tht- 
Union  for  its  celebration,  as  tlie  nation's  jubilee,  ami 
the  citizens  of  Washington,  to  atld  to  the  sulemnil) 
of  the  occasion,  invited  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  the  framer 
and  one  of  the  few  surviving  signers  of  the  Declara- 
tion, to  participate  in  their  testivities.  But  an  ill- 
ness, which  had  been  of  several  weeks  duration,  and 
had  been  continually  increasing,  compelled  him  to 
decline  the  invitation. 

On  the  second  of  July,  the  disease  under  which 
he  was  laboring  left  him,  but  in  such  a  reduced 
state  that  his  medical  attendants,  entertained  ik 
hope  of  his  recovery.  From  this  time  he  was  i)erfectly 
sensible  that  his  last  hour  was  at  hand.  On  the  nex' 
day,  which  was  Monday,  he  asked  of  those  around 
him,  the  day  of  the  month,  and  on  lieing  told  it  was 
the  third  of  July,  he  expressed  the  earnest  wish  tha 
he  migiit  be  permitted  to  breathe  the  airof  the  fifiiell' 
anniversary.  His  prayer  was  heard — that  day,  whose 
dawn  was  hailed  with  such  rapture  through  our  land, 
burst  Ujxjn  his  eyes,  and  then  they  were  closed  for- 
ever. And  what  a  noble  consummation  of  a  noble 
life!  To  die  on  that  day, — the  birthday  of  a  nation,-  - 
the  day  which  his  own  name  and  his  own  act  had 
rendered  glorious;  to  die  amidst  the  rejoicings  and 
festivities  of  a  whole  nation,  who  looked  up  to  iiim, 
as  the  author,  under  God,  of  their  greatest  blessings, 
was  all  that  was  wanting  to  fill  up  the  record  his  life. 

Almost  at  the  same  hour  of  his  death,  the  kin- 
dred spirit  of  the  venerable  Adams,  as  if  to  bear 
him  company,  left  the  scene  of  his  earthly  honors. 
Hand  in  hand  they  had  stood  forth,  the  champions  of 
freedom;  hand  in  hand,  during  the  dark  and  desper- 
ate struggle  of  the  Revolution,  they  had  cheered  and 
animated  their  desponding  countrymen;  for  half  a 
century  they  had  labored  together  for  the  good  of 
the  country;  and  now  hand  in  hand  they  depart. 
In  their  lives  they  had  been  united  in  the  same  great 
cause  of  liberty,  and  in  their  deaths  they  were  not 
divided. 

In  person  Mr.  Jefferson  was  tall  and  thin,  rather 
above  six  feet  in  height,  but  well  formed;  his  eyes 
were  light,  his  hair  originally  red,  in  afterlife  became 
white  and  silvery;  his  complexion  was  fair,  his  fore 
head  broad,  and  his  whole  cour'enance  intelligent  and 
thoughtful.  He  possessed  great  fortitude  of  mind  as 
well  as  personal  courage ;  and  ?.:s  command  of  tem- 
per was  such  that  his  oldest  and  most  intimate  friends 
never  recollected  to  have  seen  him  in  a  passion. 
His  manners,  though  dignified,  were  simple  and  un- 
affected, and  his  hospitality  was  so  unbounded  that 
all  found  at  his  house  a  ready  welcome.  In  conver- 
sation he  was  fluent,  eloquent  and  enthusiastic;  and 
his  language  was  remarkably  pure  and  correct.  He 
was  a  finished  classical  scholar,  and  in  his  writings  is 
discernable  the  care  with  which  he  formed  his  style 
upon  the  best  models  of  antiquity. 


y  d^' 


^^ 


^-t<  it>~^^^i  ^'"^ 


FOURTH  PRh'SIDENT. 


pn]ES  nipisoi). 


%  •    {WT^^  AMES    MADISON,    "Father 
ot  the  Constitution,"  and  fourth 
"  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  March  i6,  1757,  and 
died  at  his   home  in  Virginia, 
June  28,   1836.     The  name  of 
James  Madison  is  inseparably  con- 
nected with  most  of  the  imiiortant 
events  in  that  heroic  period  of  our 
country  during  which  the  founda- 
tions of   tliis  great    repubUc   were 
laid.  He  was  the  last  of  the  founders 
of  the   GDnstitution   of  the    United 
States  to   l)e   called    to   his   eternal 
reward. 

The  Madison  family  were  among 
the  early  emigrants  to  the  New  World, 
anding  uixjn  the  shores  of  the  Chesa- 
peake but  15  years  after  the  settle- 
ment of  Jamestown.  The  father  of 
James  Madison  was  an  opulent 
planter,  residing  upon  a  very  fine  es- 
tate called  "Montpelier,"  Orange  Co., 
V^a.  The  mansion  was  situated  in 
the  midst  of  scenery  iiighly  pictur- 
esque and  romantic,  on  the  west  side 
of  South-west  Mountain,  at  the  foot  of 
Blue  Ridge.  It  was  but  25  miles  from  the  home  of 
Jefferson  at  Monticello.  The  closest  |)ersonal  and 
[KDlitical  attaciiment  existed  between  these  illustrious 
men,  from  their  early  youth  until  death. 

The  early  education  of  Mr.  Madison  was  conducted 
mostly  at  home  under  a  private  tutor.  At  the  age  of 
18  he  was  sent  to  Princeton  College,  in  New  Jersey. 
Hero  he  applied  himself  to  study  with  the  most  im- 


prudent zeal ;  allowing  himself,  for  months,  but  three 
hours'sleepout  of  the  24.  His  health  thus  ijecameso 
seriously  ini])aired  that  he  never  recovered  any  vigor 
of  constitution.  He  graduated  in  1771.  with  a  feeble 
body,  with  a  character  of  utmost  purity,  and  with  a 
mind  highly  disciplined  and  richly  stored  with  learning 
which  embellished  and  gave  proficiency  to  his  subsf 
tpient  career. 

Returning  to  Virginia,  he  commenced  the  study  of 
law  and  a  course  of  extensive  and  systematic  reading. 
This  educational  course,  the  spirit  of  the  times  in 
which  he  lived,  and  the  society  with  which  he  asso- 
ciated, all  combined  to  inspire  him  with  a  strong 
love  of  liberty,  and  to  train  him  for  his  life-work  ol 
a  statesman.  Being  naturally  of  a  religious  turn  of 
mind,  and  his  frail  health  leading  him  to  think  that 
his  life  was  not  to  be  long,  he  directed  especial  atten- 
tion to  theological  studies.  Endowed  with  a  mind 
singularly  free  from  passion  and  prejudice,  and  with 
almost  unequalled  powers  of  reasoning,  he  weighed 
all  the  arguments  for  and  against  revealed  religion, 
until  his  faith  Ijecame  so  established  as  never  to 
be  shaken. 

In  the  spring  of  1776,  when  26  years  of  age,  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  to 
frame  the  constitution  of  the  State.  The  next  year 
(1777),  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  General  Assembly. 
He  refused  to  treat  the  whisky-lovir.g  voters,  and 
consetpiently  lost  his  election  ;  but  those  who  had 
witnessed  the  talent,  energy  and  public  spirit  of  the 
modest  young  man,  enlisted  themselves  in  his  behalf, 
and  lie  was  appointed  to  the    E.\eculive  Council. 

Both  Patrick  Henry  and  Thomas  Jefferson  were 
Governors  of  Virginia  while  Mr.  Madison  remained 
member  of  the  Council ;    and  their  aiinreciation  of  his 


32 


JAMES  MADISON. 


mtcllciuial,  social  and  moral  worth,  coiuriLmtcd  not 
Li  litilt  to  his  subscMiueiit  eminence.  In  tlie  year 
1780,  he  was  elei'led  a  member  ol  the  Continental 
Con^;ress.  Here  lie  met  the  most  illustrious  men  in 
our  hunl,  and  he  was  immediately  assigned  to  one  of 
the  most  conspicuous  [wsitions  among  them. 

I'or  three  years  Mr.  Madison  continued  in  Con- 
gress, one  of  its  most  active  and  inlUiential  members. 
In  the  year  17S4,  his  term  having  expired,  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  \'irginia   Legislature. 

No  man  felt  more  deeply  than  Mr.  Madison  the 
utter  inefficiency  of  the  old  confederacy,  with  no  na- 
tional government,  with  no  power  to  form  treaties 
which  would  be  binding,  or  to  enforce  law.  There 
was  not  any  .State  more  prominent  than  Virginia  in 
the  declaration,  that  an  efficient  national  government 
must  be  formed.  In  January,  1786,  Mr.  Madison 
carried  a  resolution  through  the  (General  Assembly  of 
Virginia,  inviting  the  other  States  to  appoint  commis- 
sioners to  meet  in  convention  at  Annajxjlis  to  discuss 
this  subject.  Five  States  only  were  reiiresented.  The 
convention,  however,  issued  another  call,  drawn  up 
by  Mr.  Madison,  urging  all  the  States  to  send  their 
delegates  to  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1787,  to  draft 
a  Constitution  for  the  United  States,  to  take  the  jilace 
of  that  Confederate  League.  The  delegates  met  at 
the  time  apixiinted.  Every  State  but  Rhode  Island 
«»as  represented.  George  Washington  was  chosen 
president  of  the  convention;  and  the  present  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  was  then  and  there  formed. 
There  was,  perhaps,  no  mind  and  no  pen  more  ac- 
tive in  framing  this  immortal  document  than  the  mind 
and  the  pen  of  James  Madison. 

The  Constitution,  adopted  by  a  vote  81  to  79,  was 
to  be  presented  to  the  several  States  for  acceptance. 
Hut  grave  solicitude  was  felt.  Should  it  be  rejected 
we  should  be  left  but  a  conglomeration  of  independent 
States,  with  but  little  jxiwer  at  home  and  little  lespect 
abroad.  Mr.  Madison  was  selected  by  the  conven- 
tion to  draw  \\\^  an  address  to  the  peoi)Ie  of  the  United 
States,  exiiounding  the  princijiles  of  the  Constitution, 
and  urging  its  adoption.  There  was  great  opitosition 
to  it  at  first,  but  it  at  length  triumphed  over  all,  and 
went  into  effect  in  1789. 

Mr.  Madison  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  the  first  Congress,  and  soon  became  the 
avowed  le.ider  of  the  Republican  party.  While  in 
New  York  attending  Congress,  he  met  Mrs.  Todd,  a 
young  widow  of  remarkable  (XDWer  of  fascination, 
whom  he  married.  She  was  in  per.son  and  character 
queenly,  and  probably  no  lady  has  thus  far  occupied 
so  prominent  a  jxjsition  in  the  very  peculiar  society 
which  has  constituted  our  republican  co\irt  as  Mrs. 
Mndison. 

Mr.  Madison  served  as  Secretary  of  State  under 
Jefferson,  and  at  the  close  of  his  administration 
was  chosen  President.  At  this  time  the  encroach- 
ments of  England  had  brought  us  to  the  verge  of  war.  , 


British  orders  in  council  destioyed  our  commeice,  and 
our  Hag  was  exjxjsed  to  constant  insult.  Mr.  Madison 
was  a  man  of  peace.  Scholarly  in  his  taste,  reliiiiig 
in  hisdisixjsition,  war  had  no  charms  for  him.  But  tlie 
meekest  spirit  can  be  roused.  It  makes  one's  blood 
boil,  even  now,  to  think  of  an  American  shi[)  brought 
to,  uiKjn  the  ocean,  by  the  guns  of  an  English  cruiser. 
A  young  lieutenant  steps  on  board  and  orders  the 
crew  to  be  paraded  before  him.  With  great  nonchal- 
ance he  selects  any  number  whom  he  may  please  to 
designate  as  British  subjects ;  orders  them  down  the 
ship's  side  into  his  boat;  and  places  them  on  the  gun- 
deck  of  his  man-of-war,  to  fight,  by  compulsion,  the 
battles  of  England.  This  right  of  search  and  im- 
pressment, no  efforts  of  our  (Government  could  induce 
the  British  cabinet  to  relinquish. 

On  the  1 8th  of  June,  1S12,  President  Madison  gave 
his  approval  to  an  act  of  (Congress  declaring  war 
against  Cteat  Britain.  Notwithstanding  the  ijitter 
hostility  of  the  Federal  party  to  the  war,  the  country 
in  general  approved;  and  Mr.  Madison,  on  the  4th 
of  March,  igij,  was  re-elected  by  a  large  majority, 
and  entered  upon  his  second  term  of  office.  This  is 
not  the  place  to  describe  the  various  adventures  of 
this  war  on  the  land  and  on  the  water.  Our  infan 
navy  then  laid  the  foundations  of  its  renown  in  grap- 
[jling  with  the  most  formidable  power  which  ever 
swept  the  seas.  The  contest  commenced  in  earnest 
by  the  appearance  of  a  British  fleet,  early  in  Fel)ruary, 
1813,  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  declaring  nearly  the  whole 
coast  of  the  llnited  States  under  blockade. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  offered  his  services  as  me 
ditator.  America  accepted ;  England  refused.  A  Brit- 
ish force  of  five  thousand  men  landed  on  the  banks 
ofthePatuxet  River,  near  its  entrance  into  Chesa- 
iwake  Bay,  and  marched  rapidly,  by  way  of  Bladens- 
burg,  upon  Washington. 

The  straggling  little  city  of  \\'ashington  was  thrown 
into  consternation.  The  cannon  of  the  brief  conflict 
at  Bladensburg  echoed  through  the  streets  of  the 
metropolis.  The  whole  population  fled  from  the  city. 
The  President,  leaving  Mrs.  Madison  in  the  White 
House,  with  her  carriage  drawn  up  at  the  doer  to 
await  his  speedy  return,  hurried  to  meet  the  officers 
in  a  council  of  war  He  met  our  troops  utterly  routed, 
and  he  could  not  go  back  without  danger  of  l)eing 
captured.  But  few  hours  elapsed  ere  the  Presidentiaf 
Mansion,  the  Capitol,  and  all  the  public  buildings  in 
Washington  were  in  flames. 

The  war  closed  after  two  years  of  fighting,  and  on 
Feb.  13,  18 15,  the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  atOhent. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1S17,  his  second  term  of 
office  expired,  and  he  resigned  the  Presidential  chair 
to  his  friend,  James  Monroe.  He  retired  to  his  beau- 
tiful home  at  Montpelier,  and  there  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days.  On  June  28,  1836,  then  at  the 
age  of  85  years,  he  fell  asleep  in  death.  Mrs.  Madi- 
son died  July  12,  1849. 


^/k^t^-^-y^-L^  7     ^^-l^^-    / 1  ^  C-^ 


FIFTH  PRESIDENT. 


35 


AMKS  MONROE,  the  fifth 
.I'rcsidentof  The  United  States, 
was  Ixjrn  in  Westmoreland  Co., 
Va.,  Ai)ril  28,  175S.  His  early 
life  was  passed  at  the  place  of 
nativity.  His  ancestors  had  for 
lany  years  resided  in  the  prov- 
ice  in  which  he  was  Iwrn.  When, 
t  17  years  of  age,  in  the  process 
r  completing  his  education  at 
iliam  and  Mary  College,  the  Co- 
i.il  Congress  assembled  at  Phila- 
deljjhia  to  deliberate  uiwn  the  un- 
just and  manifold  oppressions  of 
Great  Britian,  declared  the  separa- 
tion of  the  Colonies,  and  promul- 
gated the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence. Had  he  been  Ixsm  ten  years  before  it  is  highly 
probable  that  he  would  have  been  one  of  the  signers 
of  that  celebrated  instrument.  At  this  time  he  left 
school  and  enlisted  among  the  patriots. 

He  joined  the  army  when  everything  looked  hope- 
less and  gloomy.  The  number  of  deserters  increased 
from  day  to  day.  The  invading  armies  came  pouring 
in ;  and  the  tories  not  only  favored  the  cause  of  the 
mother  country,  but  disheartened  the  new  recruits, 
who  were  sufficiently  terrified  at  the  prospect  of  con- 
tending with  an  enemy  whom  they  had  been  taught 
to  deem  invincible.  To  such  brave  spirits  as  James 
Monroe,  who  went  right  onward,  undismayed  through 
difficulty  and  danger,  the  United  States  owe  their 
iwlitical  emancipation.  The  young  cadet  joined  the 
ranks,  and  esiwused  the  cause  of  his  injured  country, 
with  a  firm  determination  to  live  o.  iie  with  her  strife 


for  liberty.  Firmly  yet  sadly  he  shared  in  the  mel- 
anclioly  retreat  from  Harleam  Heights  and  White 
Plains,  and  accompanied  the  dispirited  army  as  it  fled 
before  its  foes  through  New  Jersey.  In  four  months 
after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  patriots 
had  been  beaten  in  seven  battles.  At  the  battle  of 
Trenton  he  led  the  vanguard,  and,  in  the  act  of  charg- 
ing uixjn  the  enemy  he  received  a  wound  in  the  left 
shoulder. 

As  a  reward  for  his  braver)',  Mr.  Monroe  was  pro- 
moted a  captain  of  infantry;  and,  having  recovered, 
from  his  wound,  he  rejoined  the  army.  He,  however, 
receded  from  the  line  of  ])romotion,  by  becoming  an 
officer  in  the  staff  of  Lord  Sterling.  During  the  cam- 
paigns of  1777  and  1778,  in  the  acrions  of  Brandy 
wine,  Germantown  and  Monmouth,  he  continued 
aid-de-canip;  but  becoming  desirous  to  regain  his 
]X)sition  in  the  army,  he  exerted  himself  to  collect  a 
regiment  for  the  Virginia  line.  This  scheme  failed 
owing  to  the  exhausted  condition  of  the  State.  U[X)n 
this  failure  he  entered  the  office  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  at 
that  period  Governor,  and  pursued,  with  considerable 
ardor,  the  study  of  common  law.  He  did  not,  however, 
entirely  lay  aside  the  knapsack  for  the  green  bag; 
but  on  the  invasions  of  the  enemy,  ser\'ed  as  a  voiun 
teer,  during  the  two  years  of  his  legal  pursuits. 

In  1782,  he  was  elected  from  King  George  county, 
a  member  of  the  Leglislature  of  Virginia,  and  by  that 
body  he  was  elevated  to  a  seat  in  the  Executive 
Council.  He  was  thus  honored  with  the  confidence 
of  his  fellow  citizens  at  23  years  of  age  ;  and  having 
at  this  early  period  displayed  some  of  that  ability 
and  aptitude  for  legislation,  which  were  afterwards 
employed  with  unremitting  energy  for  the  public  good, 


J6 


JAMES  MONROE. 


1)0  was  in  the  succeeding  year  chosen  a  meniljcr  of 
tlie  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
Deeplyas  Mr.  Monroel'elt  the  iniperfertionsof theold 
;"onlederacy,  lie  was  oi)i)osed  to  the  new  Constitution, 
ihinking,  with  many  others  of  *lie  Re|)ul)lican  parly, 
tliat  it  gave  too  much  (jowwr  to  tlie  Central  Coveriuncnt, 
and  not  euougli  to  the  individual  Slates.  Still  he  re- 
tained the  esteem  of  his  friends  who  were  its  warm 
supi)orters,  and  who,  notwithstanding  his  opposition 
secured  its  adoi>lion.  In  1789,  he  became  amcml)er 
of  the  United  States  Senate;  which  oflice  he  held  for 
four  years.  Every  month  the  line  ui  distinction  be- 
tween tile  two  great  parties  which  divided  the  nation, 
the  Federal  and  the  Republican,  was  growing  more 
distinct.  The  two  prominent  ideas  which  now  sep- 
arated them  were,  that  the  Rei)ul)lican  party  was  in 
sympathy  with  France,  and  also  in  favor  of  such  a 
strict  construction  of  the  Constitution  as  to  give  the 
Central  Government  as  little  jxawer,  and  the  State 
Governments  as  much  power,  as  the  Constitution  would 
warrant.  The  Federalists  sympathized  with  Knghuid, 
and  were  in  favor  of  a  liberal  construction  of  the  Con- 
stitution, which  would  give  as  much  power  to  the 
Central  Government  as  that  document  could  possibly 
authorize. 

The  leading  Federalists  and  Republicans  were 
alike  noble  men,  consecrating  all  their  energies  to  the 
good  of  the  nation.  Two  more  honest  men  or  more 
pure  patriots  than  John  Adams  the  Federalist,  and 
James  Monroe  the  Republican,  never  breathed.  In 
building  u])  this  majestic  nation,  which  is  destined 
to  eclipse  all(>recian  and  Assyrian  greatness,  the  com- 
bination of  their  antagonism  was  needed  to  create  the 
light  equilibrium.  .And  yet  each  in  his  day  was  de- 
nounced as  almost  a  demon. 

Washington  was  then  President.  England  had  es- 
poused the  cause  of  the  Bourbons  against  the  princi- 
ples of  the  French  Revolution.  All  Europe  was  drawn 
into  the  conflict.  We  were  feeble  and  far  away. 
Washington  issued  a  proclamation  of  neutrality  be- 
tween these  contending  powers.  France  had  helped 
us  in  the  struggle  for  our  liberties.  All  the  despotisms 
of  Europe  were  now  combined  lo  prevent  the  l'"rench 
from  escaping  from  a  tyranny  a  thousand-fold  worse 
than  that  which  we  had  endured  Col.  Monroe,  more 
magnanimous  than  prudent,  was  anxious  that,  at 
whatever  hazard,  we  should  help  our  old  allies  in 
their  extremity.  It  was  the  impulse  of  a  generous 
and  noble  nature.  He  violently  opposed  the  Pres- 
ident's proclamation  as  ungrateful  and  wanting  in 
magnanimity. 

Washington,  who  could  appreciate  such  a  character, 
developed  his  calm,  serene,  almost  divine  greatness, 
by  appointing  that  very  James  Monroe,  who  was  de- 
nouncing the  iwlicy  of  the  Government,  as  the  minister 
of  that  Government  to  the  Republic  of  France.  Mr. 
Monroe  was  welcomed  by  the  National  Convention 
in  France  with  the  most  enthusiastic  demonstrMions. 


Shortly  after  his  return  to  this  countrv,  Mr.  Mon- 
roe was  elected  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  held  the 
office  for  three  yeais.  He  was  again  sent  lo  France  to 
co-oi)erate  with  Chancellor  Livingston  in  obtaining 
the  vast  territory  then  known  as  the  Province  of 
Louisiana,  which  France  had  liut  shortly  l)efore  ob- 
tained from  Spain.  Their  united  efforts  were  suc- 
cessful. For  the  comi)aratively  small  sum  of  fifteen 
millions  of  dollars,  the  entire  territory  of  ( )rleaiis  and 
district  of  Louisiana  were  added  to  the  United  Slates. 
Tills  was  probably  the  largest  transt-r of  real  estate 
which  was  ever  made  in  all  the  history  of  the  world. 

F"rom  France  Mr.  Monroe  went  to  F^ngland  to  ob- 
tain from  that  country  some  recognition  of  our 
rights  as  neutrals,  and  to  remonstrate  against  those 
odious  impressments  of  our  seamen.  but  F^ng- 
land  was  unrelenting.  He  again  returned  to  Flng- 
land  on  the  same  mission,  but  could  receive  no 
redress.  He  returned  to  his  home  and  was  again 
chosen  Governor  of  Virginia.  This  he  soon  resigned 
to  accept  the  position  of  Secretary  of  Slate  under 
Madison.  While  in  this  office  war  with  FZngland  was 
declared,  the  Secretary  of  War  resigned,  and  during 
these  trying  times,  the  duties  of  the  War  I^epartment 
were  also  jjut  upon  him.  He  was  truly  the  armor- 
bearer  of  President  Madison,  and  the  most  efficient 
business  man  in  his  cabinet.  Upon  the  return  oi 
peace  he  resigned  the  Department  of  War,  but  con- 
tinued in  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  until  the  ex- 
piration of  Mr.  Madison's  adminstration.  At  the  elec- 
tion held  the  previous  autumn  Mr.  Monroe  himself  had 
been  chosen  President  with  but  little  opposition,  and 
\\\>a\\  March  4,  1817,  was  inaugurated.  Four  years 
later  he  was  elected  for  a  second  term. 

Among  the  important  measures  of  his  Presidency 
were  the  cession  of  Florida  to  the  United  States;  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  and  the    "  Monroe  doctrine.' 

This  famous  doctrine,  since  known  as  the  "Monroe 
doctrine,"  was  enunciated  by  him  in  1823.  At  that 
time  the  United  States  had  recognized  the  independ- 
ence of  the  South  American  states,  and  did  not  wish 
to  have  European  [xjwers  longer  attempting  to  sub- 
due portions  of  the  American  Continent.  The  doctrine 
is  as  follows;  "That  we  should  consider  any  attempt 
on  the  part  of  European  powers  to  extend  their  sys- 
tem to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous 
to  our  peace  and  safety,"  and  "that  we  could  not 
view  any  interposition  for  the  purjKise  of  oppressing 
or  controlling  American  governments  or  provinces  in 
any  other  light  than  as  a  manifestation  by  European 
powers  of  an  unfriendly  dis]X)sition  toward  the  United 
States."  This  doctrine  immediately  affected  the  course 
of  foreign  governments,  and  has  become  the  approved 
sentiment  of  the  United  States. 

At  the  end  of  his  Fecond  term  Mr.  Monroe  retired 
to  his  home  in  Virginia,  where  he  lived  until  1830 
when  he  went  to  New  York  to  live  with  his  son-in- 
law.     In  that  city  he  died.on  the  4th  of  July    1831 


X   3.  At 


r,/r>^ 


SIXTH  PRESIDRNT. 


3» 


^..^. 


\>J^^ 


*^:iHH:;:5*s;s«i 


W}\\  QUipY  ^DJUTQS.      p^ 


:;s>*^;s*s;s*5::s 


OHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  the 
sixth  President  of  the  United 
■ilites,  w:is   l>orn  in  tlie   rural 
lionic   of  his    lionored    father, 
John  Adams,  in  Qiiincy,  Mass., 
on  the  I  I  th  cf  July,  1767.   His 
mother,  a  woman  of  exaUed 
worth,  wattlied  over  his  childliood 
during   the  ahnost   constant    ab- 
sence of  his  father.      When    but 
eight  years  of  age,  he  stood  with 
his  mother  oii  an  eminence,  listen- 
ing to  tlie  booming  of  the  great  bat- 
tle on  Bunker's  Hill,  and  gazing  on 
\\\iQ\\  the  smoke  and  flames  billow- 
ing ui)  from    the   conflagration   of 
Charlestown. 

When  but  eleven  years  old  he 
took  a  tearful  adieu  of  hi&  mother, 
to  sail  with  his  father  for  Europe, 
through  a  lleet  ol  iiostile  liritisli  cruisers.  The  bright, 
.luimated  boy  spent  a  year  and  a  half  in  Paris,  where 
Ills  father  was  associated  with  Franklin  and  Lee  as 
minister  plenipotentiary.  His  intelligence  attracted 
the  notice  of  these  distinguished  men,  and  he  received 
from  tiiem  llatlering  marks  Of  attention. 

Mr.  John  Adams  had  scarcely  returned  to  this 
cour.try,  in  1779,  ere  he  was  again  sent  abroad.  Again 
jol.n  Quincv  accompanied  his  father.  At  Paris  he 
ap|)lied  iiimself  with  great  diligence,  for  si.\  months, 
to  r.tudy;  then  accompained  his  father  to  Holland, 
where  he  entered,  first  a  school  in  .Amsterdam,  then 
the  University  at  Leyden.  About  a  year  from  this 
time,  in  17  81,  when  the  manly  boy  was  but  fourteen 
yea's  of  age,  he  was  selected  by  Mr.  Dana,  our  min- 
ister to  the  Russian  court,  as  his  private  secretary-. 

In  this  school  of  incessant  labor  and  of  enobling 
rulture  he  spent  fourteen  months,  and  then  returned 
to  Holland  through  Sweden,  Denmark,  Hamburg  and 
Bremen.  This  long  journey  he  took  alone,  in  the 
winter,  when  in  his  sixteenth  year.  Again  he  resumed 
rus  studies,  under  a  pri"ate  tutor,  at  Hague.   Thence, 


in  the  spring  of  1782,  he  accompanied  his  father  t,' 
Paris,  traveling  leisurely,  and  forming  acipiaintanct 
with  tiie  most  distinguished  men  on  the  Continent 
examining  architectural  remains,  galleries  of  |>aintings 
and  all  renowned  works  of  art.  At  Paris  he  agaiii 
became  associated  with  the  most  illustrious  men  o( 
all  lands  in  the  conteini)lations  of  the  loftiest  temjxjral 
themes  which  can  engross  the  human  mind.  Afte" 
a  short  visit  to  England  he  returned  to  Paris,  and 
consecrated  all  his  energies  to  study  until  May,  1785, 
when  he  returned  to  America.  To  a  brilliant  young 
man  of  eighteen,  who  had  seen  much  of  the  world, 
and  who  was  familiar  with  the  etiquette  of  courts,  a 
tesidence  with  his  father  in  London,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, must  have  been  extremely  attractive 
but  with  judgment  very  rare  in  one  of  his  age,  he  pre- 
ferred to  return  to  America  to  complete  his  education 
in  an  American  college.  He  wished  then  to  study 
law,  that  with  an  honorable  ])rofession,  he  might  be 
able  to  obtain  an  independent  sup[)ort. 

Ujxjn  leaving  Harvard  College,  at  the  age  of  twenty 
he  studied  law  for  three  years.  In  June,  1794,  be- 
ing then  but  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  he  was  ap- 
|)ointed  by  Washington,  resident  minister  at  the 
Netiierlands.  Sailing  from  Boston  in  July,  he  reached 
Ix)ndon  in  October,  where  he  was  immediately  admit- 
ted to  the  deliberations  of  Messrs.  Jay  and  Pinckney. 
assisting  them  in  negotiating  a  commercial  treaty  with 
Great  liritian.  After  thus  spending  a  fortnight  ii 
London,  he  proceeded  to  the  Hague. 

In  July,  1797,  he  left  the  Hague  to  go  to  Portugal  as 
minister  plenipotentiary.  On  his  way  to  Portugal, 
upon  arriving  in  London,  he  met  with  despatches 
directing  him  to  the  court  of  Beiiin,  but  requesting 
him  to  remain  in  London  until  he  should  receive  hip 
instructions.  While  waiting  he  was  married  to  ar 
American  lady  to  whom  he  had  been  previously  en- 
gaged,— Miss  Louisa  Catherine  Johnson,  daughter 
of  Mr.  Joshua  Johnson,  American  consul  in  london 
a  lady  endownd  with  that  beauty  and  those  accom- 
plishment which  eminently  fitted  her  to  move  in  ti4 
elevated  sphere  for  which  she  was  tJAS'iced 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 


He  reached  Ik-rlin  with  his  wife  in  November,  1797  ; 
where  lie  remained  until  July,  1799,  w|-.en,  havingl'iil- 
lilled  all  the  purixjses  of  his  mission,  lie  solicited  liis 
recall. 

Soon  after  his  return,  in  1802,  he  was  chosen  to 
the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  from  lioston,  and  tiien 
was  elected  Senator  of  the  United  States  for  six  years, 
from  the  4th  of  March,  1804.  His  reputation,  his 
ability  and  his  ex[)erience,  placed  him  immediately 
among  the  most  prominent  and  influential  members 
of  that  l)ody.  Especially  did  he  sustain  the  (loscrn- 
ment  in  its  measures  of  resistance  to  the  encroach- 
ments of  England,  destroying  our  commerce  and  in- 
sulting our  flag.  There  was  no  man  in  America  more 
familiar  with  the  arrogance  of  the  British  court  upon 
these  jxjints,  and  no  one  more  resolved  to  present 
a  firm  resistance. 

In  1809,  Madison  succeeded  Jefferson  in  the  Pres- 
idential chair,  and  he  immediately  nominated  John 
Quincy  Adams  minister  to  St.  Petersburg.  Resign- 
ing his  professorship  in  Harvard  College,  he  embarked 
at  Boston,  in  August,  1809. 

While  in  Russia,  Mr.  Adams  was  an  intense  stu- 
dent. He  devoted  his  attention  to  the  language  and 
history  of  Russia;  to  the  Chinese  trade;  to  the 
European  system  of  weights,  measures,  and  coins  ;  to 
the  climate  and  astronomical  observations  ;  while  he 
Kept  up  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  Greek  and 
Latin  classics.  In  all  the  universities  of  Europe,  a 
more  accomplished  scholar  could  scarcely  be  found. 
All  through  life  the  Bible  constituted  an  important 
part  of  his  studies.  It  was  his  rule  to  read  five 
chapters  every  day. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1817,  Mr.  .Monroe  took  the 
Presidential  chair,  and  immediately  apiwinted  Mr. 
Adams  Secretary  of  State.  Taking  leave  of  his  num- 
erous friends  in  public  and  private  life  in  Europe,  he 
sailed  in  June,  1819,  for  the  United  States.  On  the 
i8th  of  August,  he  again  crossed  the  threshold  of  his 
home  in  Quincy.  During  the  eight  years  of  Mr.  Mon- 
roe's administration,  Mr.  .^dams  continued  Secretary 
of  State. 

Some  time  before  '.he  close  of  Mr.  Monroe's  second 
term  of  office,  new  candidates  began  to  lie  presented 
for  the  Presidency.  The  friends  of  Mr.  .\dams  brought 
forward  his  name.  It  was  an  exciting  campaign. 
Party  spirit  was  never  more  bitter.  Two  hundred  and 
sixty  electoral  votes  were  cast.  Andrew  Jackson  re- 
ceived ninety-nine;  John  Quincy  .^danis,  eighty-four; 
William  H.  Crawford,  forty-one;  Henry  Clay,  thirty- 
seven.  As  there  was  no  choice  by  the  people,  the 
question  went  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Mr. 
Clay  gave  the  vote  of  Kentucky  to  Mr.  Adams,  and 
be  was  elected. 

The  friends  of  all  the  disappointed  candidates  now 
-.ombined  in  a  venomous  and  persistent  assault  upon 
Mr.  Adams.  There  is  nothing  more  disgraceful  in 
•l>«  paist  history  of  our  country  than  the  abuse  which 


was  ix)ured  in  one  uninterrupted  stream,  ujxjn  this 
iiigh-minded,  upright,  patriotic  man.  There  never  was 
an  administration  more  pure  in  principles,  more  con- 
scientiously devoted  to  ilie  best  interests  of  the  coun- 
try, than  that  of  John  Quincy  Adams;  and  never,  per- 
haps,  was  there  an  administration  more  unscrupu- 
lously and  outrageously  assailed. 

Mr.  Adams  was,  to  a  very  remarkable  degree,  ab- 
stemious and  temperate  in  his  habits;  always  rising 
early,  and  taking  much  exercise.  When  at  his  home  in 
Quincy,  he  has  been  known  to  walk,  before  breakfast, 
seven  miles  to  Boston.  In  Washington,  it  was  said 
that  he  was  the  first  man  up  in  the  city,  lighting  his 
own  fire  and  applying  himself  to  work  in  his  library 
often  long  before  dawn. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1829,  Mr.  Adams  retired 
from  the  Presidency,  and  was  succeeded  by  Andrew 
Jackson.  John  C.  Calhoun  was  elected  Vice  Presi- 
dent. The  slavery  question  now  began  to  assume 
[Xirtentous  magnitude.  Mr.  Adams  returned  to 
Quincy  and  to  his  studies,  which  he  pursued  with  un- 
abated zeal.  But  he  was  not  long  [jermitted  to  re- 
main in  retirement.  In  November,  1830,  he  was 
elected  representative  to  Congress.  Eor  seventeen 
years,  until  his  death,  he  occupied  the  post  as  repre- 
sentative, towering  above  all  his  peers,  ever  ready  to 
do  brave  battle' for  freedom,  and  winning  the  title  of 
"  the  old  man  eloipient."  Upon  taking  his  seat  in 
the  House,  he  announced  that  he  should  hold  him- 
self bound  to  no  party.  Probably  there  never  was  a 
member  more  devoted  to  his  duties.  He  was  usually 
the  first  in  his  [)lace  in  the  morning,  and  the  last  to 
leave  his  seat  in  the  evening.  Not  a  measure  could 
be  brought  forward  and  escape  his  scrutiny.  The 
battle  which  Mr.  Adams  fought,  almost  singly,  agains' 
the  proslavery  party  in  the  Government,  was  sublime 
in  Its  moral  daring  and  heroism.  For  persisting  in 
presenting  petitions  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  he 
was  threatened  with  indictment  by  the  grand  jury 
with  expulsion  from  the  House,  with  assassination  . 
but  no  threats  could  intimidate  him,  and  his  final 
triumph  was  complete. 

It  has  been  said  of  President  Adams,  that  when  his 
body  was  bent  and  his  hair  silvered  by  the  lapse  of 
fourscore  years,  yielding  to  the  sinijile  faith  of  a  little 
child,  he  was  accustomed  to  repeat  every  night,  before 
he  slept,  the  prayer  which  his  mother  tauglit  him  in 
his  infant  years. 

On  the  2ist  of  February,  1S4S,  he  rose  on  the  floor 
of  Congress,  with  a  paper  in  his  hand,  to  address  the 
speaker.  Suddenly  he  fell,  again  stricken  by  paraly- 
sis, and  was  caught  in  the  arms  of  those  around  him. 
For  a  time  he  was  senseless,  as  he  was  conveyed  to 
the  sofa  in  the  rotunda.  With  reviving  conscious- 
ness, he  opened  his  eyes,  Uxikcd  calmly  around  and 
said  "  This  is  the  end  of  i-arlli  ."then  after  a  moment  > 
])ause  he  added,  " I  am  (ontent"  These  were  the 
last   words  of    the    grand    "Old    Man    Eloquent." 


SE  VENTH  PRESinENT. 


*1         ^^JPJ^J^S^     f*f.^^f  ¥ 


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m^"^ 


VDREVV  JACKSON,  the 
seventh  President  of  the 
1  ited  States,  was  born  in 
\\  ixhaw  settlement,  N.  C, 
March  15,  1767,  a  few  days 
after  his  father's  death.  His 
parents  were  jxxjr  emigrants 
from  Ireland,  and  took  up 
their  abode  in  Waxhaw  set- 
tlement, where  they  lived  in 
deepest  poverty. 
Andrew,  or  Andy,  as  he  was 
universally  called,  grew  up  a  very 
rough,  rude,  turbulent  boy.  His 
features  were  coarse,  his  form  un- 
gainly; and  there  was  but  very 
little  in  his  character,  made  visible,  which  was  at- 
tractive. 

When  only  thirteen  years  old  he  joined  the  volun- 
teers of  Carolina  against  the  British  invasion.  In 
1781,  he  and  his  brother  Robert  were  captured  and 
imprisoned  for  a  time  at  Camden.  A  British  officer 
ordered  him  to  brush  his  mud-spattered  boots.  "  I  am 
a  prisoner  of  war,  not  your  servant,"  was  the  reply  of 
the  dauntless  boy. 

The  brute  drew  his  sword,  and  aimed  a  desperate 
Dlow  at  the  head  of  the  helpless  young  prisoner. 
Andrew  raised  his  hand,  and  thus  received  two  fear- 
ful gashes, — one  on  the  hand  and  the  other  ajxin  the 
head.  The  officer  then  turned  to  his  brother  Robert 
with  the  same  demand.  He  also  refused,  and  re- 
ceived a  blow  from  the  keen-edged  sabre,  which  (juite 
disabled  him,  and  which  probably  soon  after  caused 
his  death.  They  suffered  much  otlier  ill-treatment,  and 
were  finally  stricken  with  the  small-pox.  Their 
mother  was  successf>i.l  h>    obtaining   their  exchange, 


and  took  her  sick  boys  home.  After  a  long  illnjsi 
.Andrew  recovered,  and  the  death  of  his  mother  soon 
left  him  entirely  friendless. 

Andrew  supported  himself  in  various  ways,  such  as 
working  at  the  saddler's  trade,  teaching  school  and 
clerking  in  a  general  store,  until  1784,  when  he 
entered  a  law  office  at  Salisbury,  N.  C.  He,  however, 
gave  more  attention  to  the  wild  amusements  of  the 
times  than  to  his  studies.  In  1788,  he  was  apix)inted 
solicitor  for  the  western  district  of  North  Carolina,  ol 
which  Tennessee  was  then  a  part.  This  involved 
many  long  and  tedious  journeys  amid  dangers  of 
every  kind,  but  .Andrew  Jackson  never  knew  fear 
and  the  Indians  had  no  desire  to  repeat  a  skirmisl* 
with  the  Sharp  Knife. 

In  1791,  Mr.  Jackson  was  married  to  a  woman  who 
supposed  herself  divorced  from  her  former  husband. 
Great  was  the  surprise  of  both  parties,  two  years  later, 
to  find  that  the  conditions  of  the  divorce  had  just  been 
definitely  settled  by  the  first  husband.  The  marriage 
ceremony  was  performed  a  second  time,  but  the  occur- 
rence was  often  used  by  his  enemies  to  bring  Mr. 
Jackson  into  disfavor. 

During  these  years  he  worked  hard  at  his  profes 
sion,  and  frequently  had  one  or  more  duels  on  hand, 
one  of  which,  when  he  killed  Dickenson,  was  espec- 
ially disgraceful. 

In  January,  1796,  the  Territory  of  Tennessee  then 
containing  nearly  eighty  thousand  inhabitants,  the 
people  met  in  convention  at  Knoxville  to  frame  a  con- 
stitution. Five  were  sent  from  each  of  the  elevn, 
counties.  .Andrew  Jackson  was  one  of  the  delegare?.' 
The  new  .State  was  entitled  to  but  one  member  i-j 
the  National  House  of  Representatives.  Andrew  Jaclt- 
son  was  chosen  that  member.  Mounting  his  horse  he 
rode  to  Pliiledelphia,  where  Congress   then    held  its 


ANDREW  JACKSON. 


sessions, — a  disUince  of  about  eight  hundred    miles. 

Jackson  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  Demo- 
cratic pxrty.  Jefferson  was  liis  idol.  He  admired 
Bonaparte,  loved  France  and  hated  England.  As  Mr. 
Jackson  took  his  seat,  Gen.  Washington,  whose 
second  term  of  office  was  then  e.vpiiing,  delivered  his 
iast  speech  to  Congress.  K  committee  drew  uj)  a 
complimentary  address  in  reply.  Andrew  Jackson 
did  not  approve  of  the  address,  and  was  one  of  the 
twelve  who  voted  against  it.  He  was  not  willing  to 
say  that  Gen.  Washington's  adminstration  had  been 
"  wise,  firm  and  patriotic." 

Mr.  Jackson  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  in  1797,  but  soon  resigned  and  returned  home. 
Soon  after  he  was  chosen  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  his  Slate,  which  ])osition  he  held  for  si.x  years. 

When  the  war  of  1812  with  Great  Britian  com- 
menced, Madison  occupied  the  Presidential  chair. 
Aaron  Burr  sent  word  to  the  President  that  there  was 
an  unknown  man  in  the  West,  Andrew  Jackson,  who 
would  do  credit  to  a  commission  if  one  were  con- 
ferred uixjn  him.  Just  at  that  time  Gen.  Jackson 
jffeied  his  services  and  those  of  twenty-five  hundred 
volunteers.  His  offer  was  accepted,  and  the  troops 
were  assembled  at  Nashville. 

As  the  British  were  hourly  exjiected  to  make  an  at- 
tack upon  New  Orleans,  where  Gen.  Wilkinson  was 
in  command,  he  was  ordered  to  descend  the  river 
with  fifteen  hundred  troops  to  aid  Wilkinson.  The 
expedition  reached  Natchez;  and  after  a  delay  of  sev- 
eral weeks  there,  without  accomi)lishing  anything, 
!he  men  were  ordered  back  to  their  homes.  But  the 
energy  Gen.  Jackson  had  displayed,  and  his  entire 
devotion  to  the  comrfort  of  his  soldiers,  won  him 
golden  opinions;  and  he  became  the  most  popular 
man  in  the  State.  It  was  in  this  expedition  that  his 
toughness  gave  him  the  nickname  of  "  Old  Hickory." 

Soon  after  this,  while  attempting  to  horsewhip  Col. 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  for  a  remark  that  gentleman 
made  about  his  taking  a  part  as  second  in  a  duel,  in 
which  a  younger  brother  of  Benton's  was  engaged, 
he  received  two  severe  pistol  wounds.  While  he  was 
lingering  upon  a  bed  of  suffering  news  came  that  the 
Indians,  who  had  combined  under  Tecumseh  from 
Florida  to  the  Lakes,  to  exterminate  the  white  set- 
tlers, were  committing  the  most  awful  ravages.  De- 
cisive action  became  necessary.  Gen.  Jackson,  with 
his  fractured  bone  just  beginning  to  heal,  his  arm  in 
a  sling,  and  unable  to  mount  his  horse  without  assis- 
tance, gave  his  amazing  energies  to  the  raising  of  an 
army  to  rendezvous  at  Fayettesville,  .Alabama. 

The  Creek  Indians  had  established  a  strong  fort  on 
one  of  the  bendsof  the  Tallapoosa  River,  near  the  cen- 
ter of  Alabama,  about  fifty  miles  below  Fort  Strother. 
With  an  army  of  two  thoiisand  men,  (ien.  Jackson 
traversed  the  pathless  wilderness  in  a  march  of  eleven 
days.  He  reached  their  fort,  called  Tohopeka  or 
Horse-shoe,  on  the  27th  of  March.  1814.     The  bend 


of  the  river  enclosed  nearly  one  hundred  acres  of 
tangled  forest  and  wild  ravine.  Ackjss  the  narrow 
neck  the  Indians  had  constructed  a  formidable  brea.st- 
work  of  logs  and  brush.  Here  nine  hundred  warriors, 
with  an  ample  suplyof  arms  were  assembled. 

The  fort  was  stormed.  The  fight  was  utterly  des- 
perate. Not  an  Indian  would  accept  of  qtiarter.  When 
bleeding  and  dying,  they  would  fight  those  who  en- 
deavored to  spare  their  lives.  From  ten  in  the  morn- 
ing until  dark,  the  battle  raged.  The  carnage  was 
awful  and  revolting.  Some  threw  themselves  into  the 
river;  l)ut  the  unerring  bullet  struck  their  heads  as 
they  swam.  Nearly  everyone  of  the  nine  hundred  war- 
rios  were  killed  A  few  probably,  in  the  night,  swam 
the  river  and  escaped.  This  ended  the  war.  The 
])ower  of  the  Creeks  was  broken  forever.  This  bold 
plunge  into  the  wilderness,  with  its  terriffic  slaughter, 
so  appalled  the  savages,  that  the  haggard  remnants 
of  the  bands  caaie  to  the  camp,  begging  for  peace. 

This  closing  of  the  Creek  war  enabled  us  to  con- 
centrate all  our  militia  ujxjn  the  British,  who  were  the 
allies  of  the  Indians  No  man  of  less  resolute  will 
than  Gen.  Jackson  could  have  conducted  this  Indian 
campaign  to  so  successful  an  issue  Immediately  la- 
was  apjxiinted  major-general. 

Late  in  August,  with  an  army  of  two  thousand 
men,  on  a  rushing  march,  Gen.  Jackson  came  to 
Mobile.  A  British  fleet  came  from  Pensacola,  landed 
a  force  upon  the  beach,  anchored  near  the  little  fort, 
and  from  both  ship  and  shore  commenced  a  furious 
assault.  The  battle  was  long  and  doubtful.  At  length 
one  of  the  ships  was  blown  up    and  the  rest  retired. 

Garrisoning  Mobile,  where  he  had  taken  his  little 
army,  he  moved  his  troops  to  New  Orleans, 
And  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  which  soon  ensued, 
was  in  reality  a  very  arduous  campaign.  This  won 
for  Gen.  Jackson  an  imperishable  name.  Here  his 
troops,  which  numbered  about  four  thousand  men, 
won  a  signal  victory  over  the  British  army  of  about 
nine  thousand.  His  loss  was  but  thirteen,  while  the 
loss  of  the  British  was  two  thousand  six  iiundred. 

The  name  of  Gen.  Jackson  soon  began  to  be  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  Presidency,  but,  in  1824, 
he  was  defeated  by  Mr.  Adams.  He  was,  however, 
successful  in  the  election  of  r828,  and  was  re-elected 
for  a  second  term  in  1832.  In  1829,  just  before  he 
assumed  the  reins  of  the  government,  he  met  with 
the  most  terrible  affliction  of  his  life  in  the  death  of 
his  wife,  whom  he  had  loved  with  a  devotion  which  has 
perhaps  never  been  surpassed.  From  tlie  shock  of 
her  death  he  never  recovered. 

His  administration  was  one  of  the  most  memorable 
in  the  annals  of  our  country;  applauded'  oyone  party, 
condemned  by  the  other.  No  man  had  more  bitter 
enemies  or  warmer  friends.  At  the  expiration  of  his 
two  terms  of  office  he  retired  to  the  Hermitage,  when; 
he  died  June  8,  1845.  The  last  years  of  Mr.  Jack- 
son's  life  were  that   of  a   devoted  Christian    man. 


'J  y 


/  1  ^O^Cr  ^^^^J  <^^.^^<:^^ 


EIGHTH  PRESIDENT. 


^^^^:i^-\®fmj^^^T 


\WW^^  W^  BHREI] 


.^« 
^ 


■^l 


ARTIN  VAN  BUREN,  the 
eighth      President     of     the 
United  States,  was  born  at 
Kinderhook,  N.  Y.,  Dec.    5, 
1782.     He  died  at  the  same 
place,  July    24,    1862.       His 
body  rests  in   the  cemetery 
at  Kinderhook.     Above  it  is 
a  plain  granite    shaft  fifteen   feet 
high,  bearing  a  simple  inscription 
about  half  way  up  on   one    face. 
The  lot  is  unfenced,  unbordered 
or  unbounded  by  shrub  or  flower. 

There  '••  uut  ilttle  in  the  life  of  Martin  Van  Buren 
of  roman'  c  interest.  He  fought  no  battles,  engaged 
in  no  wild  adventures.  Though  his  life  was  stormy  in 
political  and  intellectual  conflicts,  and  he  gained  many 
signal  victories,  his  days  passed  uneventful  in  those 
incidents  which  give  zest  to  biography.  His  an- 
cestors, as  his  name  indicates,  were  of  Dutch  origin, 
and  were  among  the  earliest  emigrants  from  Holland 
to  the  banks  of  the  Hudson.  His  father  was  a  farmer, 
residing  iu  the  old  town  of  Kinderhook.  His  mother, 
also  of  Dutch  lineage,  was  a  woman  of  superior  intel- 
ligence and  exemplary  piety. 

^■fe  was  decidedly  a  precocious  boy,  developing  un- 
usual activity,  vigor  and  strength  of  mind.  At  the 
age  of  fourteen,  he  had  finished  his  academic  studies 
in  his  native  village,  and  commenced  the  study  of 
!aw.  As  he  had  not  a  collegiate  education,  seven 
years  of  study  in  a  law-office  were  required  of  him 
Oefore  he  could  be  admitted  to  the  bar.  Inspired  with 
J.  lofty  aml)ition,  and  conscious  of  his  powers,  he  pur- 
sued his  studies  with  indefatigable  industry.  After 
spending  six  years  in  an  office  in  His    native  village, 


he  went  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  prosecuted  his 
studies  for  the  seventh  year. 

In  1803,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  then  twenty-one  years  ol 
age,  commenced  the  practice  of  law  in  his  native  vil- 
lage. The  great  conflict  between  the  Federal  and 
Republican  party  was  then  at  its  height.  Mr.  Van 
Buren  was  from  the  beginning  a  politician.  He  had, 
perhaps,  imbibed  that  spirit  while  listening  to  the 
many  discussions  which  had  been  carried  on  in  his 
father's  hotel.  He  was  in  cordial  sympathy  with 
Jefferson,  and  earnestly  and  eloquently  espoused  the 
cause  of  .State  Rights ;  though  at  thai  time  the  Fed- 
eral party  held  the  supremacy  both  in  his  town 
and  State. 

His  success  and  increasing  ruputation  led  him 
after  six  years  of  practice,  to  remove  to  Hudson,  th/ 
county  seat  of  his  county.  Here  he  spent  seven  years, 
constantly  gaining  strength  by  contending  in  tht 
courts  with  some  of  the  ablest  men  who  have  adorned 
the  bar  of  his  State. 

Just  before  leaving  Kinderhook  for  Hudson,  Mi. 
Van  Buren  married  a  lady  alike  distinguished  for 
beauty  and  accomplishments.  After  twelve  short 
years  she  sank  into  the  grave,  the  victim  of  consump. 
tion,  leaving  her  husband  and  four  sons  to  weep  ovei 
her  loss.  For  twenty-five  years,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was; 
an  earnest,  successful,  assiduous  lawyer.  The  record 
of  those  years  is  barren  in  items  of  public  interest. 
In  i8r  2,  when  thirty  years  of  age,  he  was  chosen  to 
the  State  Senate,  and  gave  his  strenuous  support  to 
Mr.  Madison's  adminstration.  In  1815,  he  was  a]-.- 
pointed  Attorney-General,  and  the  next  year  moved 
to  Albany,  the  capital  of  the  State. 

'iVhile  he  was  ackno\\'ledged  as  one  of  the  most 
p  ominent  leaders  of  the  Democratic   party,  he   hao 


4« 


MARTIN  VAN  BUR  EN. 


the  moral  courage  to  avow  that  true  democracy  did 
not  require  that  "  universal  suffrage"  which  admits 
the  vile,  tlic  degraded,  the  ignorant,  to  the  right  uf 
governing  the  State.  In  true  consistency  with  his 
democratic  principles,  he  contended  that,  while  the 
]iath  leading  to  the  privilege  of  voting  should  be  open 
lo  every  man  without  distinction,  no  one  should  be 
invested  with  that  sacred  (jrerogative,  unless  he  were 
in  some  degree  cjualilied  for  it  by  intelligence,  virtue 
and  some  property  interests  in  the  welfare  of  the 
State. 

In  182  I  he  was  elected  :.  member  of  the  United 
States  Seriate;  and  in  the  same  year,  he  took  a  seat 
m  the  convention  to  revise  the  constitution  of  his 
native  State.  His  course  in  this  convention  secured 
the  approval  of  men  of  all  parties.  No  one  could 
doubt  the  singleness  of  his  endeavors  to  promote  the 
interests  of  all  classes  in  the  community.  In  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  he  rose  at  once  to  a 
-onspicuous  position  as  an  active  and  useful  legislator. 

In  1827,  John  Quincy  Adams  being  then  in  the 
Vresidential  chair,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  re-elected  to 
.he  Senate.  He  had  been  from  the  beginning  a  de- 
•ermined  opixjser  of  the  Administration,  adopting  the 
■'State  Rights "  view  in  opposition  to  what  was 
Jeemed  the  Federal  proclivities  of  Mr.  Adams. 

Soon  after  this,  in  1828,  he  was  chosen  Governorof 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  accordingly  resigned  his 
%eat  in  the  Senate.  Probably  no  one  in  the  United 
States  contributed  so  much  towards  ejecting  John  Q. 
Adams  from  the  Presidential  chair,  and  placing  in  it 
Andrew  Jackson,  as  did  Martin  Van  Buren.  Whether 
entitled  to  the  reputation  or  not,  he  certainly  was  re- 
garded througiiout  the  United  States  as  one  of  the 
most  skillful,  sagacious  and  cunning  of  politicians, 
'.t  was  supiK)sed  that  no  one  knew  so  well  as  he  how 
!o  touch  the  secret  spiings  of  action;  how  to  pull  all 
;he  wires  to  put  his  machinery  in  motion;  and  how  to 
organize  a  jwlitical  army  which  would,  secretly  and 
ste.ilthily  accomplish  the  most  gigantic  results.  By 
these  [xjwers  it  is  said  that  he  outv/itted  Mr.  Adams, 
Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  ^V'ebster,  and  secured  results  wliich 
few  thought  then  could  be  .accomplished. 

When  .\ndrew  Jackson  was  elected  President  he 
apiiointed  Mr.  Van  Buren  Secretary  of  State.  This 
jxisition  he  resigned  in  1831,  and  was  immediately 
apix)inted  Minister  to  England,  where  he  went  the 
same  autumn.  The  Senate,  however,  when  it  met, 
'ef'ised    to    ratify  the  nomination,   and  he  returned 


home,  apparently  untroubled ;  was  nominated  Vice 
President  in  the  place  of  Calhoun,  at  the  re-election 
of  President  Jackson;  and  with  smiles  for  all  and 
fiowns  for  none,  he  took  his  pl.ace  at  the  head  of  tlut 
Senate  which  h.id  refused  to  confirm  iiis  nomination 
as  ambassador. 

His  rejection  by  the  Senate  roused  all  the  zeal  o{ 
President  Jackson  in  behalf  of  his  repudiated  favor- 
ite; and  this,  probably  more  than  any  other  cause, 
secured  his  elevation  to  the  chair  of  the  Chief  Execu 
tive.  On  the  20th  of  May,  1836,  Mr.  Van  Buren  re- 
ceived the  Democratic  nomination  to  succeed  Cen. 
Jackson  as  President  of  the  United  States.  He  was 
elected  by  a  handsome  m.njority,  to  the  delight  of  the 
retiring  President.  "  Leaving  New  York  out  of  the 
canvass,"  says  Mr.  Parton,  "the  election  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren  to  the  Presidency  was  as  much  the  act  of  Gen. 
Jackson  as  though  the  Constitution  had  conferred 
upon  him  the  power  to  apjwint  a  successor." 

His  administration  was  filled  with  exciting  events. 
The  insurrection  in  Canada,  which  threatened  to  in- 
volve this  country  in  war  with  England,  the  agitation 
of  the  slavery  question,  and  finally  the  great  commer- 
cial i)anic  which  spread  over  the  country,  all  were 
trials  to  his  wisdom.  The  financial  distress  was  at- 
tributed to  the  management  of  the  Democratic  party, 
and  brought  the  President  into  such  disfavor  that  lie 
failed  of  re-election. 

With  the  exception  of  being  nominated  for  the 
Presidency  by  the  "Free  Soil"  Democrats,  in  1848, 
Mr.  Van  Buren  lived  cpiietly  u|)on  his  estate  until 
his  death. 

He  had  ever  been  a  prudent  man,  of  frugal  habits, 
and  living  within  his  income,  had  now  fortunately  a 
competence  for  his  declining  years.  His  unblemished 
character,  his  commanding  abilities,  his  unquestioned 
patriotism,  and  the  distinguished  [xasitions  which  he 
had  occupied  in  the  government  of  our  country,  se- 
cured to  him  not  only  the  homage  of  his  party,  but 
the  respect  ot  the  whole  community.  It  was  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1841,  that  Mr.  Van  Buren  retired  from 
the  |)residency.  From  his  fine  estate  at  Lindenwald. 
he  still  exerted  a  powerful  influence  uiwn  the  politics 
of  the  countr)'.  From  this  time  until  his  death,  on 
the  24th  of  July,  1862,  at  the  age  of  eighty  -ears,  he 
resided  at  Lindenwald,  a  gentleman  of  leisure,  of 
culture  and  of  wealth;  enjoying  in  a  healthy  old 
age,  probably  far  more  happiness  than  he  had  before 
exi)erienced  amid  the  stormy  scenes  of  his  active  life^ 


Ic^.  M^am-^ 


NINTH  PRESIDENT. 


Wfil/iMM  TOIK  E41^1il, 


^(' 


'^ 


;f 


ILLIAM   HENRY  HARRI- 
SON, the  ninth    President  of 
the   United  States,  was  born 
at  Berkeley,  Va.,  Feb.  9,  1773. 
His  father,    Benjamin    Harri- 
son, was  in  comparatively  op- 
ulent circumstances,  and  was 
on^  of  the  most  distinguished 
men  of  his  day.      He  was  an 
intimate    friend    of     George 
Washington,  w  as  early  elected 
a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,    and  was    conspicuous 
among  the  patriots  of  Virginia  in 
resisting  the  encroachments  of  the 
British  crown.     In  the  celebrated 
Congress  of  1775,  Benjamin  Har- 
rison   and   John    Hancock   were 
both  candidates  for  the  office  of 
speaker. 

fMr  Harrison  was  subsequently 
chosen  Governor  of  Virginia,  and 
was  twice   re-elected.       His   son, 
i  William  Henry,  of  course  enjoyed 

in  childhood  all  the  advantages  which  wealth  and 
intellectual  and  cultivated  society  could  give.  Hav- 
ing received  a  thorough  comnion-school  education,  he 
entered  Hampden  Sidney  College,  where  he  graduated 
with  honor  soor.  after  the  death  of  his  father.  He 
ciien  repaired  to  Philadelphia  to  study  medicine  under 
the  instructions  of  Dr.  Rush  and  the  guardianship  of 
lObert  Morris,  both  of  whom  were,  with  his  father, 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Jpon  the  outbreak  of  the  Indian  troubles,  and  not- 
withstanding the  'emonstrances  of  his  friends,  he 
joandoned  his  medical  studies  and  entered  the  army, 
.laving  obtair"^H  .1  commission  of  Ensign   from   Presi- 


dent Washington.  He  was  then  but  19  years  old 
From  that  time  he  passed  gradually  upward  in  rank 
until  he  became  aid  to  General  Wayne,  after  whose 
death  he  resigned  his  commission.  He  was  then  ai)- 
pointed  Secretary  of  the  North-western  Territory.  This 
Territory  was  then  entitled  to  but  one  member  in 
Congress  and  Capt.  Harrison  was  chosen  to  fill  that 
lX)sition. 

In  the  spring  of  1800  the  North-western  Territory 
was  divided  by  Congress  into  two  jxartions.  The 
eastern  portion,  comprising  the  region  now  embraced 
in  the  State  of  Ohio,  was  called  "  The  Territory 
north-west  of  the  Ohio."  The  western  portion,  which 
included  what  is  now  called  Indiana,  Illinois  and 
Wisconsin,  was  called  the  "Indiana  Territory."  Wil . 
liam  Henry  Harrison,  then  27  years  of  age,  was  ap 
I»inted  by  John  Adams,  Governor  of  the  Indiana 
Territory,  and  immediately  after,  also  Governor  of 
Upper  Ix)uisiana.  He  was  thus  ruler  over  almost  as 
extensive  a  realm  as  any  sovereign  ujx)!!  the  globe.  He 
was  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  and  was  in- 
vested with  powers  nearly  dictatorial  over  the  now 
rapidly  increasing  white  jwpulation.  The  abilitv  and 
fidelity  with  which  he  discharged  these  responsible 
duties  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  he  was  four 
times  apjxjinted  to  tliis  office — first  by  John  Adams, 
twice  by  Thomas  Jefferson  and  afterwards  by  Presi- 
dent Madison. 

When  he  began  his  adminstration  there  were  but 
threewhite  setilementsin  that  almost  boundless  region, 
now  crowded  with  cities  and  resounding  with  all  the 
tumult  of  wealth  and  traffic.  Oneof  these  settlements 
was  on  the  Ohio,  nearly  opposite  Ix)uisville;  one  at 
Vincennes,  on  the  Wabash,  and  the  third  a  French 
settlement. 

The  vast  wilderness  over  which  Gov.  Harrisou 
reigned  was  filled  with  many  tribes  of  Indians.  Abon' 


LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  Of  ILLIMOi* 
n  yitBANA-CHAMPAiail 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON. 


tlie  year  1806,  two  cxir.ioriliiiary  inci  ,  twin  brothers, 
of  the  Shawiiese  tribe,  rose  among  iheni.  Or.e  of 
ihese  was  called  recuiuseh,  or  "  The  Crouchiiij; 
Paniher;"  the  other,  Olliwacheca,  or  "'I'hc  Prophet." 
Tecumseh  was  not  only  an  Indian  warrior,  but  a  man 
of  great  sagacity,  far-reaching  foresight  and  indomit- 
able perseverance  in  any  enterprise  m  whicli  he  might 
engage.  He  was  inspired  with  the  higliest  enthusiasm, 
and  had  long  regarded  «'ilh  dread  and  with  haired 
the  encroachment  of  the  whiles  upon  the  hunting- 
groiinds  of  liis  fathers.  His  brother,  the  Prophet,  was 
.Tnorator,  who  could  sway  the  feelings  of  the  untuloretl 
Indian  as  the  gale  tossed  the  tree-tops  beneath  which 
ihey  dwelt. 

But  the  Prophet  was  not  merely  an  orator:  he  was, 
i  1  the  superstitious  minds  of  the  Indians,  invested 
with  the  superhuman  dignity  of  a  medicine-man  or  a 
magician.  With  an  enthusiasm  unsurpassed  by  Peter 
the  Hermit  rousing  Europe  to  the  crusades,  he  went 
from  tribe  to  tribe,  assuming  that  he  was  sjiecially  sent 
by  the  Gicat  Spirit. 

Gov.  Harrison  made  many  attempts  to  conciliate 
the  Indians,  but  at  last  the  war  came,  and  at  'ri[)pe- 
canoe  the  Indians  were  routed  with  great  slaughter. 
October  28,  1812,  his  army  began  its  march.  When 
near  the  Prophet's  town  three  Indians  of  rank  made 
their  appearance  and  inquired  why  Gov.  Harri-on  was 
approaching  them  in  so  hostile  an  attitude.  After  a 
short  conference,  arrangements  were  made  for  a  meet- 
ing the  next  day,  to  agree  uixjn  terms  of  [)eace. 

But  Gov.  Harrison  was  loo  well  acquainted  wiili 
the  Indian  character  to  be  deceived  by  such  jjrotes- 
tations  Selecting  a  favoralile  sjxjt  for  his  night's  en- 
cami)ment,  he  took  every  i)recaution  against  surprise 
His  troops  were  [xssted  in  a  hollow  sciuare,  and  slept 
upon  their  arms. 

The  troops  threw  themselves  ujwn  the  ground  for 
rest;  but  every  man  had  his  accourtrenients  on,  his 
loaded  musket  by  his  side, and  his  bayonet  fixed.  The 
wakeful  Governor,  between  three  and  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  had  risen,  and  was  sitting  in  conversa- 
tion with  his  aids  by  the  embers  of  a  waning  fire.  It 
was  a  (hill,  cloudy  morning  with  a  drizzling  rain.  In 
the  darkness,  the  Indians  had  crept  as  near  as  |X)ssi- 
ble,  and  j'lst  then,  with  a  savage  yell,  rushed,  with  all 
the  dL'speration  which  superstition  and  [)assion  most 
highly  inflamed  could  give,  u|X)n  the  left  flank  of  the 
little  army.  The  savages  had  been  amply  provided 
with  guns  and  ammunition  by  the  English.  Their 
war-whoop  was  accompained  by  a  shower  of  bullets. 

The  camp-fires  were  instantly  extinguished,  as  the 
light  aided  the  Indians  in  their  aim.  With  hide- 
fus  yells,  the  Indian  bands  rushed  on,  not  doublir.ga 
speedy  and  an  entire  victory.  But  Gen.  Harrison's 
troops  stood  as  immovable  as  the  rocks  around  them 
until  day  dawned  :  they  then  m.ade  a  simultaneous 
charge  with  the  bavonet,  and  swept  every  thing  be- 
lore    them,    and    completely    routing    th*"    foe 


(jov.  Harrison  now  had  all  his  energies  tasked  1 
to  the  utmost.  The  British  descending  from  the  Can- 
adas,  were  ol  themselves  a  very  formidable  force  ;  but 
with  their  savage  allies,  rushing  like  wolves  from  tlh 
forest,  sear-hing  out  every  remote  farm-house,  burn- 
ing, plundering,  sc.ili)iiig,  torturing,  the  wide  frontier 
was  plunged  into  a  state  of  consternation  which  even 
the  most  vivid  imagination  can  but  faintly  conceive. 
The  war-whoop  was  resounding  everywhere  in  the 
forest.  The  horizon  was  illuminated  with  the  conflagra- 
tion of  the  cabins  of  the  settlers.  Gen  Hull  had  made 
the  ignominious  surrender  of  his  forces  at  Detroit. 
Under  these  despairing  circumstances.  Gov.  Harrison 
was  apix)inted  by  President  Madison  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  North-western  army,  with  orders  to  retake 
Detroit,  and  to  protect  the  frontiers. 

It  would  l)e  difficult  to  place  a  man  in  a  situation 
demanding  more  energy,  sagacity  and  courage;  but 
General  Ilarrison  was  found  equal  to  the  position, 
and  nobly  and  triumphantly  did  he  meet  all  the  re 
sixjnsibiiities. 

He  won  the  love  of  his  soldiers  by  always  sharing 
with  them  their  fatigue.  His  whole  baggage,  whik 
pursuing  the  foe  up  the  Thames,  was  carried  in  a 
valise;  and  his  bedding  consisted  of  a  single  blanket 
lashed  over  his  saddle  Thirty-five  British  officers, 
his  prisoners  of  war,  supped  with  him  after  the  battle. 
The  oiily  fare  he  could  give  them  was  beef  roasted 
before  the  fire,  without  bread  or  salt. 

In  1816,  Gen.  Harrison  was  chosen  a  member  ot 
the  National  House  of  Representatives,  to  represent 
the  District  of  Ohio.  In  Congress  he  proved  an 
active  member;  and  whenever  he  spoke,  it  was  with 
force  of  reason  and  power  of  elocjuence,  which  arrested 
the  attention  of  all  the  members. 

In  1819,  Harrison   was  elected    to   the    Senate  ol 
Ohio;  and  in  1824,  as  one  of  the  presidential  electois 
of  that  State,  he  gave  his  vote  for  Henry  Clay.      Tli 
same  year  he  was  chosen  totiie  L'nited  States Senait. 

In  1836,  the  friends  of  Gen.  Harrison  brought  him 
forward  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  against 
Van  Buren,  but  he  was  defeated.  At  the  close  of 
Mr.  Van  Buren's  term,  he  was  re-nomirated  by  his 
party,  and  Mr.  Harrison  was  imanimously  nominated 
by  the  Whigs,  with  John  'Tyler  for  the  Vice  Presidency. 
'The  contest  was  very  animated.  Gen  Jackson  gave 
all  his  influence  to  prevent  Harrison's  election  ;  but 
his  triumph  was  signal. 

The  cabinet  which  he  formed,  witli  Daniel  Webster 
at  its  head  as  Secretary  of  State,  was  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  with  which  any  President  had  ever  bei-n 
surrounded.  Never  were  the  prospects  of  an  admin- 
istration more  flattering,  or  the  hopes  of  the  country 
more  sanguine.  In  the  midst  of  these  bright  and 
joyous  prospects.  Gen.  Harrison  was  seized  l;y  a 
pleurisy-fever  and  after  a  few  days  of  violent  sick- 
ness, died  on  the  4th  of  .April ;  just  one  month  afle' 
his  inauguration  as  President  of  the  United  State .. 


x^ufOTL     MJ  (^'Y 


TENTH  PRF.SIDENT. 


OHN    TYLER,     the    tenth 
I'lesidentof  the  United  States. 
He  was  born   in  Charles-city 
Co.,  Va.,  March  29,  1790.   He 
was  the   favored  child    of  af- 
fluence and  high    social    po- 
sition.    At  the   early  age   of 
twelve,  John  entered  William 
and   Mary  College  and  grad- 
uated with  much  honor  when 
but  seventeen  years  old.  After 
graduating,  he  devoted   him- 
self with    great    assiduity  to   the 
study    of    law,    partly   with    his 
father    and    partly  with    Edmund 
Randolph,  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished lawyers  of  Virginia. 

At  nineteen  years  of  age,  ne 
commenced  the  practice  of  law. 
His  success  was  rapid  and  aston- 
ishing. It  is  said  that  three 
mouths  had  not  elapsed  ere  there 
was  scarcely  a  case  on  the  dock- 
et of  the  court  in  which  he  was 
;.  n  retained.  When  but  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he 
was  almost  unanimously  e'ected  to  a  seat  in  the  State 
Legislature.  He  connected  himself  with  the  Demo- 
I  ratic  party,  and  warmly  advocated  the  measures  of 
lefferson  and  Madison.'  For  five  successive  years  he 
\vi:s  elected  to  the  Legislature,  receiving  nearly  the 
unanimous  vote  or  his  county. 

When  but  twenty-six  years  of  age,  he  was  elected 
1  member  of  Congress.  Here  he  acted  earnestly  and 
ably  with  the  Democratic  party,  opposing  a  national 
i)ank,  inter-Ill  improvements  by  the  General  f^jvern- 


ment,  a  protective  tariff,  and  advocating  a  strict  con- 
struction of  the  Constitution,  and  the  most  careful 
vigilance  over  State  rights.  His  labors  in  Congress 
were  so  arduous  that  before  the  close  of  his  second 
term  \\i  found  it  necessary  to  resign  aud  retire  to  his 
estate  in  Charles-city  Co.,  to  recruit  his  health.  He. 
however,  soon  after  consented  to  take  his  seat  in  the 
State  Legislature,  where  his  influence  was  powerful 
in  promoting  public  works  of  great  utility.  With  a 
reputation  thus  canstantly  increasing,  he  was  chosen 
by  a  very  large  majority  of  votes.  Governor  of  his 
native  State.  His  adininistration  was  signally  a  suc- 
cessful one.     His  popularity  secured  his  re-election. 

John  Randolph,  a  brilliant,  erratic,  half-crazed 
man,  then  represented  Virginia  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  A  portion  of  the  Democratic  party 
was  displeased  with  Mr.  Randolph's  wayward  course, 
and  brought  forward  John  Tyler  as  his  op|X3nent, 
considering  him  the  only  man  in  Virginia  of  sufficient 
popularity  to  succeed  against  the  renowned  orator  of 
Roanoke.     Mr.  Tyler  was  the  victor. 

\\\  accordance  with  his  professions,  upon  taking  his 
seat  in  the  Senate,  he  joined  the  ranks  of  the  opposi- 
tion. He  opposed  the  tariff;  he  spoke  against  and 
voted  against  the  bank  as  unconstitutional ;  he  stren- 
uously opposed  all  restrictions  upon  slavery,  resist- 
ing all  projects  of  internal  improvements  by  the  Gen- 
eral Government,  and  avowed  his  sympathy  with  Mr. 
Calhoun's  view  of  nullification  ;  he  declared  that  Gen. 
Jackson,  liy  his  opposition  to  the  nullifiers,  had 
abandoned  the"  piinciples  of  the  Democratic  party. 
Such  was  Mr.  Tyler's  record  in  Congress, — a  record 
in  perfect  accordance  with  the  principles  which  be 
had  always  avowed. 

Returning  to  Virginia,  he  resumed  the  practice  of 
his  profession.     There  was  a  rplit  in  the   Democraii. 


JOHN  TYLER, 


^;irty.  His  friends  slill  regarded  him  as  a  true  Jel- 
iersoiiian,  gave  him  a  dinner,  and  showered  comiiU- 
nienis  uixjn  lii.n.  He  luid  now  attained  the  age  of 
forty-six.  His  career  had  been  very  brilliant.  In  con- 
sequence of  his  devotion  to  inihlic  business,  liis  pri- 
vate alTaifs  had  fallen  into  some  disorder;  and  it  was 
not  williout  satisfaction  that  he  resumed  the  practice 
of  law,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  culiui  e  of  his  |)lan- 
tation.  Soon  after  this  he  remoied  to  Williamsburg, 
for  the  better  education  of  his  children  ;  and  he  again 
took  his  seal  in  the  Legi>lature  ol  \iiginia. 

15y  the  Southern  Whigs,  he  was  sent  to  the  national 
convention  at  Harrisburg  to  nominate  a  President  in 
•  839.  The  majority  of  votes  were  given  to  Gen.  Har- 
rison, a  genuine  Whig,  much  to  the  disa[)iK)intment  of 
the  South,  who  wished  for  Henry  Clay.  To  concili- 
ate the  Southern  Whigs  and  to  secure  their  vote,  the 
convention  then  nominated  John  Tyler  for  Vice  Pres- 
ident. It  was  well  known  tluit  he  was  not  in  sympa- 
thy with  the  Whig  party  in  the  No:tli:  but  the  Vice 
President  has  but  very  little  [wwer  in  the  Govern- 
ment, his  main  and  almost  only  duty  being  to  pre- 
side over  the  meetings  of  the  Senate.  Thus  it  hap- 
Ijened  that  a  Whig  President,  and,  in  reality,  a 
Democratic  Vice  President  were  chosen. 

In  1 84 1,  Mr.  Tyler  was  inaugurated  Vice  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  In  one  short  month  from 
that  time,  President  Harrison  died,  and  Mr.  Tyler 
thuj  .and  himself,  to  his  own  surprise  and  that  of 
the  whole  Nation,  an  occupant  of  the  Presidential 
chair.  This  was  a  new  test  of  the  stability  of  our 
institutions,  as  it  was  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  our 
country  that  such  an  event  had  occiired.  Mr.  Fyler 
was  at  home  in  Williamsburg  when  he  received  the 
ane.xpected  tidings  of  the  death  of  President  Harri- 
son. He  hastened  to  Washington,  and  on  the  6th  of 
j^pril  -.vas  inaugurated  to  the  high  and  responsible 
office.  He  was  placed  in  a  ])Osition  of  exceeding 
delicacy  and  difficulty.  All  his  longlife  he  had  been 
opiX)sed  tc  the  main  principles  of  the  party  which  had 
brought  him  into  power.  He  had  ever  been  a  con- 
sistent. honc:t  man,  with  an  unblemished  record. 
Gen.  Harrison  had  selected  a  Whig  cabinet.  Should 
he  retain  them,  and  thus  surround  himself  with  coun- 
sellors whose  views  were  antagonistic  to  his  own?  or, 
on  the  other  hand,  should  he  turn  against  the  party 
whici:  had  elected  him  and  select  a  cabinet  in  har- 
n.ony  with  himself,  and  which  would  opiwse  all  those 
ciews  which  the  Whigs  deemed  essential  to  the  i)ub- 
lic  welfare?  This  was  his  fearful  dilemma.  He  in- 
vited the  cabinet  which  President  Harjison  had 
selected  to  retain  their  seats.  He  reccomm  'nded  a 
day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  that  God  would  guide  and 
l)less  us. 

The  Whigs  carried  through  Congress  a  hill  for  the 
incor|)oration  of  a  fiscal  hank  of  the  United  States 
The  President,  after  ten  days  delay,  returned  it  wiili 
nis  veto.      He   'flUceestcd.   however,  that  he  Arould 


aijpiove  Ol  a  bill  drawn  up  ujxjn  such  a  plan  as  he 
pro(Xjscd.  Such  a  bill  was  accordingly  prepared,  and 
privately  submitted  to  him.  He  gave  it  his  approval. 
It  was  passed  without  alteration,  and  he  sent  it  back 
with  his  veto.  Here  commenced  the  open  rui)ture. 
It  is  said  that  Mr.  Tyler  was  [irovoked  to  this  meas- 
ure by  a  published  letter  fiom  the  Hon.  John  M. 
Botts,  a  distinguished  Virginia  Whig,  who  severely 
touched  the  pride  of  the  President. 

The  opposition  now  exultingly  received  the  Presi- 
dent into  their  arms.  'The  parly  whii  h  elected  him 
denounced  him  bitterly.  .Ml  the  members  of  his 
cabinet,  excepting  Mr.  Webster,  resigned.  The  Whigs 
of  Congress,  both  the  Senate  and  the  House,  held  a 
meeting  and  issued  an  address  to  the  |)eople  of  the 
United  States,  proclaiming  that  all  jK^lilical  alliance 
between  the  \Vhigs  and  President  'Tyler  were  at 
an  end. 

Slill  the  President  attempted  to  conciliate.  He 
appointed  a  new  cabniet  ol  distinguished  Whigs  and 
Conservatives,  carefully  leaving  out  all  strong  party 
men.  Mr.  Webster  soon  found  it  necessary  to  resign, 
forced  out  by  the  pressure  of  his  ^\'hig  friends.  'Thus 
the  four  years  of  Mr.  Tyler's  unfortunate  administra- 
tion passed  sadly  away.  No  one  was  satisfied.  'The 
land  was  filled  with  murmurs  and  vitu]ieration.  Whigs 
and  Democracs  alike  assailed  him.  More  and  more, 
however,  he  brought  himself  into  sympathy  with  his 
old  friends,  the  nemocrats,  until  at  the  close  of  his  term, 
he  gave  his  whole  influence  to  the  sup|)ort  of  Mr. 
Polk,  the  Democriitie  candidate  for  his  successor. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1845,  he  retired  from  the 
harassments  of  office,  to  the  regret  of  neither  party,  and 
probably  to  his  own  unspeakanle  lelief.  His  first  wife, 
Miss  Letitia  Christian,  died  in  Washington,  in  1842; 
and  in  June,  1844,  President  Tylei  was  again  married, 
at  New  Vork,  to  Miss  Julia  Gardiner,  a  young  lady  of 
many  personal  and  intellectual  accomplishments. 

The  remainder  of  his  days  Mr.  Tyler  passed  mainly 
in  retirement  at  his  beautiful  home, — Sherwood  For- 
est, Charles-city  Co.,  Va.  A  polished  gentleman  in 
his  manners,  richly  furnished  with  information  from 
books  and  experience  in  the  woild,  and  jxissessing 
brilliant  jxjwers  of  conversation,  his  family  circle  was 
the  scene  of  unusual  attractions.  Willi  sufficient 
means  for  the  exercise  of  a  generous  hosjiitality,  he 
might  have  enjoyed  a  serene  old  age  with  the  few 
friends  who  gathered  around  him,  were  it  not  for  the 
storms  of  civil  war  which  his  own  i)rinciples  and 
jxjlicy  had  helped  to  introduce. 

When  the  great  Reliellion  rose,  which  the  State- 
rights  and  nullifying  doctrines  of  Mr.  John  C.  Cal- 
houn had  inaugurated,  President  Tyler  renounced  his 
allegiance  to  the  United  Slates,  and  joined  the  Confed- 
erates. He  was  chosen  a  member  of  their  Congress; 
and  while  engaged  in  active  measures  lo  desiroy,  by 
force  of  arms,  the  Government  over  which  he  h.''■^ 
once  presided,   he   was  taken   sick  and  soon  di^-d. 


w 


~vf 


iSLErENtir-PRESIDEN^T.  ^ 


5« 


•^m 


AMES  K.  polk:,  the  eleventh 

!?kFtesident  of  the  United  States, 

^  was  born  in  Mecklenburg  Co., 

N.  C.,Nov.  2,  1795.     His  par- 

y^%.  ents  were   Samuel   and    Jane 

(Knox)  Polk,  the  former  a  son 

of  Col.  Thomas  Polk,  who  located 

at  the  above  place,  as  one  of  the 

first  i)ioneers,  in  1735. 

In  the  year  1S06,  with  his  wife 
and  children,  and  soon  after  fol- 
lowed by  most  of  the  members  of 
the  Polk  famly,  Samuel  Polk  emi- 
grated some  two  or  three  hundred 
miles  farther  west,  to  the  rich  valley 
oftlieDiick  River.  Here  in  the 
midst  of  the  wilderness,  in  a  region 
which  was  subsequently  called  Mau- 
ry Co.,  tliey  reared  their  log  huts, 
and  established  their  homes.  In  the 
liard  toil  of  a  new  farm  in  the  wil- 
derness, James  K.  Polk  spent  the 
"early  years  of  his  childhood  and 
youth.  His  father,  adding  the  pur- 
suit cf  a  surveyor  to  that  of  a  farmer, 
'  gradually  increased  in  wealth  until 

he  became  one  of  the  leading  men  of  the  region.  His 
mother  was  a  superior  woman,  of  strong  common 
sense  and  earnest  piety. 

Very  early  in  life,  James  developed  a  taste  for 
reading  and  expressed  the  strongest  desire  to  obtain 
a  liberal  education.  His  mother's  training  had  made 
him  methodical  in  his  habits,  had  taught  him  punct- 
uality and  industry,  and  had  inspired  him  with  lofty 
principles  of  morality.  His  health  was  frail ;  and  his 
father,  fearing  that  he  might  not  be  able  to  endure  a 


sedentary  life,  got  a   situation    for   him    behind   the 
counter,  hojjing  to  fit  him  for  commercial  jiursuits. 

This  was  to  James  a  bitter  disappointment.  He 
had  no  taste  for  these  duties,  and  his  daily  tasks 
were  irksome  in  the  extreme.  He  remained  in  this 
uncongenial  occupation  but  a  few  weeks,  when  at  his 
earnest  solicitation  his  father  removed  him,  and  made 
arrangements  for  him  to  prosecute  his  studies.  .Soon 
after  he  sent  him  to  Murfreesboro  Academy.  ^Vith 
ardor  which  could  scarcely  be  surpassed,  he  pressed 
forward  in  his  studies,  and  in  less  than  two  and  a  half 
years,  in  the  autumn  of  1815,  entered  the  sophomore, 
class  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  at  Chapel 
Hill.  Here  he  was  one  of  the  most  exemplary  of 
scholars,  iiunctual  in  every  exercise,  never  allowing 
himself  to  be  absent  from  a  recitation  or  a  religious 
service. 

He  graduated  in  18 18,  with  the  highest  honors,  be- 
ing deemed  the  best  scholar  of  his  class,  both  in 
mathematics  and  the  classics.  He  was  then  twenty- 
three  years  of  age.  Mr.  Polk's  health  was  at  thi? 
time  much  impaired  by  the  assiduity  with  which  he 
had  prosecuted  his  studies.  After  a  short  season  of 
relaxation  he  went  to  Nashville,  and  entered  the 
office  of  Felix  Grundy,  to  study  law.  Here  Mr.  Polk 
renewed  his  acquaintance  with  Andrew  Jackson,  who 
resided  on  his  plantation,  the  Hermitage,  but  a  few 
miles  from  Nashville.  They  had  probably  been 
slightly  acquainted  before. 

Mr.  Polk's  father  was  a  Jeffersonian  Republican 
and  James  K.  Polk  ever  adhered  to  the  same  politi- 
cal faith.  He  was  a  popular  public  speaker,  and  was 
constantly  called  upon  to  address  the  meetings  of  his 
party  friends.  His  skill  as  a  speaker  was  such  that 
he  was  popularly  called  the  Napoleon  of  the  stump. 
He  was  a  man  of  unblemished    morals,   genial   and 


/AMES  K.  POLK. 


:oune>  us  in  his  bearing,  and  with  that  sympathetic 
natu'"e  in  the  jo)  s  and  griefs  of  others  which  ever  gave 
him  troops  of  friends.  In  1823,  Mr.  I'olk  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  of 'I'cnnessee.  Here  he  gave  his 
strong  inlluence  towards  the  election  of  his  friend, 
Mr.  Jackson,  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 

In  January,  1S24,  Mr.  Polk  married  Miss  Sarah 
Cliildress,  of  Rutherford  Co.,  Tenn.  His  bride  was 
altogether  worthy  of  him, — a  lady  of  beauty  and  cul- 
ture. In  the  fall  of  1S25,  Mr.  Polk  was  chosen  a 
member  of  Congress.  The  satisfaction  which  he  gave 
to  his  constituents  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that 
for  fourteen  successive  years,  until  1839,  he  was  con- 
tinuec'  in  that  office.  He  then  voluntarily  withdrew, 
only  that  he  might  accept  the  Gubernatorial  chair 
of  'I'^nnessee.  In  Congress  he  was  a  laborious 
meio'ier,  a  frequent  and  a  popular  speaker.  He  was 
alw.oys  in  his  seat,  always  courteous ;  and  whenever 
he  s|X)ke  it  was  always  to  the  |K)int,  and  without  any 
ambitious  rhetorical  display. 

During  five  sessions  of  Congress,  Mr.  Polk  was 
Speaker  of  the  House  Strong  passions  were  roused, 
and  stormy  scenes  were  witnessed  ;  but  Mr.  Polk  per- 
formed his  arduous  duties  to  a  very  general  satisfac- 
tion, and  a  unanimous  vote  of  thanks  to  him  was 
passed  by  the  House  as  he  withdrew  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1839. 

In  accordance  with  Southern  usage,  Mr.  Polk,  as  a 
candidate  for  Governor,  canvassed  the  State.  He  was 
elected  by  a  large  majority,  and  on  the  14th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1839,  took  tlie  oath  of  office  at  Nashville.  In  1841, 
his  term  of  offi':c  expired,  and  he  was  again  the  can- 
didate of  tlie  Democratic  party,  but  was  defeated. 

On  the  4th  of  .March,  1845,  Mr.  Polk  was  inaugur- 
ated President  of  the  United  States.  The  verdict  of 
the  country  in  favor  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  exerted 
its  influence  upon  Congress;  and  tlie  last  act  of  tiie 
administration  of  President  Tyler  was  to  affix  his  sig- 
nature to  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress,  passed  on  the 
^d  of  March,  approving  of  the  annexation  of  Texas  to 
the  American  Union.  As  Mexico  still  claimed  Texas 
as  one  of  her  provinces,  the  Mexican  minister, 
Almonte,  immediately  demanded  his  passjxirts  and 
left  the  country,  declaring  the  act  of  the  annexation 
to  be  an  act  hostile  to  Mexico. 

In  his  first  message.  President  Polk  urged  that 
Texas  should  immediately,  by  act  of  Congress,  be  re- 
ceived into  the  Union  on  the  s.nme  footing  with  tlie 
other  States.  In  tiie  nieantime.  Gen.  Taylor  was  sent 


with  an  army  into  Texas  to  hold  the  country.  He  va 
sent  first  to  Nueces,  which  the  Mexicans  said  wis  the 
western  boundary  of  Texas.  Then  he  was  sent  'learK 
two  hundred  miles  furtiier  west,  to  the  Kio  Grande, 
where  he  erected  batteries  whicii  commanded  the 
Mexican  city  of  Matamoras,  which  was  situated  on 
the  western  banks. 

The  anticipated  collision  soon  took  place,  and  wa 
was  declared  against  Mexico  by  President  Polk.  The 
war  was  piished  forward  Ijy  Mr.  Polk's  administration 
with  great  vigor.  Gen.  Taylor,  whose  army  was  first 
called  one  of  "observation,"'  then  of  "occu[)ation,' 
then  of  "  in  vasion,"  was  sent  forward  to  Monterey.  The 
feeble  Mexicans,  in  every  encounter,  were  hopelessly 
ana  awfully  slaughtered.  The  day  of  judgement 
alone  can  reveal  the  misery  which  this  war  caused. 
It  v/as  by  the  ingenuity  of  Mr.  Polk's  adniinistralion 
that  the  war  was  brought  on. 

'To  the  victors  belong  the  sjxjils."  Mexico  was 
prostrate  before  us.  Her  capital  was  in  our  hands. 
We  now  consented  to  peace  n[X)n  the  condition  that 
Mexico  should  surrender  to  us,  in  addition  to  Texas, 
all  of  New  Mexico,  and  all  of  Upper  and  Lower  Cal- 
ifornia. This  new  demand  embraced,  exclusive  of 
Texas,  eight  hundred  thousand  square  miles.  This 
was  an  extent  of  territory  equal  to  nine  States  of  the 
size  of  New  York.  Thus  slavery  was  securing  eighteen 
majestic  States  to  be  added  to  the  Union.  There  were 
some  Americans  who  thought  it  all  right :  there  were 
others  who  thought  it  all  wrong.  In  the  prosecution 
of  this  war,  we  expended  twenty  thousand  lives  ami 
more  than  a  hundred  million  of  dollars.  Of  this 
money  fifteen  millions  were  paid  to  Mexico. 

On  the  3d  of  March,  1849,  Mr.  Polk  retired  from 
office,  having  served  one  term.  The  next  day  was 
Sunday.  On  the  5th,  Gen.  Taylor  was  inaugurated 
as  his  successor.  Mr  Polk  rode  to  the  Capitol  in  the 
same  carriage  with  Gen.  Taylor;  and  the  same  even- 
ing, with  Mrs.  Polk,  he  commenced  his  return  to 
Tennessee.  He  was  then  but  fifty-four  years  of  age. 
He  had  ever  been  strictly  temperate  in  all  his  habits, 
and  his  health  was  good  With  an  ample  fortune, 
a  choice  library,  a  cultivated  mind,  and  domestic  ties 
of  the  dearest  nature,  it  seemed  as  though  long  years 
of  tranquility  and  happiness  were  before  him.  But  the 
cholera — that  fearful  scourge— was  then  sweeping  up 
the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  This  he  contracted, 
and  died  on  the  isth  of  June,  1849,  in  the  fiftv. fourth 
year  of  his  age,  greatly  mourned  by  his  counuymen. 


J 


^rvry^^.       ,^  J^^/^.y 


TWELFTH  PRESIDENT. 


;?4<P«AIRY  i,'4TJ3<^«- 


ACHARY  TAYLOR,  twelfth 
President  of  the  United  States, 
'  ■  Nvab  born  on  the  24th  of  Nov., 
1 7 &4,  in  Orange  Co.,  Va.  His 
fitht-r,  Colonel  Taylor,  was 
I  \  irginian  of  note,  and  a  dis- 
)  tuij^uished  patriot  and  soldier  of 
the  Revolution.  When  Zachary 
was  an  infant,  his  father  with  his 
wife  and  two  children, emigrated 
to  Kentucky,  where  he  settled  in 
the  pathless  wilderness,  a  few 
miles  from  Louisville.  Li  this  front- 
ier home,  away  from  civilization  and 
its  refinements,  yaung  Zachary 
could  enjoy  but  few  social  and  educational  advan- 
tages. When  six  years  of  age  he  attended  a  common 
school,  and  was  then  regarded  as  a  bright,  active  boy, 
ratlier  remarkable  for  blunlness  and  decision  of  char- 
icter  He  was  strong,  feailess  and  self-reliant,  and 
manifested  a  strong  desire  to  enter  the  army  to  fight 
die  Indians  who  were  ravaging  the  frontiers.  There 
is  little  to  be  recorded  of  the  uneventful  years  of  his 
childhood  on  his  father's  large  but  lonely  plantation. 
In  1808,  his  father  succeeded  in  obtaining  for  him 
the  commission  of  lieutenant  in  the  United  .States 
army  ;  and  he  joined  the  troops  which  were  stationed 
at  New  Orleans  under  Gen.  Wilkinson.  Soon  after 
this  he  married  Miss  Margaret  Smith,  a  young  lady 
from  one  of  the  first  families  of  Maryland. 

Immediately  after  the  declaration  of  war  with  Eng- 
land, in  1812,  Capt.  Taylor  (for  he  had  then  been 
promoted  to  that  rank)  was  put  in  command  of  Fort 
Harrison,  on  the  Wabash,  about  fifty  miles  above 
Vincennes.  This  fort  had  been  built  in  the  wilder- 
ness by  Gen.  Harrison. on  his  march  to  Tippecanoe. 
It  was  one  of  the  first  points  of  attack  by  the  Indians, 
"led  by  Tecumseh.     Its  garrison  consisted  of  a  broken 


company  of  infantry  numbering    fifty   men,    many  of 
whom  were  sick. 

Early  in  the  autumn  of  1812,  the  Indians,  steahhily, 
and  in  large  numbers,  moved  upon  the  fort.  Their 
approach  was  first  indicated  by  the  murder  of  two 
soldiers  just  outside  of  the  stockade.  Capt.  Taylor 
made  every  possible  preparation  to  meet  the  antici- 
pated assault.  On  the  4th  of  September,  a  band  of 
forty  painted  and  plumed  savages  came  to  the  fort, 
waving  a  white  flag,  and  informed  Capt.  Taylor  that 
in  the  morning  their  chief  would  con.e  to  have  a  talk 
with  him.  It  was  evident  that  their  object  was  merely 
to  ascertain  the  state  of  things  at  the  fort,  and  Capt. 
Taylor,  well  versed  in  the  wiles  of  the  savages,  kept 
them  at  a  distance. 

The  sun  went  down  ;  the  savages  disappeared,  the 
garrison  slept  upon  their  arms.  One  hour  before 
midnight  the  war  whoop  burst  from  a  thousand  lips 
in  the  forest  around,  followed  by  the  discharge  of 
musketry,  and  the  rush  of  the  foe.  Every  man,  sick 
and  well,  sprang  to  his  post.  Every  man  knew  that 
defeat  was  not  merely  death,  but  in  the  case  of  cai> 
ture,  death  by  the  most  agonizing  and  prolonged  tor- 
ture. No  pen  can  describe,  no  immagination  can 
conceive  the  scenes  which  ensued,  Tiie  savages  suc- 
ceeded in  setting  lire  to  one  of  the  block  houses^ 
Until  si,x  o'clock  in  the  morning,  this  awful  conflict 
continued.  The  savages  then,  baffled  at  every  point 
and  gnashing  their  teeth  with  rage,  retired.  Capt. 
Taylor,  for  this  gallant  defence,  was  promoted  to  tlie 
rank  of  major  by  brevet. 

Until  the  close  of  the  war,  MajorTaylor  was  placed 
in  such  situations  that  he  saw  but  little  more  of  active 
service.  He  was  sent  far  away  into  the  depths  of  the 
wilderness,  to  Fort  Crawford,  on  Fox  River,  which 
empties  into  Green  Bay.  Here  there  was  but  little 
to  be  done  but  to  wear  away  the  tedious  hours  as  one 
best  could.     There  were  no  liooks,  no  society,  no  in- 


6a 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR 


telleciii.ii  siiiiiiilus.  Thus  with  him  the  uneventful 
vean;  roUeil  on  Ciraiiiially  he  rose  to  the  rank  ol 
■:olonel.  In  the  lilack  Hawk  war,  which  resuhed  in 
the  capture  of  that  renowned  chieftain,  Col  'I'aylor 
took  a  subordinate  l)ut  a  brave  and  cfticient  part. 

V'or  twenty-four  years  Col.  Taylor  was  engaged  in 
the  defence  of  the  frontiers,  in  scenes  so  remote,  and  in 
employments  so  obscure,  that  his  name  was  unknown 
beyond  the  limits  of  his  own  immediate  acquaintance. 
In  the  year  1S36,  he  was  sent  to  Florida  to  compel 
the  Seminole  Indians  to  vacate  that  region  and  re- 
tire beyond  the  Mississii)pi,  as  their  chiefs  by  tre.ily, 
iiac'  promised  they  should  do.  The  services  rendered 
ne.e  secured  for  Col.  Taylor  the  high  appreciation  of 
ihc  Government;  and  as  a  reward,  he  was  elevated 
jc  ;he  rank  of  brigailier-general  l>y  brevet;  and  soon 
after,  in  May,  1838,  was  ap[X)inted  to  the  chief  com- 
nand  of  '.he  United  States  troops  in  Florida. 

After  two  years  of  sncli  wearisome  employment 
imidst  the  everglades  of  the  peninsula,  Gen.  Taylor 
)blaincd,  at  his  own  rciiuest,  a  change  of  command, 
;nd  was  stationed  over  the  Department  of  the  South- 
*est.  This  field  embraced  I.ouisiana,  Mississippi, 
.Alabama  and  Georgia.  Establishing  his  headquarters 
jjl  Fort  Jessup,  in  Louisiana,  he  removed  his  Himily 
f\o  a  plantation  which  he  purchased,  near  Baton  Rogue. 
n>^re  he  remained  for  five  years,  buried,  as  it  were, 
fiom  the  world,  but  faithfully  discharging  every  duty 
jii\ix)sed  uixjn  him. 

In  1846,  (ien.  Taylor  was  sent  to  guard  the  land 
between  the  Nueces  and  Rio  Grande,  the  latter  river 
"being  the  boundary  of  Texas,  which  was  tlien  claimed 
by  the  United  States.  Soon  the  war  with  Me.\ico 
Wt..;  brought  on,  and  at  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  dc  la 
PaJma,  Gen.  Taylor  won  brilliant  victories  over  the 
Mexicans.  The  rank  of  major-general  by  brevet 
was  then  conferred  upon  (ien.  Taylor,  and  his  name 
was  received  with  enthusiasm  almost  everywhere  in 
tlie  Nation.  Then  came  the  battles  of  Monterey  and 
Euena  Vista  in  which  he  won  signal  victories  over 
liices  much  larger  than  he  commanded. 

His  careless  habits  of  dress  and  iiis  unaffected 
niinjilicity,  secured  for  Gen.  Taylor  among  his  troops, 
'■{e  Si>/'n'(/uc/  of  "Old  Rough  and  Ready.' 

Tue  tidings  of  the  brilliant  victory  of  Buena  Vista 
reread  the  wildest  enthusiasm  over  the  country.  The 
n.. me  of  (jen.  Taylor  was  on  every  one's  lips.  The 
H  hig  party  decided  to  take  advantage  of  this  wonder- 
fu/  [xjpularity  in  bringing  forward  the  unpolished, un- 

■'  '■■ed,  honest  soldier  as  their  candidate  for  the 
I'lesidency.  Gen.  Taylor  was  astonished  at  the  an- 
ncuncement,  and  for  a  time  would  not  listen  toit;  de- 
cbiring  that  he  was  not  at  al!  qualified  for  such  an 
oftice.  So  little  interest  had  he  taken  in  |K)litics  that, 
for  forty  years,  he  had  n«t  cast  a  vote.  It  was  not 
wnhout  chagrin  that  several  distinguished  statesmen 
ivlio  had  been  long  vears  in  the  public  service  found 
•i.  iir  claims  set  aside  in  behalf  of  one  *liOse   name 


had  never  been  heard  of,  save  in  connection  with  I'alo 
Alto,  Resaca  de  la  Falma,  Monterey  and  Buena 
Vista.  It  is  said  that  Daniel  Webster,  in  his  haste  re- 
marked, "  it  is  a  nomination  not  fit  to  be  made." 

Gen.  Taylor  was  not  an  elocpient  spe.iker  nor  a  fine 
writer  His  friends  took  [xjssession  of  him,  and  |)re- 
pared  such  few  communications  as  it  was  needful 
should  be  presented  to  the  public.  The  jxipularity  of 
the  successful  warrior  swei)t  the  land.  He  was  tri- 
umphantly elected  over  two  opiKJsing  candidates, — 
(ien.  t'ass  and  Kx-Piesideiu  Martin  Van  Buren. 
Tiiough  he  selected  an  excellent  cabinet,  che  good 
old  man  found  himself  in  a  very  uncongenial  jxasition, 
and  was,  at  times,  sorely  perplexed  and  harassed. 
His  mental  sufTerings  were  very  severe,  and  probably 
tended  to  hasten  his  death.  The  pro-slavery  |)arty 
was  pusiiing  its  claims  with  tireless  energy,  ex])edi- 
tions  were  fitting  out  to  capture  Cuba  ;  '",alifornia  was 
pleading  for  admission  to  the  Union,  while  slavery 
stood  at  the  door  to  bar  her  out.  Gen.  Taylor  found 
the  political  contlicts  in  Washington  to  Le  far  more 
trying  to  the  nerves  than  battles  with  Mexicans  or 
Indians 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  troubles,  Gen.  Taylor, 
after  he  had  occupied  the  Presidential  chair  but  little 
over  a  year,  took  cold,  and  after  a  brief  sickness  of 
but  little  over  five  days,  died  on  the  gihof  July,  1850. 
His  last  words  were,  "  I  am  not  afraid  to  die.  I  am 
ready.  I  have  endeavored  to  do  my  duty."  He  died 
universally  respected  and  beloved.  An  honest,  un- 
pretending man,  he  had  been  steadily  growing  in  the 
affections  of  the  people;  and  the  Nation  bitterly  la- 
mented his  death. 

Gen.  Scott,  who  was  thoioughly  acciuainted  with 
Gen.  Taylor,  gave  the  following  graphic  and  truthful 
description  of  his  character:—"  With  a  good  store  of 
common  sense,  Gen.  Taylor's  mind  had  not  been  en- 
larged and  refreshed  by  reading,  or  much  converse 
with  the  world.  Rigidity  of  ideas  was  the  conse-' 
quence.  The  frontiers  and  small  military  posts  had 
been  his  home.  Hence  he  was  quite  ignorant  for  his 
rank,  and  quite  bigoted  in  his  ignorance.  His  sim- 
plicity was  child-like,  and  with  innumerable  preju- 
dices, amusing  and  incorrigible,  well  suited  to  the 
tender  age.  Thus,  if  a  man,  however  respectable, 
chanced  to  wear  a  coat  of  an  unusual  color,  or  his  hat 
a  little  on  one  side  of  his  head;  or  an  officer  to  leave 
a  corner  of  his  handkerchief  dangling  from  an  out- 
side pocket, — in  any  such  case,  this  critic  held  the 
offender  to  be  a  coxcomb  (perhaps  something  worse), 
whom  he  would  not,  to  use  his  oft  repeated  jihrase, 
'touch  with  a  jiair  of  tongs.' 

"Any  allusion  to  literature  beyond  good  old  Dil- 
worth's  spelling-book,  on  the  part  of  one  wearing  a 
sword,  was  evidence,  with  the  same  judge,  of  utter 
unfitness  for  heavy  marchings  and  combats.  Inshorf 
few  men  have  ever  had  a  more  comforta:.'".'^  l•'»^'^T. 
saving   contempt   for  learnirg  of  every  kind. 


•3i«- 


■^.cf/..,,/     ,//>?-,  „.^ 


THIRTEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


67 


1  ^MILLflRn  FILLMnHE."^         1 

\.''^''^  %^'^''-'  {tx''^'*^  ^^''^''''  ^'^''■'  j^-j"^''^  ^'"^''^^^3"^''-''^'%'''^^^  '^"^"tgt  ■^"■'  fi_ 


'ill*^ 


ILLARD  FILLMORE,  thir- 
.^  teenth  President  of  the  United 
-    States,    was  born  at  Summer 
Hill,  Cayuga  Co.,   N.  Y  .,  on 
the  7th  of  January,  1800.   His 
■-^    father  was  a  farmer,  and  ow- 
ing to  misfortune,  in  humble  cir- 
cumstances.    Of  his  mother,  the 
diughter  of  Dr.  Abiathar  Millard, 
of  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  it   has  been 
said  that  she  possessed  an  intellect 
of  very  high  order,  united  with  much 
personal  loveliness,  sweetness  of  dis- 

fimsition,  graceful  manners  and  ex- 
quisite sensibilities.  She  died  in 
1S31 ;  having  lived  to  see  her  son  a 
young  man  of  distinguished  prom- 
ise, ihough  she  was  not  permitted  to  witness  the  liigli 
dignity  which  he  finally  attained. 

In  consetpience  of  the  secluded  home  ar.d  limited 
means  of  his  father,  Millard  enjoyed  but  slender  ad- 
vantages for  education  in  his  early  years.  The  com- 
mon schools,  which  he  occasionally  attended  were 
very  imperfect  institutions;  and  books  were  scarce 
and  expensive.  Tliere  was  nothing  then  in  his  char- 
acter to  indicate  the  brilliant  career  upon  which  he 
was  about  to  enter.  He  was  a  plain  farmer's  boy ; 
intelligent,  good-looking,  kind-hearted.  The  sacred 
influences  of  home  had  taught  him  to  revere  the  Bible, 
and  had  laid  the  foundations  of  an  upright  character. 
When  fourteen  years  of  age,  liis  father  sent  him 
some  hundred  miles  from  home,  to  the  then  wilds  of 
Livingston  County,  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  clothier. 
Neai'  the  mill  there  was  a  small  villiage,  where  some 


enterprising  man  had  commenced  the  collection  of  a 
village  librarj'.  This  proved  an  inestimable  blessing 
to  young  Fillmore.  His  evenings  were  spent  in  read- 
ing. Soon  ever)'  leisure  moment  was  occupied  with 
books.  His  thirst  for  knowledge  became  insatiate 
and  the  selections  which  he  made  were  continually 
more  elevating  and  instructive.  He  read  history, 
biography,  oratory,  and  thus  gradually  there  was  en- 
kindled in  his  heart  a  desire  to  be  something  more 
than  a  mere  worker  with  his  hands;  and  he  was  be- 
coming, almost  unknown  to  himself,  a  well-informed, 
educated  man. 

The  young  clothier  had  now  attained  the  age  of 
nineteen  years,  and  was  of  fine  personal  appearance 
and  of  gentlemanly  demeanor.  It  so  happened  tha' 
there  was  a  gentleman  in  the  neighborhood  of  ample 
pecuniary  means  and  of  benevolence, — Judge  Walter 
Wood, — who  was  struck  with  the  prepossessing  a»- 
pearance  of  young  Fillmore.  He  made  his  acquaint- 
ance, and  was  so  much  impressed  with  his  ability  and 
attainments  that  he  advised  him  to  abandon  his 
trade  and  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  the  law.  The 
young  man  replied,  that  he  had  no  means  of  his  own, 
no  friends  to  help  him  and  that  his  previous  educa- 
tion had  been  very  imperfect.  But  Judge  Wood  had 
so  much  confidence  in  him  that  he  kindly  offered  to 
take  him  into  his  own  office,  and  to  loan  him  such 
money  as  he  needed.  Most  gratefully  the  generous 
offer  was  accepted. 

There  is  in  many  minds  a  strange  delusion  aboutj 
a  collegiate  education.  A  young  man  is  supposed  to 
be  liberally  educated  if  he  has  graduated  at  some  col- 
lege. But  many  a  boy  loiters  through  university  h;  T  : 
ind  then  enters  a  law  office,  who  is  by  no  means    as 


MU.LAKD  FILLMORE. 


well  prepared  to  prosecute  his  legal  studies  as  was 
Millard  Fillmore  when  he  graduated  at  the  clothing- 
mill  at  tile  end  of  four  years  of  manual  labor,  during 
which  every  leisure  moment  had  been  devoted  to  in- 
tense mental  culture. 

In  1823,  when  twenty-three  years  of  age,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  therl 
went  to  the  village  of  Aurora,  and  commenced  the 
practice  of  law.  In  this  secluded,  peaceful  region, 
his  practice  of  course  was  limited,  and  there  was  no 
opiwrtunity  for  a  sudden  rise  in  fortune  or  in  fame. 
Here,  in  the  year  1826,  he  married  a  lady  of  great 
moral  worth,  and  one  capable  of  adorning  any  station 
she  might  be  called  to  fill, — Miss  Abigail   Powers. 

His  elevation  of  character,  his  untiring  industry', 
his  legal  acquirements,  and  his  skill  as  an  advocate, 
gradually  attracted  attention ,  and  he  was  invited  to 
enter  into  partnership  under  highly  advantageous 
circumstances,  with  an  elder  member  of  the  bar  in 
Buffalo.  Just  before  removing  to  Buffalo,  in  1829, 
he  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Assembly,  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  as  a  representative  from  Erie 
County.  Though  he  had  never  taken  a  very  active 
part  in  ixjiitics,  his  vote  and  his  sympathies  were  with 
the  Whig  party.  The  State  was  then  Democratic, 
and  he  found  himself  in  a  helpless  minority  in  the 
Legislature  ,  still  the  testimony  comes  from  all  parties, 
that  his  courtesy,  ability  and  integrity,  won,  to  a  very 
unusual  degn  e  the  respect  of  his  associates. 

In  the  autumn  of  1832,  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in 
the  United  States  Congress  Ho  entered  that  troubled 
irena  in  some  of  the  most  tumultuous  hours  of  our 
national  history.  The  great  conflict  respecting  the 
national  bank  and  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  was 
then  raging. 

His  term  of  two  years  closed  ;  and  he  returned  to 
his  profession,  which  he  pursued  with  increasing  rep- 
utation and  success.  After  a  lapse  of  two  years 
lie  again  became  a  candidate  for  Congress ;  was  re- 
elected, and  took  his  seat  in  1837.  His  past  expe- 
rii^nce  as  a  rei)resentative  gave  htm  stiength  and 
confidence.  The  first  term  of  service  in  Q^ngress  to 
iny  man  can  be  but  little  more  than  an  introduction. 
He  was  now  prepared  for  active  duty.  All  his  ener- 
;:ies  were  brought  to  bearuiion  the  public  good.  Every 
measure  received  his  impress. 

Mr.  Fillmore  was  now  a  man  of  wide  repute,  and 
his  popularity  filled  the  State,  and  in  the  year  1847, 
he   was   elected  Comptroller  of    the   State 


Mr.  Fillmore  had  attained  the  age  of  forty-sevch 
years.  His  labors  at  the  bar,  in  the  Legislature,  in 
Congress  and  as  Comptroller,  had  given  him  very  con- 
siderable fame.  The  Whigs  were  casting  about  to 
find  suitable  candidates  for  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent at  the  ajjproaching  election.  Far  away,  on  the 
waters  of  the  Rio  Crande,  there  was  a  rough  old 
soldier,  who  had  fought  one  or  two  successful  battles 
with  the  Mexicans,  which  had  caused  his  name  to  be 
proclaimed  in  liumpet-tones  all  over  the  land.  But 
it  was  necessary  to  associate  with  him  on  the  same 
ticket  some  man  of  reputation  as  a  statesman. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  considerations,  the 
namesofZacliary  Taylor  and  Millard  Fillmore  became 
the  rallying-cry  of  the  Whigs,  as  their  candidates  for 
President  and  Vice-Peesident.  The  Whig  ticket  was 
signally  triumphant.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1849, 
Gen.  Taylor  was  inaugurated  President,  and  Millard 
Fillmore  Vice-President,  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  9th  of  July,  1850,  President  Taylor,  but 
about  one  year  and  four  months  after  his  inaugura 
tion,  was  suddenly  taken  sick  and  died.  By  the  Con- 
stitution, Vice-President  Fillmore  thus  became  Presi- 
dent. He  appointed  a  very  able  cabinet,  of  which 
the  illustrious  Daniel  Webster  was  Secretary  of  State. 

Mr.  Fillmore  had  very  serious  difficulties  to  contend 
with,  since  the  opixjsition  had  a  majority  in  both 
Houses.  He  did  everything  in  his  power  to  conciliate 
the  South;  but  the  pro-slavery  party  in  the  South  felt 
the  inadequacyof  all  measuresof  transient  conciliation. 
The  ]X)pulation  of  the  free  States  was  so  rapidly  in- 
creasing over  that  of  the  slave  States  that  it  was  in- 
evitable that  the  power  of  the  Government  should 
soon  pass  into  the  hands  of  the  free  States.  The 
famous  compromise  measures  were  adopted  under  Mr. 
Fillmcre's  adminstration,  and  the  Japan  Expedilioti 
was  sent  out.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1853,  Mr.  Fill- 
more, having  served  one  term,  retired. 

In  1856,  Mr.  Fillmore  was  nominated  for  the  Pres- 
idency by  the  "  Know  Nothing  "  party,  but  was  lieaten 
by  Mr.  Buchanan.  After  that  Mr.  Fillmore  lived  in 
retirement.  During  the  terrible  conflict  of  civil  war, 
he  was  mostly  silent.  It  was  generally  supjxised  that 
his  sympathies  were  rather  with  those  who  were  en- 
deavoring to  overthrow  our  institutions.  President 
Fillmore  kept  aloof  from  the  conflict,  without  any 
cordial  words  of  cheer  to  the  one  party  or  the  other. 
He  was  thus  forgotten  by  both.  He  lived  to  a  ri])e 
old  age,  and  died  in  Buffalo.  N.  Y.,  March  8,    1874 


FOURTEENTH  PRESIDENT 


71 


,^a.^:iStl 


r  A.     ^>- FRANKLIN  PIERCE. '4     ^r  ^ojc  ^r^ 


1^: 


^qjpj.-Bfc-''        .-,5^- 


RANKLIN  PIERCE,  the 
fourteenth  President  of  the 
f  United  States,  was  born  in 
Hillsborough,  N.  H.,  Nov. 
23,  1804.  His  father  was  a 
Revolutionary  soldier,  who, 
with  his  own  strong  arm, 
hewed  out  a  home  in  the 
wilderness.  He  was  a  man 
of  inflexible  integrity;  of 
strong,  though  uncultivated 
mind,  and  an  uncompromis- 
ing Democrat.  The  mother  of 
Franklin  Pierce  was  all  that  a  son 
could  desire, — an  intelligent,  pru- 
dent, affectionate.  Christian  wom- 
Franklin  was  the  sixth  of  eight  children. 
Franklin  was  a  very  bright  and  handsome  boy,  gen- 
erous, warm-hearted  and  brave.  He  won  alike  the 
love  of  old  and  young.  The  boys  on  the  play  ground 
loved  him.  His  teachers  loved  him.  The  neighbors 
looked  upon  him  with  pride  and  affection.  He  was 
by  instinct  a  gentleman;  always  speaking  kind  words, 
doing  kind  deeds,  with  a  peculiar  unstudied  tact 
which  taught  him  what  was  agreeable.  Without  de- 
veloping any  precocity  of  genius,  or  any  unnatural 
devotion  to  books,  he  was  a  good  scholar;  in  body, 
in  mind,  in  affections,  a  finely-developed  boy. 

When  sixteen  years  of  age,  in  the  year  1820,  he 
entered  Bowdoin  College,  at  Brunswick,  Me  He  was 
one  of  the  most  popular  young  men  in  the  college. 
The  purity  of  his  moral  character,  the  '  unvarying 
courtesy  of  his  demeanor,  his  rank  as  a  scholar,   and 


an 


=:r—     •"^fr'jfijj;^ 


genial  nature,  rendered  him  a  universal  favorite. 
There  was  something  very  peculiarly  winning  in  his 
address,  and  it  was  evidently  not  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree studied:  it  was  the  simple  outgushing  of  his 
own  magnanimous  and  loving  nature. 

Upon  graduating,  in  the  year  1824,  Franklin  Pierce 
commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Judge 
Woodbury,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  lawyers  of 
the  State,  and  a  man  of  great  private  worth.  Thfl 
eminent  social  qualities  of  the  young  lawyer,  his 
father's  prominence  as  a  public  man,  and  the  brilliant 
political  career  into  which  Judge  Woodbury  was  en-- 
tering,  all  tended  to  entice  Mr.  Pierce  into  the  faci- 
nating  yet  perilous  path  of  political  life.  With  all 
the  ardor  of  his  nature  he  espoused  the  cause  of  Gen. 
Jackson  for  the  Presidency.  He  commenced  the 
practice  of  law  in  Hillsborough,  and  was  soon  elected 
to  represent  the  town  in  the  State  Legislature.  Here 
he  served  for  four  yeais.  The  last  two  years  he  was 
chosen  speaker  of  the  house  by  a  very  large  vote. 

In  1833,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  Congress.  Without  taking  an  active 
part  in  debates,  he  was  faithful  and  laborious  in  duty 
and  ever  rising  in  the  estimation  of  those  with  whom 
he  was  associatad. 

In  1837,  being  then  but  thirty-three  years  of  age, 
he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States; 
taking  his  seat  just  as  Mr.  Van  Buren  commenced 
his  administration.  He  was  the  youngest  member  in 
the  Senate.  In  the  year  1834,  he  married  Miss  Jane 
Means  Appleton,  a  lady  of  rare  beauty  and  accom- 
plishments, and  one  admirably  fitted  to  adorn  ever)' 
station  with  wnich  her  husband  was  honoied.    Of  the 


7« 


>•  RAN  KLIN  PIKRCE. 


three  sons  who  were  bom  to  them,  all  now  sleep  with 
their  parents  in  the  grave. 

In  the  year  1838,  Mr.  Pierce,  with  growing  fame 
and  increasing  business  as  a  lawyer,  took  up  his 
residence  in  Concord,  the  capital  of  New  Hamjjshire. 
President  Polk,  uixjn  his  accession  to  office,  apixjinted 
Mr.  Pierce  attorney-general  of  the  United  States;  but 
the  offer  was  declined,  in  consequence  of  numerous 
professional  engagements  at  home,  and  the  precariuos 
state  of  Mrs.  Pierce's  health.  He  also,  about  the 
same  time  declined  the  nomination  for  governor  by  the 
Democratic  party.  The  war  with  Mexico  called  Mr. 
Pierce  in  the  army.  Receiving  the  appointment  of 
brigadier-general,  he  embarked,  with  a  portion  of  his 
troops,  at  Newixjrl,  R.  I.,  on  the  27th  of  May,  1847. 
He  took  an  imixsrtant  part  in  tliis  war,  proving  him- 
self a  brave  and  true  soldier. 

When  Gen.  Pierce  reached  his  home  in  his  native 
State,  he  was  received  enthusiastically  by  the  advo- 
cates of  the  Mexican  war,  and  coldly  by  his  oppo- 
nents. He  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
very  frequently  taking  an  active  part  in  political  (jues- 
tions,  giving  his  cordial  support  to  the  pro-slavery 
wing  of  the  Democratic  party.  The  compromise 
measures  met  cordially  with  his  approval;  and  he 
btrenuously  advocated  the  enforcement  of  the  infa- 
mous fugitive-slave  law,  which  so  shocked  the  religious 
sensibilities  of  the  North.  He  thus  became  distin- 
guished as  a  "  Northern  man  with  Southern  principles.'' 
The  strong  partisans  of  slavery  in  the  South  conse- 
quently regarded  him  as  a  man  wliom  they  could 
safely  trust  in  office  to  carry  out  their  i)lans. 

On  the  1 2th  of  June,  1852,  the  Democratic  conven- 
tion met  in  Baltimore  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency.  For  four  days  they  continued  in  session, 
snd  in  thirty-five  ballotings  no  one  had  obtained  a 
two-thirds  vote.  Not  a  vote  thus  far  had  been  thrown 
for  Gen.  Pierce.  Then  the  Virginia  delegation 
brought  forward  his  name.  There  were  fourteen 
more  ballotings,  during  which  Gen.  Pierce  constantly 
gained  strength,  until,  at  tiie  forty-ninth  ballot,  he 
received  two  hundred  and  eighty-two  votes,  and  all 
other  candidates  eleven.  Gen.  Winfield  Scott  was 
she  Whig  candidate.  Gen.  Pierce  was  chosen  with 
great  imanimity.  Only  four  States — Vermont,  Mas- 
sachusetts, Kentucky  and  Tennessee  —  cast  their 
electoral  votes  against  him  Gen.  Franklin  Pieice 
was  therefore  inaugurated  President  of  the  United 
States   on    the  4th  of  March,    1853. 


His  administration  proved  one  of  the  most  stormy  our 
country  had  ever  experienced.  The  controversy  be 
tween  slavery  and  freedom  was  then  approaching  its 
culminating  jioint.  It  became  evident  that  there  was 
an  "  irrepressible  conflict  "  between  them,  and  that 
tliis  Nation  could  not  long  exist  "  half  slave  and  half 
free."  President  Pierce,  during  the  whole  of  his  ad- 
ministration, did  every  thing  he  could  to  conciliate 
the  South  ;  but  it  was  all  in  vain.  The  conflict  every 
year  grew  more  violent,  and  threats  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  Union  were  borne  to  the  North  on  every  South- 
ern breeze. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  President 
Pierce  approaciied  the  close  of  his  four-years'  term 
of  office.  The  North  had  become  thoroughly  alien- 
ated from  him.  The  anti-slavery  sentiment,  goaded 
by  great  outrages,  had  been  rapidly  increasing;  all 
the  intellectual  ability  and  social  worth  of  President 
Pierce  were  forgotten  in  deep  rejjrehension  of  his  ad- 
ministrative acts.  The  slaveholders  of  the  South,  also, 
unmindful  of  the  fidelity  with  which  he  had  advo- 
cated those  measures  of  Government  which  they  ajv 
proved,  and  perhaps,  also,  feeling  that  he  had 
rendered  himself  so  unix)i)ular  as  no  longer  to  be 
able  accejHably  to  serve  them,  ungratefully  dropped 
him,  and  nominated  James  Buchanan  to  succeed  him. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1857,  President  Pierce  re- 
tired to  his  home  in  Concord.  Of  three  children,  two 
had  died,  and  his  only  surviving  child  had  been 
killed  before  his  eyes  by  a  railroad  accident ,  and  b.is 
wife,  one  of  the  most  estimable  and  accomplished  of 
ladies,  was  rapidly  sinking  in  consumption.  The 
hour  of  dreadful  gloom  soon  came,  and  he  was  left 
alone  in  the  world,  without  wife  or  child. 

When  the  terrible  Rebellion  burst  forth,  which  di- 
vided our  country  into  two  parties,  and  two  only,  Mr. 
Pierce  remained  steadfast  in  the  principles  which  he 
had  always  cherished,  and  gave  his  sympathies  to 
tliat  pro-slavery  party  with  which  he  had  ever  been 
allied.  He  declined  to  do  anything,  either  by  voice 
or  pen,  to  strengthen  the  hand  of  the  National  Gov- 
ernment. He  continued  to  reside  in  Concord  until 
the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  October, 
1869.  He  was  one  of  the  most  genial  and  social  of 
men,  an  honored  communicant  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  and  one  of  the  kindest  of  neighbors.  Gen- 
erous to  a  fault,  he  contiilnited  liberally  for  the  al- 
leviation of  suffering  and  want,  and  many  of  his  towns 
jieople  were  often  gladened  by  his   material    Ixjui.iy 


c_: 


-^  w^  J  ("  c/ur  ^< 


///  e/  /f/ 


I'fFTEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


rv^Si'^'aji'^'^'SSi'^'^'^'iS^'^-'  i'  ■'  i'  ■'  '■  '  '■  '■'.'i  '..'■•• '■•'■'•.Jt^tggt^i^ti^tig't^fg:,' 


-* »»^— 


^(^(^^■?i^l^^t". ' 


'  ■  ■"I'^gii'iSai'^t^'J^ai'tgii'^i'J^'i^'JSi'^l 


UyiS  )  iBj)  00»irf!.^m]KII  jA 


ta 


AMES  BUCHANAN,  the  fif- 
teenth President  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  in  a  small 
rentier  town,  at  the  foot  of  the 
eastern  ridge  of  the  Allegha- 
nies,  in  Franklin  Co.,  Penn.,  on 
the  23d  of  April,  1791.  The  place 
where  the  humble  cabin  of  his 
father  stood  was  called  Stony 
Batter.  It  was  a  wild  and  ro- 
mantic spot  in  a  gorge  of  the  moan- 
tains,  with  towering  summits  rising 
grandly  all  around.  His  father 
was  a  native  of  the  north  of  Ireland; 
a  poor  man,  who  had  emigrated  in 
1783,  with  little  property  save  his 
own  strong  arms.  Five  years  afterwards  he  married 
Elizabeth  Spear,  the  daughter  of  a  respectable  farmer, 
and,  with  his  young  bride,  plunged  into  the  wilder- 
ness, staked  his  claim,  reared  his  log-hut,  opened  a 
clearing  with  his  axe,  and  settled  down  there  to  per- 
form his  obscure  part  in  the  d-rama  of  life.  In  this  se- 
cluded home,  where  James  was  born,  he  remained 
for  eight  years,  enjoying  but  few  social  or  intellectual 
advantages.  When  James  was  eight  years  of  age,  his 
father  removed  to  the  village  of  Mercersburg,  where 
his  son  was  placed  at  school,  and  commenced  a 
course  of  study  in  English,  Latin  and  Greek.  His 
progress  was  rapid,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  he 
.intered  Dickinson  College,  at  Carlisle.  Here  he  de 
veloped  remarkable  talent,  and  took  his  stand  among 
the  first  scholars  in  the  institution.  His  application 
to  study  was  intense,  and  yet  his  native   powers    en- 


abled him  to  master  the  most  abstruse  subjects  wi  '- 
facility. 

In  the  year  1S09,  he  graduated  with  the  highes'. 
honors  of  his  clasL.  He  was  then  eighteen  years  ot 
age;  tall  and  graceful,  vigorous  in  health,  fond  of 
athletic  sport,  an  unerring  shot,  and  enlivened  with 
an  exuberant  flow  of  animal  spirits.  He  immediately 
commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  city  of  Lancaster, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  i8t2,  when  he  was 
but  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Very  rapidly  he  rose 
in  his  profession,  and  at  once  took  undisputed  stand 
with  the  ablest  law)ers  of  the  State.  When  but 
twenty-six  years  of  age,  unaided  by  counsel,  he  suc- 
cessfully defended  before  the  State  Senate  orje  of  the 
judges  of  the  State,  who  was  tried  upon  articles  01 
impeachment.  At  the  age  of  thirty  it  was  generally 
admitted  that  he  stood  at  the  head  of  the  bar;  and 
there  was  no  lawyer  in  the  State  who  had  a  more  lu- 
crative practice. 

In  1820,  he  reluctantly  consented  to  run  as  o 
candidate  for  Congress.  He  was  elected,  and  foi 
ten  years  he  remained  a  member  of  the  Lower  House 
During  the  vacations  of  Congress,  he  occasionally 
tried  some  important  case.  In  1831,  he  retired 
altogether  from  the  toils  of  his  iirofession,  having  ac- 
quired an  ample  fortune. 

Gen.  Jackson,  upon  his  elevation  to  the  Presidenc/, 
api;ointed  Mr.  Buchanan  minister  to  Russia.  Tht 
duties  of  his  mission  he  performed  with  ability,  whicl 
gave  satisfaction  to  all  parties.  Upon  his  return,  ii 
1833,  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  United  Statci 
Senate.  He  there  met',  as  his  associates,  Webster, 
Clay,  Wright  and  Calhoun.  He  advocated  tl'.e  meas- 
uiei  proposed  by  President  Jackson,  of  P'   k'ng  repn 


76 


JAMES  BUCHANAN. 


sals  ay;:iiii.st  Kiaiico,  to  enforce  the  payment  of  our 
claims  against  tliat  country;  and  defended  tlie 
course  of  tiie  President  in  his  unprecedented  and 
wiiolesnle  removal  from  ollice  of  those  wlio  were 
not  the  supporters  of  liis  administration.  I'pon 
this  (piestion  lie  was  broujjht  into  direct  collision 
with  Henry  Clay.  He  also,  with  voice  and  vole,  ad- 
vocated exiiuni|:injr  from  the  journal  of  the  Senate 
the  vote  of  censure  ayjainst  (tcu.  .Ijickson  for  remov- 
iny:  the  deposits.  Earnestly  he  opposed  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  District  of  C'olumliia,  and 
urged  the  i)rohil)ition  of  the  circul.'ition  of  anti- 
slavery  documents  by  the  laiited  States  mails. 

As  to  petitions  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  he  ad- 
vocated that  the^'  should  be  respectfidly  received; 
and  that  the  reply  should  be  returned,  that  Con- 
gress had  no  power  to  legislate  upon  the  subject. 
"Congress,"  said  he,  "might  as  well  undertake  to 
interfere  with  slavery  under  a  foreign  government 
.IS  in  any  of  the  Slates  where  it  now  exists." 

V\wn  Mr.  Polk's  accession  to  the  Presidency,  Mr. 
Buchanan  became  Sccrelary  of  State,  and  :is  such, 
look  ills  sliare  of  the  responsibility  in  the  conduct 
of  the  .Alexican  War.  l\Ir.  Polk  assumed  that  cross- 
ing the  Xueces  by  the  American  troops  into  the 
disputed  territory  was  not  wrong,  but  for  the  Mex- 
icans to  crt)ss  the  Rio  Oraiidc  into  that  territory 
was  a  dechuatiou  of  war.  ><'o candid  man  can  read 
with  pleasure  the  account  of  the  course  our  Gov- 
ernmeiit  jiursued  in  that  movement. 

Mr.  IJuchanan  identified  himself  thoroughly  with 
the  party  devoted  io  the  jiorpetuation  and  extension 
of  slavery,  and  brought  .all  the  energies  of  his  mind 
to  bear  against  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  He  gave  his 
cordial  approval  to  the  compromi.se  measures  of 
l)S.jO,  which  included  tiie  fugitive  slave  law.  Mr. 
I'ierce,  u|)on  his  election  to  the  Presidency,  hon- 
ored Mr.  IJuehanan  with  the  mission  to  England. 

In  the  year  l<H.")fi,  a  national  Democratic  conven- 
tion nominated  !\Ir.  P.uclianan  for  \.\w  Presidency. 
The  political  conllict  w.as  one  of  the  most  severe 
in  which  our  country  li.as  ever  engaged.  All  the 
friends  of  slavery  were  on  one  side;  all  the  advo- 
cates of  its  restriction  and  final  al)olitioi\  on  tiie 
other.  Mr.  Fremont,  the  candidate  of  the  eiioinies 
of  slavery,  received  111  electoral  votes.  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan received  171, and  wasclected.  The  po|>ular 
vote  stood  1,34(),G18  for  Fremont,  I,2-il.7r)()  for 
Buchanan.  On  March  4,  1857,  Mr.  Bucliaiian  was 
inaugurated. 

Mr.  Buchanan  was  far  advaiucd  in  life.  Only 
four  years  were  wanting  to  fill  up  his  tiu-ce-score 
years  and  ten.  Ilis  own  friends,  those  with  whom 
he  had  been  allied  in  political  principles  and  action 
for  years,  were  seeking  the  destruction  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, that  they  might  rear  upon  the  ruins  of  our 
free  institutions  a  nation  whose  coruer-stone  should 


be  human  slavery.  In  this  emergency,  ISIr.  Bu- 
chanan was  hopelessly  Ijcwildered.  lie  could  not, 
willi  his  long-avowed  princii)les.  consistentl}-  op- 
pose the  .Statc-righU-j  party  in  their  assumptions.  As 
President  of  the  Fniled  States,  bound  by  his  oath 
failhfiilly  to  ailminister  the  laws,  lie  could  not, 
wiliioul  i)erjury  of  the  grossest  kind,  unite  with 
those  endeavoring  to  overthrow  tiie  Republic.  lie 
therefore  did  nothing. 

The  opponcntsof  Mr.  Buchanan 'sadiiiinistration 
nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  as  their  stiiiidard- 
bearer  in  the  next  Presidential  canva.<s.  The  pro- 
slavery  party  declared  that  if  he  were  elected  anil 
thecontrol  of  the  Clovernment  were  thus  taken  from 
their  liands  they  would  secede  from  the  Union,  tak- 
ing with  them  as  they  retired  the  National  Capi- 
U)l  at  Washington  and  the  lion's  share  of  tiie  ter- 
ritory of  the  United  States. 

As  the  storm  increased  in  violence,  the  slave- 
holders, claiming  the  right  to  secede,  and  ]Mr.  Bu- 
chanan avowing  that  Congress  had  no  pfiwer  to 
lirevent  it,  one  of  tiie  most  pitiable  exhiliilions  of 
governmental  imbecilit}'  was  exhiliit^-d  the  world 
has  ever  seen.  He  declared  that  Congress  h.id  no 
power  to  enforce  its  laws  in  any  State  which  had 
withdrawn,  or  which  was  atteniptiiig  to  withdraw. 
from  the  Union.  This  was  not  liic  doctrine  of  An- 
drew Jackson,  when,  with  his  hand  ujion  hissword- 
iiilt,  he  exclaimed.  "The  Union  must  and  shall  be 
lireserved!" 

South  Carolina  seceded  in  December,  186i),  nearly 
three  months  before  the  inauguration  of  President 
Lincoln.  Mr.  Buchanan  looked  on  in  listless  (h- 
spair.  The  rebel  flag  was  raised  in  Charleston;  Ii. 
Sumter  was  besieged;  our  forts,  navy-yards  ami 
arsenals  were  seized;  our  depots  of  militaiy  storc> 
were  plundered;  and  our  custom-houses  and  post- 
ollices  were  appropriated  by  the  rebels. 

The  energy  of  the  rebels  and  the  imbecility  of 
our  P^xecutive  were  alike  marvelous.  The  nation 
looked  on  in  agony,  waiting  for  the  slow  weeks  to 
glide  awa}'  and  close  the  administration,  so  ter- 
rible in  its  weakness.  At  length  the  long-looked- 
for  hour  of  deliverance  came,  when  Abr.aliam  Lin- 
coln was  to  receive  the  scepter. 

The  administration  of  President  Buchanan  was 
certainly  the  most  calamitous  our  country  has  ex- 
perienced. His  best  friends  cannot  recall  it  with 
pleasure.  And  still  more  deplorable  it  is  for  his 
fame,  that  in  that  dreadful  conllict  whicli  rolled  its 
billows  of  llanic  aiid1)loo<l  over  our  whole  land,  no 
word  came  from  his  lips  to  indicate  his  wish  llial 
our  country's  banner  should  triumph  over  the  flag 
of  the  Kebelliou.  He  died  at  his  Wheatland  re- 
treat, June  1,  1868. 


/I. 


>^f 


<^ 


oyT^^^-^'-^'^'-t^ 


SIXTEENTH  PRES/DENT. 


BRAHAM    LINCOLN,    the 

sixtceiitli  President  of  ilie 
J^Uniled  States,  was  born  in 
Hardin  Co.,  Ky.,  Feb.  12, 
1 809.  About  the  year  1 7  80,  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Abraham 
'■''  Lincobi  left  Virginia  with  his 
iimilyand  moved  into  tlie  then 
u  ildsof  Kentucky.  Only  two  years 
liter  this  emigration,  still  a  young 
man,  while  working  one  day  in  a 
lield,  was  stealthily  approached  by 
an  Indian  and  shut  dead.  His  widow 
was  left  in  extreme  poverty  witli  five 
little  children,  three  boys  and  two 
girls.  Thomas,  the  youngest  of  the 
boys,  was  four  years  of  age  at  his 
father's  death.  This  Thomas  was 
the  father  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the 
President  of  the  L^nited  States 
whose  name  must  henceforth  fcever  be  enrolled 
with  the  most  prominent  in  the  annals  of  our  world. 
Of  course  no  record  has  lieen  kept  of  the  life 
of  one  so  lowly  as  Thomas  Lincoln.  He  was  among 
the  poorest  of  the  poor.  His  home  was  a  wretched 
log-cabin;  his  food  the  coarsest  and  the  meanest. 
Education  he  had  none;  he  could  never  either  read 
or  write.  .\s  soon  as  he  was  able  to  do  anything  for 
himself,  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  cabin  of  his 
starving  mother,  and  push  out  into  the  world,  a  friend- 
.ess,  wandering  boy,  seeking  work.  He  hired  him- 
self out,  and  thus  spent  the  whole  of  his  youth  as  a 
^iliorer  in  the  fields  of  others. 

When  twenty-eight  years  of  age  he  bnill  a  log- 
tabin  of  his  own,  and  married  Nancy  Hanks,  the 
daughter  of  another  family  of  poor  Kentucky  emi- 
grants, who  had  also  come  from  Virginia.  Their 
second  child  was  Aliraham  Lincoln,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  The  mother  of  Abraham  was  a  noble 
'voman,  gentle,  loving,  pensive,  created  to  adorn 
a  palace,  doomed  to  toil  and  pine,  and  die  in  a  hovel. 
"All  that  I  am,  or  hope  to  be,"  exclaims  the  grate- 
ful son  "  I  owe  to  my  angel-mother. 

When  he  was  eight  years  of  age,  his  father  sold  his 


cabin  and  small  farm,  and  moved  to  Indiana    Wher'^ 
two  years  later  his  motiier  died. 

Abraham  soon  became  ihe  scribe  of  th§  uneducated 
community  around  him.  He  co..ld  not  have  had  a 
better  school  than  this  to  teach  him  to  put  thought? 
into  words.  He  also  became  an  eager  reader.  The 
books  he  could  obtain  were  few;  but  these  he  '"ead 
and  re-read  until  they  were  almost  committe'^  tc 
memory. 

As  the  years  rolled  on,  the  lot  of  this  lowly  familj 
was  the  usual  lot  of  humanity.  There  were  joys  ano 
griefs,  weddings  and  funerals.  Abraham's  sisto 
Sarah,  to  whom  he  was  tenderly  attaclied,  was  mat 
ried  when  a  child  of  but  fourteen  years  of  age,  and 
soon  died.  The  family  was  gradually  scattered.  M"" 
Thomas  Lincoln  sold  out  his  squatter's  claim  'n  t83o 
and  emigrated  to  ^^acon  Co.,  111. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  then  twenty-one  years  ot  age. 
With  vigorous  hands  he  aided  his  father  in  i^aring 
another  log-cabin.  Abraham  worked  diligently  at  this 
until  he  saw  the  family  comfortably  settled,  and  theii 
smnll  lot  of  enclosed  prairie  planted  with  corn,  wlien 
he  announced  to  his  father  his  intention  to  leave 
home,  and  to  go  out  into  the  world  and  seek  his  ior- 
tune.  Little  did  he  or  his  friends  imagine  how  bril- 
liant that  fortune  was  to  be.  He  saw  the  value  ol 
education  and  was  intensely  earnest  to  improve  his 
mind  to  the  utmost  of  his  power.  He  saw  the  ruin 
which  ardent  spirits  were  causing,  .  and  bei  ame 
strictly  temperate;  refusing  to  allow  a  drop  of  intoxi- 
cating liipior  to  pass  his  lips.  And  he  had  read  in 
God's  word,  "  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the 
Lord  thy  God  in  -'  ,1,.;"  and  a  profane  expression  ha 
was  never  heard  to  utter.  Religion  he  revered.  His 
morals  were  pure,  and  he  was  uncontaminated  by  a 
single  vice. 

Young  Abraham  worked  for  a  time  as  a  hired  labore 
among  the  farmers.  Then  he  went  to  Springfield 
where  he  was  employed  in  building  a  large  flat-boni 
In  this  he  took  a  herd  of  swine,  floated  them  dow 
ilie  Sangamon  to  the  Illinois,  and  thence  by  the  ?vli^ 
-^issippi  to  New  Orleans.  Whatever  Abraham  Lii 
(oin  undertook,  he  performed  so  faithfully  as  to  giv, 
great  satisfaction  to  his  employers.      In   this  adven 


8o 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


tiirc  his  cmploycis  were  io  well  jjleased,  thai  uiwii 
Ills  return  tiiey  [jluced  a  store  and  mill  under  his  care. 

Ill  1832,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Hlack  ll.iwk  war,  he 
enlisted  and  was  chosen  captain  of  a  company.  He 
returned  to  Sangamon  Lbunty,  and  although  only  23 
yeafs  of  age,  was  a  candidate  tor  the  Legislature,  but 
was  defeated.  He  soon  after  received  from  Andrew 
Jackson  the  appointment  of  Postmaster  of  New  .Salem, 
His  only  [jost-office  was  his  hat.  .Ml  the  letters  lie 
received  he  carried  there  ready  to  deliver  to  those 
he  ci\anced  to  meet.  He  studied  surveying,  and  soon 
made  this  his  business.  In  1834  he  again  became  a 
candidate  for  tlie  Legislature,  and  was  elected  Mr. 
Stuart,  of  Springfield,  advised  him  to  study  law.  He 
walked  from  New  Salem  to  S|)ringrield,  i)orrowed  of 
Mr.  Stuart  a  load  of  books,  carried  them  back  and 
began  his  R-gal  studies.  When  the  Legislature  as- 
sembled he  trudged  on  foot  with  his  pack  on  his  back 
ync  hundred  miles  to  Vandalia,  then  the  capital.  In 
1836  he  was  re-elected  to  the  Legislature.  Here  it 
was  he  first  met  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  In  1839  he  re- 
moved to  Springfield  and  began  the  practice  of  law. 
His  success  with  the  jury  was  so  great  that  he  was 
coon  engaged  in  almost  every  noted  case  in  the  circuit. 

In  1S54  ihe  great  discussion  began  between  Mr. 
Lincobi  and  Mr.  Douglas,  on  the  slavery  (juestion. 
In  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party  in  Illinois, 
in  1856,  lie  took  an  active  part,  and  at  once  became 
one  of  the  leaders  in  that  party.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
speeches  in  opposition  to  Senator  Douglas  in  the  con- 
test in  1858  for  a  seat  in  the  Senate,  form  a  most 
notable  part  of  his  history.  The  issue  was  on  the 
ilavery  question,  and  he  took  the  broad  ground  of 
.he  Declaration  of  Independence,  that  all  men  are 
created  equal.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  defeated  in  this  con- 
test, but  won  a  far  higher   prize. 

The  great  Republican  Convention  met  at  Chicago 
on  the  1 6th  of  June,  i860.  Tlie  delegates  and 
strangers  who  crowded  the  city  amounted  to  twenty- 
five  thousand.  An  immense  building  called  "The 
Wigwam,"  was  reared  to  accommodate  the  Conven- 
tion. There  were  eleven  candidates  for  whom  votes 
were  thrown.  W^illiam  H  Seward,  a  man  whose  fame 
as  a  statesman  had  long  filled  the  land,  was  the  most 
orominent.  It  was  generally  supposed  he  would  be 
the  nominee.  Abraham  Lincoln,  however,  received 
the  nomination  on  the  third  ballot.  Little  did  he  then 
dream  of  the  weary  years  of  toil  and  care,  and  the 
bloody  death,  to  which  that  nomination  doomed  him: 
xndaslittledid  he  dream  that  he  was  to  vender  services 
to  his  country,  which  would  fix  uiX/u  him  the  eyes  of 
the  whole  <ivilized  world,  and  which  would  give  him 
a  place  in  the  afTcrtions  of  his  countrymen,  second 
cnly,  if  second,  to  that  of  Washington. 

F^lection  day  came  and  Mr.  Lincoln  received  180 
electoral  votes  out  of  203  cast,  and  was,  therefore, 
constitutionally  elected  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  tirade  of  abuse  that  vas  (wured  uiwn  this    good 


and  merciful  man,  especially  by  the  slaveholders,  was 
greater  than  upon  any  other  man  ever  elected  to  this 
liigli  [Kjsition.  In  February,  1861,  .Mr.  Lincoln  started 
for  Washington,  stopping  in  all  the  large  cities  on  his 
way  making  speeches.  I'lie  wiiole  journey  wasfrought 
with  much  danger.  Many  of  the  Southern  States  had 
already  seceded,  and  several  attempts  at  assassination 
were  afterwards  brought  lo  light.  A  gang  in  Balti- 
more h.ul  arranged,  u[xjn  his  arrival  to"  get  up  a  row," 
and  in  the  confusion  lo  make  sure  of  his  death  with 
revolvers  and  hand-grenades.  .V  detective  unravelled 
the  plot.  A  secret  and  special  train  was  [)rovided  to 
take  him  from  HarrisL'urg,  through  Hallimore.  at  ai 
unexpected  hour  of  the  night.  The  train  started  ai 
half-past  ten  ;  and  to  prevent  any  possible  communi- 
cation on  the  i)art  ot  the  Secessionists  with  theirCon- 
federate  gang  in  Baltimore,  as  soon  as  the  train  hac 
started  the  telegraph-wires  were  cut.  Mr.  Lincoln 
reached  Washington  in  safety  and  was  inaugurated, 
although  great   anxiety  was  felt  by  all  loyal   people 

In  the  selection  of  his  cabinet  Mr.  Lincoln  gave 
to  Mr.  Seward  the  Department  of  State,  and  to  other 
prominent  opponents  before  the  convention  he  gave 
imjOTrtant  [wsitions. 

During  no  other  administration  have  ihe  duties 
devolving  iqion  the  President  been  .so  manifold,  and 
the  responsibilities  so  great,  as  those  which  fell  to 
the  lot  of  President  Lincoln.  Knowing  this,  and 
feeling  his  own  weakness  and  inability  to  meet,  and  in 
his  own  strength  to  cope  with,  the  difficulties,  lie 
learned  early  to  seek  Divine  wisdom  and  guidance  in 
determining  his  [ilans,  and  Divine  comfort  in  all  his 
trials,  bo'h  personal  and  national  Contrary  to  his 
own  estimate  of  himself,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  one  of  the 
most  courageous  of  men.  He  went  directly  into  the 
rel)el  ca[)ital  just  as  the  retreating  foe  was  leaving, 
with  no  guard  but  a  few  sailors.  From  the  time  he 
had  left  Springfield,  in  1S61,  however,  plans  had  been 
made  for  his  assassination, and  he  at  last  fell  a  victim 
tooneof  them.  April  14,  1865,  he,  with  Gen.  Grant, 
was  urgently  invited  to  attend  Fords'  Theater.  It 
was  announced  that  they  would  Le  present.  Gen. 
( jiant,  however,  left  the  city.  President  Lincohi,  feel- 
ing, wiiii  his  characteristic  kindliness  of  heart,  that 
it  would  be  a  disapiwintment  if  he  should  fail  them, 
very  reluctantly  consented  to  go.  While  listening  to 
the  play  an  actor  by  the  name  of  John  Wilkes  Booth 
entered  the  l)ox  where  the  President  and  family  were 
seated,  and  fired  a  bullet  into  his  brains.  He  died  the 
next  morning  at  seven  o'clock. 

Never  before,  in  the  history  of  the  world  was  a  nation 
plunged  into  such  dee|)  grief  by  the  death  of  its  ruler. 
Strong  men  met  in  the  streets  and  wept  in  s|)eechless 
angtiish.  It  is  not  too  much  lo  say  that  a  nation  was 
in  tears.  His  was  a  life  which  will  fitly  become  a 
model.  His  name  as  the  savior  of  his  country  »•■.!! 
live  with  that  of  Washington's,  its  father;  hisco-.ntry- 
mtr.  being  unable   to  decide    whi.  1.   is    tl>e   L'reatcr 


^>'"^. 


:^^^^:J^02^- 


SEVENTEENTH  PRESIUEJST. 


NDREW  JOHNSON,  seven- 
teenth President  of  the  United 
States.  The  early  life  of 
Andrew  Johnson  contains  but 
the  record  of  poverty,  destitu- 
tion and  friendlessness.  He 
was  born  December  29,  180S, 
in  Raleigh,  N.  C.  His  parents, 
belonging  to  the  class  of  the 
"  poor  whites  "  of  the  South,  were 
in  such  circumstances,  that  they 
could  not  cfoHtx  ..'en  the  slight- 
est advantages  of  education  ujxjn 
their  child.  When  Andrew  was  five 
years  of  age,  his  father  accidentally 
lost  nis  life  while  herorically  endeavoring  to  save  a 
friend  from  drowning.  ''J^niil  ten  years  of  age,  Andrew 
was  a  ragged  boy  abouf  the  streets,  supjxjrted  by  the 
labor  of  his  mother,  who  obtained  her  living  with 
her  own  hands. 

He  then,  having  never  attended  a  school  one  day, 
and  being  unable  either  to  read  or  write,  was  ap- 
prenticed to  a  tailor  in  his  native  town.  A  gentleman 
was  in  the  habit  of  going  to  the  tailor's  shop  occasion- 
ally, and  reading  to  the  boys  at  work  there.  He  often 
read  from  the  speeches  of  distinguished  British  states- 
men. .'\ndrew,  who  was  endowed  with  a  mind  of  more 
than  ordinary  native  ability,  became  much  interested 
m  these  speeches ;  his  ambition  was  roused,  and  he 
was  inspired  with  a  strong  desire  to  learn  to  read. 

He  accordingly  applied  himself  to  tlie  alphabet,  and 
with  the  assistance  of  some  of  his  fellow-workmen, 
^earned  his  letters.  He  then  called  upon-  the  gentle- 
man to  borrow  the  book  of  speeches.      The  owner, 


pleased  with  his  zeal,  not  only  gave  him  the  booK 
but  assisted  him  in  learning  to  combine  the  letters 
into  words.  Under  such  difficulties  he  pressed  oi. 
ward  laboriously,  spending  usually  ten  or  twelve  hours 
at  work  in  the  shop,  and  then  robbing  himself  of  rest 
and  recreatior  to  devote  such  time  as  he  could  to 
reading. 

He  went  to  Tennessee  m  1826,  and  located  af- 
Greenville,  where  he  married  a  young  lady  who  pos 
sessed  some  education.  Under  her  instructions  he 
learned  to  write  and  cipher.  He  became  prominent 
in  the  village  debating  society,  and  a  favorite  wit)» 
the  students  of  Greenville  College.  In  1828,  he  or- 
ganized a  working  man's  party,  which  elected  him 
alderman,  and  in  1830  elected  him  mayor,  which 
position  he  held  three  years. 

He  now  began  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  political 
affairs ;  identifying  himself  with  the  working-classes, 
to  which  he  belonged.  In  1835,  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Tennes- 
see. He  was  then  just  twenty-seven  years  of  age. 
He  became  a  very  active  member  of  the  legislature 
gave  his  adhesion  to  the  Democratic  party,  and  in 
1840  "  stumped  the  State,"  advocating  Martin  Tan 
Buren's  claims  to  the  Presidency,  in  opposition  to  thos^ 
of  Gen.  Harrison.  In  this  campaign  he  acquired  much 
readiness  as  a  speaker,  and  extended  and  increased 
his  reputation. 

In  r84r,  he  was  elected  Stale  Senator;  in  r843,  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  Congress,  and  by  successive 
elections,  held  that  important  post  for  ten  years.  In. 
1853,  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Tennessee,  and' 
was  re-elected  in  1855.  In  all  these  resiMDnsible  ix)si- 
tions,  he  discharged  his  duties  with  distinguished  abi'. 


8^ 


ANDRE  IV  JOHNSON. 


ity,  and  proved  himself  the  warm  friend  of  the  work- 
ing classes.  In  1857,  Mr.  Johnson  was  elected 
United  States  Senator. 

Years  before,  in  1S45,  he  had  warmly  advocated 
the  anne.xation  of  Texas,  stating  however,  as  his 
teason,  that  he  thought  this  annexation  would  prob- 
ably prove  "  to  be  the  gateway  out  of  which  the  sable 
sons  of  .\frica  are  to  pass  from  bondage  to  freedom, 
and  become  merged  in  a  i^pulation  congenial  to 
themselves."  In  1850,  he  also  supiwrted  the  com- 
promise measures,  the  two  essential  features  of  whicli 
were,  that  the  white  people  of  the  Territories  should 
oe  permitted  to  decide  for  themselves  whether  they 
would  enslave  the  colored  people  or  not,  and  that 
the  *'ree  States  of  the  North  should  return  to  the 
Soulh  jwrsons  who  attempted  to  escape  from  slavery. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  neverashamcdof  his  lowly  origin: 
on  the  contrary,  he  often  took  i)ride  in  avowing  that 
he  owed  his  distinction  to  his  own  exertions.  "Sir," 
said  he  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  "  I  do  not  forget 
that  I  am  a  mechanic  ;  neither  do  I  forget  that  Adam 
was  a  tailor  and  sewed  fig-leaves,  and  that  our  Sav- 
ior was  the  son  of  a  carpenter." 

In  the  Charleston- Baltimore  convention  of  iSi^,  ne 
«vas  the  choice  of  the  Tennessee  Democrats  for  the 
'I'residency.  In  1861,  when  the  purjwse  of  the  South- 
ini  Democracy  became  apparent,  he  took  a  decided 
stand  ii\  favor  of  the  Union,  and  held  that  "  slavery 
must  be  held  subordinate  to  the  Union  at  whatever 
cost."  He  returned  to  Tennessee,  and  repeatedly 
imperiled  his  own  life  to  protect  the  Unionists  of 
Tennesee.  Tennessee  having  seceded  from  the 
Union,  President  Lincoln,  on  March  4th,  1862,  ap- 
pwinted  him  Military  Governor  of  the  State,  and  he 
established  the  most  stringent  military  rule.  His 
numerous  proclamations  attracted  wide  attention.    In 

1864,  he  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  and  upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  April   15, 

1865,  became  President.  In  a  speech  two  days  later 
he  said,  "  The  American  people  must  be  taught,  if 
they  do  not  already  feel,  that  treason  is  a  crime  and 
must  be  canished ;  that  the  Government  will  not 
always  beai  with  its  enemies ;  that  it  is  strong  not 
only  to  protect,  but  to  punish.  *  *  The  people 
must  imderstand  that  it  (treason)  is  the  blackest  of 
crimes,  and  will  surely  be  punished."  Yet  his  whole 
administration,  the  history  of  which  is  so  well  known, 
was  in  utter  itwjonsistency  with,  and  the  most  violent 


op|X)sition  to,  the  principles  laid  down  in  that  speech. 

In  his  loose  [wlicy  of  reconstruction  and  general 
amnesty,  he  was  opposed  by  Congress ;  and  he  char- 
acterized Congress  as  a  new  rebellion,  and  lawlessly 
defied  it,  in  everything  [xassible,  to  the  utmost.  In 
the  beginning  of  1 868,  on  account  of  "high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors,"  the  principal  of  which  was  the 
removal  of  Secretary  Stanton,  in  violation  of  the  Ten- 
ure of  Office  Act,  articles  of  impeachment  were  pre- 
ferred against  him,  and  the    trial   began    March   23. 

It  was  very  tedious,  continuing  for  nearly  three 
months.  A  test  article  of  the  impeachment  was  at 
length  submitted  to  the  court  for  its  action.  It  was 
certain  that  as  the  court  voted  upon  that  article  so 
would  it  vote  uiwn  all.  Thirty-four  voices  pronounced 
tiie  President  guilty.  As  a  two-thirds  vote  was  neces- 
sary to  his  condemnation,  he  was  pronounced  ac- 
(luitted,  notwithstanding  the  great  majority  against 
him.  The  change  of  one  vote  from  the  not  guilty 
side  would  have  sustained  the  impeachment. 

The  President,  for  the  remainder  of  his  term,  was 
but  little  regarded.  He  continued,  though  imijotently, 
his  conflict  with  Congress.  His  own  party  did  not 
think  it  expedient  to  renominate  him  for  the  Presi- 
dency. The  Nation  rallied,  with  enthusiasm  unpar- 
alleled since  the  days  of  Washington,  around  the  name 
of  Gen.  Grant.  Andrew  Johnson  was  forgotten. 
The  bullet  of  the  assassin  introduced  him  to  the 
President's  chair.  Notwithstanding  this,  never  was 
there  presented  to  a  man  a  better  opportunity  to  im- 
mortalize his  name,  and  to  win  the  gratitude  of  a 
nation.  He  failed  utterly.  He  retired  to  his  home 
in  Greenville,  Tenn.,  taking  no  very  active  part  in 
politics  until  1875.  On  Jan.  26,  after  an  exciting 
struggle,  he  was  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  Ten- 
nessee, United  States  Senator  in  the  forty-fourth  Con- 
gress, and  took  his  seat  in  that  body,  at  the  special 
session  convened  by  President  Grant,  on  the  5th  of 
March.  On  the  27th  of  July,  1875,  the  ex-President 
made  a  visit  to  his  daughter's  home,  near  Carter 
Station,  Tenn.  When  he  started  on  his  journey,  he  was 
apparently  in  his  usual  vigorous  health,  but  on  reach- 
ing the  residence  of  his  child  the  following  day,  was 
stricken  with  paralysis,  rendering  him  unconscious. 
He  rallied  occasionally,  but  finally  passed  away  at 
2  A.M.,  July  31,  aged  sixty-seven  years.  His  fun- 
eral was  attended  at  Geenville,  on  the  3d  of  .\ugust, 
with  every  demonstration  of  respect- 


7^<^  o^'^ 


ErGHTF.ENTH  PRESIDENT. 


LYSSES  S.  GRANT,  the 
eighteenth  President  of  the 
5"^  United  States,  was  bom  on 
the  29th  of  April,  1822,  of 
Christian  parents,  in  a  humble 
home,  at  Point  Pleasant,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ohio.  Shortly  after 
his  father  moved  to  George- 
town, Brown  Co.,  O.  In  this  re- 
mote frontier  hamlet,  Ulysses 
received  a  common-school  edu- 
cation. At  the  age  of  seven- 
y^i^  teen,  in  the  year  1839,  he  entered 
'^  the  Military  Academy  at  West 
I  Point.  Here  he  was  regarded  as  a 
solid,  sensible  young  man  of  fair  abilities,  and  of 
•-'turdy,  honest  character.  He  took  respectable  rank 
IS  a  scholar.  In  June,  1843,  he  graduated,  about  the 
middle  in  his  class,  and  was  sent  as  lieutenant  of  in- 
fantry to  one  of  the  distant  military  posts  in  the  Mis- 
Fcuri  Territory.  Two  years  he  past  in  these  dreary 
solitudes,  watching  the  vagabond  and  exasperating 
'ndians. 

The  war  with  Mexico  came.  Lieut.  Grant  was 
ient  with  his  regiment  to  Corpus  Christi.  His  first 
battle  was  at  Palo  Alto.  There  was  no  chance  here 
for  the  exhibition  of  either  skill  or  heroism,  nor  at 
Resaca  de  la  Palma,  his  second  battle.  At  the  battle 
nf  Monterey,  his  third  engagement,  it  is  said  that 
:ie  performed  a  signal  service  of  daring  and  skillful 
horsemanship.  His  brigade  had  exhausted  its  am- 
munition. A  messenger  must  be  sent  for  more,  along 
a  route  exposed  to  the  bullets  of  the  foe.  Lieut. 
Grant,  adopting  an  expedient  learned  of  the  Indians, 
grasped  the  mane  of  his  horse,  and  hanging  ujxjn  one 
side  of  the  anir°«il,  ran  the   gauntlet  in  entire  safety. 


From  Monterey  he  was  sent,  with  the  fourth  infantry, 
to  aid  Gen.  Scott,  at  the  siege  of  Vera  Cruz.  In 
preparation  for  the  march  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  he 
was  appointed  quartermaster  of  his  regiment.  At  the 
battle  of  Molino  del  Rey,  he  was  promoted  to  a 
first  lieutenancy,  and  was  brevetted  captain  at  Cha- 
pultepec. 

At  the  close  of  the  Mexican  War,  Capt.  Grant  re- 
turned with  his  regiment  to  New  York,  and  was  again 
sent  to  one  of  the  military  posts  on  the  frontier.  The 
discovery  of  gold  in  California  causing  an  immense 
tide  of  emigration  to  flow  to  the  Pacific  shores,  Capt. 
Grant  was  sent  with  a  battalion  to  Fort  Dallas,  in 
Oregon,  for  the  protection  of  the  interests  of  the  im- 
migrants. Life  was  wearisome  in  those  wilds.  Capt. 
Grant  resigned  his  commission  and  returned  to  the 
States;  and  having  married,  entered  upon  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  small  farm  near  St.  Louis,  Mo.  He  had  but 
little  skill  as  a  farmer.  Finding  his  toil  not  re- 
munerative, he  turned  to  mercantile  life,  entering  into 
the  leather  business,  with  a  younger  brother,  at  Ga- 
lena, 111.  This  was  in  the  year  i860.  As  the  tidings 
of  the  rebels  firing  on  Fort  Sumpter  reached  the  ears 
of  Capt.  Grant  in  his  counting-room,  he  said, — 
"Uncle  Sam  has  educated  me  for  the  army;  though 
I  have  served  him  through  one  war,  I  do  not  fee(  that 
I  have  yet  repaid  the  debt.  I  am  still  ready  to  discharge 
my  obligations.  I  shall  therefore  buckle  on  my  iword 
and  see  Uncle  Sam  through  this  war  too." 

He  went  into  the  streets,  raised  a  cempany  of  vol- 
unteers, and  led  them  as  their  captain  to  Springfield, 
the  capital  of  the  State,  where  their  services  were 
offered  to  Gov.  Yates.  The  Governor,  impressed  by 
the  zeal  and  straightforward  executive  ability  of  Capt. 
Grant,  gave  him  a  desk  in  his  office,  to  assist  in  the. 
volunteer  organization  that  was  being  formed  in  the 
State  in  behalf  of  the  Government.      On  the   i?*''  of 


UL  YSSES  S.  GRANT. 


)u»e,  j86i,  Capt.  Grant  received  a  commission  as 
Colonel  of  ihe  'I'wenty-first  Regiment  of  Illinois  Vol- 
unteers. His  merits  as  a  West  Point  graduate,  wlio 
had  served  for  15  years  in  the  regular  army,  were  such 
that  he  was  soon  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier- 
<ieneral  and  was  jjlaced  in  command  at  Cairo.  The 
(rebels  raised  their  banner  at  Paducah,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Tennessee  River.  Scarcely  had  its  folds  ap- 
peared in  the  breeze  ere  Gen.  Grant  was  there.  The 
rel>els  fled.  Their  banner  fell,  and  the  star  and 
stripes  were  uiifurled  in  its  stead. 

He  entered  the  service  with  great  determination 
and  immediately  began  active  duty.  This  was  the  he- 
ginning,  and  until  the  surrender  of  Lee  at  Richmond 
he  was  ever  pushing  the  enemy  with  great  vigor  and 
effectiveness.  At  Belmont,  a  few  days  later,  he  sur- 
prised and  routed  the  rebels,  then  at  Fort  Henry 
won  another  victory.  Then  came  the  brilliant  fight 
at  Fort  Donelson.  The  nation  was  electrified  by  the 
victory,  and  the  brave  leader  of  the  boys  in  blue  was 
immediately  made  a  Major-General,  and  the  military 
iistrict  of  Tennessee  was  assigned  to  him. 

Like  all  great  captains,  Gen.  Grant  knew  well  how 
to  secure  the  results  of  victory.  He  immediately 
Dushed  on  to  the  enemies'  lines.  Then  came  the 
terrible  battles  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  Corinth,  and  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg,  where  Gen.  Pemberton  made  an 
unconditional  surrender  of  the  city  with  over  thirty 
thousand  men  and  one-hundred  and  seventy-two  can- 
non. The  fall  of  Vicksburg  was  by  far  the  most 
severe  blow  which  the  rebels  had  thus  far  encountered, 
and  opened  up  the  Mississippi  from  Cairo  to  the  Gulf. 

Gen.  Cirant  was  next  ordered  to  co-operate  with 
Gen.  Banks  in  a  movement  upon  Texas,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  New  Orleans,  where  he  was  thrown  from 
his  horse,  and  received  severe  injuries,  from  which  he 
was  laid  up  for  months.  He  then  rushed  to  the  aid 
of  Gens.  Rosecrans  and  Thomas  at  Chattanooga,  and 
by  a  wonderful  series  of  strategic  and  technical  meas- 
ures put  tlie  Union  Army  in  fighting  condition.  Then 
followed  the  bloody  battles  at  Chattanooga,  Lookout 
Mountain  and  Missionary  Ridge,  in  which  the  rebels 
were  routed  with  great  loss.  This  won  for  him  un- 
bounded praise  in  the  North.  On  the  4th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1864,  Congress  revived  the  grade  of  lieutenant- 
general,  and  the  rank  was  conferred  on  Gen.  Grant. 
He  repaired  to  Washington  to  receive  his  credentials 
.nd  enter  uixjr.  '.'"■  duties  of  his  new  office 


Gen.  Grant  decided  as  soon  as  he  took  charge  of 
the  army  to  concentrate  the  widely-dispersed  National 
troops  for  an  attack  ujxjn  Richmond,  the  nominal 
cajjital  of  the  Rebellion,  and  endeavor  there  to  de- 
stroy the  rebel  armies  which  would  be  promptly  as- 
sembled from  all  quarters  for  its  defence.  The  whole 
continent  seemed  to  tremble  under  the  trampof  these 
majestic  armies,  rushing  to  the  decisive  battle  field. 
.Steamers  were  crowded  with  troops.  Railway  trains 
were  burdened  with  closely  jucked  thousands.  His 
plans  were  comprehensive  and  involved  a  series  of 
campaigns,  wliich  were  executed  with  remarkable  en- 
ergy and  ability,  and  were  consummated  at  the  sur- 
render of  Lee,  April  9,   1865. 

The  war  was  ended.  The  Union  was  saved.  The 
almost  unanimous  voice  of  the  Nation  declared  Gen. 
Grant  to  be  the  most  prominent  instrument  in  its  sal- 
vation. The  eminent  services  he  had  thus  rendered 
the  country  brought  him  conspicuously  forward  as  the 
Republican  candidate  for  the  Presidential  chair. 

At  the  Republican  Convention  held  at  Chicago. 
May  21,  1868,  he  was  unanimously  nominated  for  the 
Presidency,  and  at  the  autumn  election  received  a 
majority  of  the  popular  vote,  and  214  out  of  294 
electoral  votes. 

The  National  Convention  of  the  Republican  party 
which  met  at  Philadelphia  on  the  5th  of  June,  1872, 
placed  Gen.  Grant  in  nomination  for  a  second  tenii 
by  a  unanimous  vote.  The  selection  was  emphati- 
cally indorsed  by  the  people  five  months  later,  292 
elector.-il  votes  being   cast   for  him. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  his  second  term.  Gen.  Grant 
started  ujx)n  his  famous  trip  around  the  world.  He 
visited  almost  every  country  of  the  civilized  world, 
and  was  everywhere  received  with  such  ovations 
and  demonstrations  of  respect  and  honor,  private 
as  well  as  public  and  official,  as  were  never  before 
bestowed  upon  any  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

He  was  the  most  prominent  candidate  before  the 
Re|nil)lican  National  Convention  in  1880  for  a  re- 
nomination  for  President.  He  went  to  New  York  and 
embarked  in  the  brokerage  business  under  the  firm 
nameof  Grant  &  Ward.  The  latter  proved  a  villain, 
wrecked  Grant's  fortune,  and  for  larceny  was  sent  to 
the  penitentiary.  The  General  was  attacked  with 
cancer  in  the  throat,  but  suffered  in  his  stoic-like 
manner,  never  complaining.  He  was  re-instated  as 
General  of  the  Army  and  retired  by  Congress.  The 
cancer  soon  finished  its  deadly  work,  and  July  23, 
1885,  the  nation  went  in  mourning  over  the  death  (r'' 
the  illustrious  General. 


.N 


-e^oA 


^-yyj 


NINETEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


91 


l^^«?5^t^^^';^'^'g^-^^£u^<;.lW^u^;^':r.'J:j^;-^.'^.■:.^'l.nv.^:>^^^;.v^^u'S^.^^s^ 


UTHERFORD  B.  HAYES, 
the  nineteenth  President  of 
the  United  States,  was  born  in 
Delaware,  O.,  Oct.  4,  1822,  al- 
most three  months  after  the 
death  of  his  father,  Rutherford 
Hayes.  His  ancestry  on  both 
the  paternal  and  maternal  sides, 
was  of  the  most  honorable  char- 
acter. It  can  be  traced,  it  is  said, 
as  far  back  as  1 280,  when  Hayes  and 
Rutherford  were  two  Scottish  chief- 
tains, fighting  side  by  side  with 
fBaliol,  William  Wallace  and  Robert 
Bruce.  Both  families  belonged  to  the 
nobility,  owned  extensive  estates, 
'  and  had  a  large  following.  Misfor- 
tane  ovtritaking  the  family,  George  Hayes  left  Scot- 
land in  1680,  and  settled  in  Windsor,  Conn.  His  son 
George  wa*-  born  in  Windsor,  and  remained  there 
during  his  life.  Daniel  Hayes,  son  of  the  latter,  mar- 
ried Sarah  Lee,  and  lived  from  the  time  of  his  mar- 
riage until  his  death  in  Simsbury,  Conn.  Ezekiel, 
son  of  Daniel,  was  born  in  1724,  and  was  a  manufac- 
turer of  scythes!  at  Bradford,  Conn.  Rutherford  Hayes, 
son  of  Ezekiel  aiid  grandfather  of  President  Hayes,  was 
born  in  New  Haven,  in  August,  1756.  He  was  a  farmer, 
blacksmith  and  tavern-keeper.  He  emigrated  to 
Vermont  at  an  uiiknown  date,  settling  in  Brattleboro, 
where  he  established  a  hotel.  Here  his  son  Ruth- 
erford Hayes    the  father   of  President  Hayes,  was 


born.  He  was  married,  in  September,  1813,  to  Sophia 
Birchard,  of  Wilmington,  Vt.,  whose  ancestors  emi- 
grated thither  from  Connecticut,  they  having  been 
among  the  wealthiest  and  best  famlies  of  Norwich. 
Her  ancestry  on  the  male  side  are  traced  back  to 
1635,  to  John  Birchard,  one  of  the  principal  founders 
of  Norwich.  Both  of  her  grandfathers  were  soldiers 
in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

The  father  of  President  Hayes  was  an  industrious 
frugal  and  opened-hearted  man.  He  was  of  a  me- 
chanical turn,  and  could  mend  a  plow,  knit  a  stock- 
ing, or  do  almost  anything  else  that  he  choose  to 
undertake.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Church,  active 
in  all  the  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  town,  and  con- 
ducted his  business  on  Christian  principles.  After 
the  close  of  the  war  of  i8t2,  for  reasons  inexplicable 
to  his  neighbors,  he  resolved  to  emigrate  to   Ohio. 

The  journey  from  Vermont  to  Ohio  in  that  day 
when  there  were  no  canals,  steamers,  nor  railways, 
was  a  very  serious  affair. '  A  tour  of  inspection  was 
first  made,  occupying  four  months.  Mr.  Hayes  deter 
mined  to  move  to  Delaware,  where  the  family  arrived 
in  1817.  He  died  July  22,  1822,  a  victim  of  malarial 
fever,  less  than  three  months  before  the  birth  of  the 
son, of  whom  we  now  write.  Mrs.  Hayes,  in  her  sore  be- 
reavement, found  the  support  she  so  much  needed  in 
her  brother  Sardis,  who  had  been  a  member  of  the 
household  from  the  day  of  its  departure  from  Ver- 
mont, and  in  an  orphan  girl  whom  she  had  adopted 
some  time  before  as  an  act  of  charity. 

Mrs.  Hayes  at  this  period  was  very  weak,  and  the 


RUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES. 


subject  of  this  sketch  was  so  feeble  at  liirtli  that  he 
Wis  not  exi)ccied  tu  hve  licyoiul  a  muiuh  or  two  at 
luosl.  As  the  inoiitlis  went  l«y  he  grew  weaker  aiul 
weaker,  so  that  tlie  neighbors  were  in  tiie  habit  of  in- 
iiuiring  from  time  to  lime  '"  if  Mrs.  Hayes' baby  diet! 
last  nigiit."  On  one  occasion  a  neigiibor,  who  was  on 
fjmihar  terms  with  tiie  family,  ai'ter  alluding  to  tlie 
Ixjy's  big  head,  and  the  mother's  assiduous  care  of 
nim,  said  in  a  bantering  way,  "  That's  right !  Stick  to 
him.  You  have  got  him  along  so  far,  anti  1  shouldn't 
wonder  if  he  would  really  come  to  something  yet." 

"  You  r.eed  not  laugh,"  said  Mrs.  Hayes.  "  You 
vait  and  see.  You  can't  tell  but  I  shall  make  iiim 
President  of  the  United  States  yet."  The  boy  lived, 
in  spite  of  the  universal  predictions  of  iiis  speedy 
death;  and  when,  in  1825,  his  older  brother  was 
drowned,  he  became,  if  possible,  still  dearer  to  liis 
mother. 

The  boy  was  seven  years  old  before  he  w,;nt  to 
school.  His  education,  however,  was  not  neglected. 
He  probably  learned  as  much  from  his  mother  and 
sister  as  he  would  have  done  at  school.  His  sjwrts 
were  almost  wholly  within  doors,  his  playmates  l)cing 
his  sister  and  her  associates.  Tliese  circumstances 
tended,  no  doubt,  to  foster  that  gentleness  of  dispo- 
sition, and  that  delicate  consideration  for  the  feelings 
of  others,  which  are  marked  traits  of  his  character. 

His  uncle  Sardis  Birchard  took  the  deepest  interest 
^n  his  education ;  and  as  the  boy's  health  had  im- 
proved, and  he  was  making  good  progress  in  his 
studies,  he  proiX)sed  to  send  him  to  college.  His  pre- 
paration commenced  with  a  tutor  at  home;  but  he 
was  afterwards  sent  for  one  year  to  a  professor  in  the 
Wesleyan  University,  in  Middletown,  Conn.  He  en- 
tered Kenyon  College  in  1S38,  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
and  was  graduated  at  the  head  of  his  class  in   1842. 

Immediately  after  his  graduation  he  began  the 
study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Thomas  Sparrow,  Esq., 
in  Columbus.  Finding  his  opportunities  for  study  in 
Columbus  somewhat  limited,  he  determined  to  enter 
the  Law  School  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  where  he  re- 
mained two  years. 

In  1845,  after  graduatmg  at  the  Law  School,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  Marietta,  Ohio,  and  shortly 
afterward  went  into  practice  as  an  attorney-at-law 
with  Ralph  P.  Buckland,  of  Fremont.  Here  he  re- 
mained three  years,  actpiiring  but  a  limited  i)ractice, 
and  apparently  unambitious  of  distinction  in  his  pro- 
Cession. 

\n  1849  he  moved  to  Cincmnati,  where  his  ambi- 
tion found  a  new  stimulus.  For  several  years,  how- 
ever, his  progress  was  slow.  Two  events,  occurring  at 
this  period,  had  a  powerful  influence  wyion  his  subse- 
quent'.ife.  One  of  these  was  his  marrage  with  Miss 
Lucy  Ware  Webb,  daughter  of  Dr.  James  Webb,  of 
Chilicothe;  the  othei  was  his  introduction  to  the  Cin- 
cinnati Literary  Clut),  a  body  embracing  among  its 
members  such  men  as'^hief  Justice  Salmon j^QiasCi 


Gen.  John  Pope,  Gov.  Edward  F.  Noyes,  and  many 
others  hardly  less  distinguished  in  after  life.  The 
marriage  was  a  fortunate  one  in  every  respect,  as 
ever)  liody  knows.  Not  one  of  all  the  wives  of  our 
Presidents  was  more  universally  admired,  reverenced 
and  beloved  than  was  Mrs.  Hayes,  and  no  one  did 
more  than  she  to  reflect  honor  ujion  American  woman 
hood.  The  Literary  Cluu  brought  Mr.  Hayej  into 
constant  association  with  young  men  of  high  char- 
acter and  noble  aims,  and  lured  him  to  display  f'.ie 
qualities  so  long  hidden  by  his  bashfulne^s  ani_' 
modesty. 

In  1S56  he  was  nominated  to  the  office  of  Judgj  o! 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas;  but  he  declined  to  ar. 
cept  the  nomination.  Two  years  later,  the  office  o( 
city  solicitor  becoming  vacant,  the  City  Council 
elected  him  f  jr  the  unexpired  term. 

In  1861,  when  the  Rebellion  broke  out,  he  was  at 
tlie  zenith  of  his  professional  Irf ..  His  rank  at  the 
bar  was  among  tlie  the  first.  Put  tlie  news  of  the 
attack  on  Fort  Sumpter  found  him  eager  to  take  m 
arms  for  the  defense  of  his  conntr)'. 

His  military  record  was  bright  and  illustrious.  In 
October,  1861,  he  was  made  lieutenant-Colonel,  and 
in  August,  1S62,  promoted  Colonel  of  the  79th  Ohio 
regiment,  but  he  refused  to  leave  his  old  comrades 
and  go  among  strangers.  Subsequently,  however,  Iv* 
was  made  Colonel  of  his  old  regiment.  At  the  battle 
of  South  Mountain  he  received  a  wound,  and  wliile 
faint  and  bleeding  displayed  courage  and  fortitude 
that  won  admiration  from  all. 

Col.  Hayes  was  detached  from  his  regiment,  after 
his  recovery,  to  act  as  Brigadier-General,  and  placed 
in  command  of  the  celebrated  Kanawha  division, 
and  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  in  the  battles 
of  Winchester,  Fisher's  Hill  and  Cedar  Creek,  he  was 
promoted  Brigadier-General.  He  was  also  brevetted 
Major-General,  "forgallant  and  distinguished  services 
during  the  campaigns  of  1864,  in  West  Virginia."  In 
the  course  of  his  arduous  services,  four  horses  were 
shot  from  under  him,  and  he  was  wounded  four  times 

In  1864,  Gen.  Hayes  was  elected  to  Congress,  from 
the  Second  Ohio  District,  which  had  long  been  Dem- 
ocratic. He  was  not  present  during  tlie  campaign,  1 
and  after  his  election  was  importuned  to  resign  his 
commission  in  the  army;  but  he  finally  declared,  "  1 
shall  never  come  to  Washington  until  1  can  come  b\ 
the  way  of  Richmond."  He  was  re-elected  in  1866. 

Ir.  1867,  Gen  Hayes  was  elected  Governor  of  Ohio, 
over  Hon.  Allen  G.  Thunnan,  a  popular  Deniocrai. 
In  1869  was  re-eiected  over  George  H.  Pendleton. 
He  was  elected  Governor  for  the  third  term  in   1875. 

In  1876  he  was  the  standard  bearer  of  the  Repub- 
lican Party  in  the  Presidential  contest,  and  after  a 
hard  long  contest  was  clioscn  President,  and  was  in 
augurated  Monday,  March  5,  1875.  He  servi-d  his 
full  term,  not,  h.cwever,  with  satisfaction  to  his  party, 
but  his  admiu'stration  was  an  average  or*" 


/0'-'^^'^-<^<^( 


TiVENTIETH  PRESIDENT. 


95 


f^.>>C=^ 


^r^f  r\\^ 


l^i  JAMES;  4,  ijAK FIELD,  ,  ^^. 


^^  iW/^3P 


AJ.IES  A.  GARFIELD,  twen- 
tieth President  of  the  United 
States,    was    born    Nov.    19, 
1 83 1,  in  the  woods  of  Orange, 
Cuyahoga  Co.,  O      His   par- 
ents were  Abram  and    Eliza 
t'«VjZs  (.Ballou)    Garfield,   both   of  New 
f/S  y      Lngland  ancestry'  and  from  fami- 
.....jiJi**)      lies  well  known  in  the  early  his- 
VX?  V  tory  of  that  section  of  our  coun- 
try, but  had  moved  to  the  Western 
Reserve,  in  Ohio,  early  in  its  settle- 
ment. 

The  house  in  which  James  A.  was 
bom  was  not  unlike  the  houses  of 
f  poor  Ohio  farmers  of  that  day.  It 
ac  about  20x30  feet,  built  of  logs,  with  the  spaces  be- 
.ween  the  logs  filled  with  clay.  His  father  was  a 
.lard  working  farmer,  and  he  soon  had  his  fields 
jleared,  an  orchard  planted,  and  a  log  barn  built, 
f  he  household  comprised  the  father  and  mother  and 
heir  four  children — Mehetabel,  Thomas,  Mary  and 
'ames.  In  May,  1823^  the  father,  from  a  cold  con- 
racted  in  helping  to  put  out  a  forest  fire,  died.  At 
'his  time  James  was  about  eighteen  months  old,  and 
Thomas  about  ten  years  old.  No  one,  perhaps,  can 
fell  how  much  James  was  indeLted  to  his  biother's 
toil  and  self-sacrifice  during  the  twenty  years  suc- 
ceeding his  father's  death,  but  undoubtedly  very 
much.  He  now  lives  in  Michigan,  and  the  two  sis- 
ters live  in  Solon,  O.,  near  their  birthplace. 

The  early  educational  advantages  young  Garfield 
enjoyed  were  very  limited,  yet  he  made  the  most  of 
them.  He  labored  at  farm  work  for  others,  did  car- 
penter work,  chopped  wood,  or  did  anything  that 
would  bring  in  a  few  dollars  to  aid  his  widowed 
mother  in  he'  struggles  to  keep  the  little   family  to- 


-G^ 


gether.  Nor  was  Gen.  Garfield  ever  ashamed  of  his 
origin,  and  he  never  forgot  the  friends  of  his  strug- 
gling childhood,  youth  and  manhood,  neither  did  they 
ever  forget  him.  When  in  the  highest  seats  of  honor 
the  humblest  fiiend  of  his  boyhood  was  as  kindly 
greeted  as  ever.  The  poorest  laborer  was  sureof  the 
sympathy  of  one  who  had  known  all  the  bitterness 
of  want  and  the  sweetness  of  bread  earned  by  the 
sweat  of  the  brow.  He  was  ever  the  simple,  plain, 
modest  gentleman. 

The  highest  ambition  of  young  Garfield  until  hi. 
was  about  sixteen  years  old  was  to  be  a  captain  of 
a  vessel  on  Lake  Erie.  He  was  anxious  to  go  aboard 
a  vessel,  whicli  his  mother  strongly  opposed.  She 
finally  consented  to  his  going  to  Cleveland,  with  the 
understanding,  however,  that  he  should  try  to  obtain 
some  other  kind  of  employment.  He  walked  all  the 
way  to  Cleveland.  This  was  his  first  visit  to  the  city 
After  making  many  applications  for  work,  and  trying 
to  get  aboard  a  lake  vessel,  and  not  meeting  with 
success,  he  engaged  as  a  driver  for  his  cousin,  Amos 
Letcher,  on  the  Ohio  &:  Pennsylvania  Canal.  He  re- 
mained at  this  work  but  a  short  time  when  he  wen' 
home,  and  attended  the  seminary  at  Chester  for 
about  three  years,  when  he  entered  Hiram  and  the 
Eclectic  Institute,  teaching  a  few  terms  of  school  in 
the  meantime,  and  doing  other  work.  This  school 
was  started  by  the  Disciples  of  Christ  in  1850,  of 
which  church  he  was  then  a  member.  He  became 
janitor  and  bell-ringer  in  order  to  help  pay  his  wav 
He  then  became  both  teacher  and  pupil.  He  soon 
"  exhausted  Hiram  "  and  needed  more  ;  hence,  in  the 
fall  of  1854,  he  entered  Williams  College,  from  which 
he  graduated  in  r856,  taking  one  of  the  highest  h(w,- 
ors  of  his  class.  He  afterwards  returned  to  Hiram 
College  as  its  President.  As  above  stated,  he  early 
united  with  the  Christian  or  Diciples  Church  at 
Hiram,  and  was  ever  after  a  devoted,  zealous  mem- 
ber, often  preaching  in  its  pulpit  and  places  where 
he  happened  to  be.  Dr.  Noah  Porter,  President  of 
Yale  College,  says  of  him  in  reference  to  his  religion : 


9« 


JAAfES  A.  GARFIELD. 


"  President  Oarfield  was  more  than  a  man  of 
strong  moral  and  religious  convictions.  His  whole 
history,  from  lioyliood  to  the  last,  shows  that  duty  to 
man  and  to  llud,  aiul  devotion  to  Christ  and  life  and 
faith  and  spiritual  commission  were  controlling  springs 
of  his  being,  and  to  a  more  llian  usual  degree.  In 
my  judgment  there  is  no  more  interesting  feature  of 
his  character  than  his  loyal  allegiance  to  the  body  of 
Christians  in  whicli  he  was  trained,  and  tlie  fervent 
sympathy  which  he  ever  showed  in  tlieir  Christian 
communion.  Not  many  of  the  few  'wise  and  mighty 
and  noble  who  are  called'  show  a  similar  loyalty  to 
the  less  stately  and  cultured  Christian  communions 
in  which  they  have  been  reared.  Too  often  it  is  true 
that  as  they  step  upward  in  social  and  {wlitical  sig- 
nificance they  step  upward  from  one  degree  to 
another  in  some  of  the  many  types  of  fashionable 
Christianity.  President  Garfield  adhered  to  the 
church  of  his  mother,  the  church  in  which  he  was 
trained,  and  in  which  he  served  as  a  pillar  and  an 
evangelist,  and  yet  with  the  largest  and  most  unsec- 
t,arian  charity  for  all  'who  love  our  Lord  in  sincerity.'" 

Mr.  Garfield  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Lucretia  Rudolph,  Nov.  1 1,  185S,  who  proved  herself 
worthy  as  the  wife  of  one  whom  all  the  world  loved  and 
mourned.  To  them  were  born  seven  children,  five  of 
whom  are  still  living,  four  boys  and  one  girl. 

Mr.  Garfield  made  his  first  political  speeches  in  1856, 
in  Hiram  and  the  neighboring  villages,  and  tliree 
years  later  he  began  to  speak  at  county  mass-meet- 
ings, and  became  the  favorite  speaker  wherever  he 
was.  During  this  year  he  was  elected  to  the  Ohio 
Senate.  He  also  began  to  study  law  at  Cleveland, 
and  in  1861  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  The  great 
Rebellion  broke  out  in  the  early  part  of  this  year, 
and  Mr.  Garfield  at  once  resolved  to  fight  as  he  liad 
talked,  and  enlisted  to  defend  the  old  flag.  He  re- 
ceived his  commission  as  Lieut. -Colonel  of  the  Forty- 
second  Regiment  of  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  Aug. 
14,  i86r.  He  was  immediately  put  into  active  ser- 
vice, and  before  he  had  ever  seen  a  gun  fired  in  action, 
was  placed  in  command  of  four  regiments  of  infantry 
and  eight  companies  of  cavalry,  charged  with  the 
work  of  driving  out  of  his  native  State  the  officer 
'Humphrey  Marshall)  reputed  to  be  tlie  ablest  of 
those,  not  educated  to  war  whom  Kentucky  had  given 
to  the  Rebellion.  This  work  was  bravely  and  speed- 
ily accomplished,  although  against  great  odds.  Pres- 
ident Lincoln,  on  his  success  conuuissioned  him 
Brigadier-General,  Jan.  10,  1S62;  and  as  "he  had 
been  the  youngest  man  in  the  Ohio  Senate  two  years 
before,  so  now  he  was  the  youngest  General  in  the 
army."  He  was  with  Gen.  Buell's  army  at  Shiloh, 
in  its  operations  around  Corinth  and  its  march  through 
Alabama.  He  was  then  detailed  as  a  memlierof  the 
General  Couit-Martial  for  the  trial  of  Gen.  Fitz-John 
Porter.  He  was  then  ordered  to  report  to  Gen.  Rose- 
crans,  and  was  assigned  to  the  "Chief  of  Staff." 

The  military  history  of  Gen.  Garfield  closed  with 


his  brilliant  services  at  Chickamauga,  where  he  won 
the  stars  of  the  Major-General. 

Without  an  ed'ort  on   his    part    Geif     (Jarfield   wa» 
elected  to   Congress   in    the    fall  of  1862    from    the 
Nineteenth   District  of  Ohio.     This  section  of  (Jhio 
had  been  represented   in  Congress    for   sixty  year*        J 
mainly  by  two  men — Elisha  Whittlesey  and  Joshui.         I 
k.  Giddings.     It  was  not  without  a  struggle  that  he 
resigned  his  place  in  the  army.     At   the  lime  he  en- 
tered Congress  he  was  the  youngest   member  in   that 
body.      Ther«j     he      remained    by    successive    re- 
elections  until  he  was  elected    President   in    1880. 
Of  his  labors  in  Congress  Senator  Hoar  says  :    "  Since 
the  year  1864  you  cannot  think  of  a  question  whicii 
has  been  debated  in  Congress,  or  discussed  before  & 
tribunel  of  the  American  people,  in  regard  to  whict        d 
you  will  not  find,  if  you  wish  mstruction,  the  argu.        \ 
nient  on  one   side   stated,   in  almost   every  instance 
better  than  by  anybody  else,  in  some  speech  made  in 
the  House  of  Representatives  or  on  the  hustings  by 
Mr.  Garfield."  j 

Uixsn  Jan.  14,  1880,  Gen.  (iarfield  was  elected  to        \ 
the  U.  S.  Senate,  and  on  the  eighth  of  June,  of  the 
same  year,  was  nominated  as  the  candidate  of  his 
party  for  President  at  the  great  Chicago  Convention. 
He  was  elected  in  the  following  November,  and  on 
March  4,  i88r,  was  inaugurated.     Probably  no  ad- 
ministration ever  opened  its  existence  under  brighter 
auspices  than  that  of  President  Garfield,  and  every 
day  it  grew  in  favor  with  the  peo|)le,  and  by  the  first 
of  July  he  had  completed  all  the  initiatory  and  pre- 
liminary work  of  his  administration  and  was  jirepar- 
iiig  to  leave  tlie  city  to  meet  his  friends   at   Williams 
College.    While  on  his  way  and  at  the  depot,  in  com- 
pany with  Secretary  Blaine,  a  man  stepped  behind 
him,  drew  a  revolver,  and  fired  directly  at  his  back.         1 
The  President  tottered  and  fell,  and  as  lie  did  so  the         ■ 
assassin  fired  a  second  shot,  the  bullet  cutting  the 
left  coat  sleeve  of  his  victim,  but  inHicting  no  further 
injury.     It  has  been  very  truthfully  said  that  this  was 
"  the  shot   that  was  heard  round  the  world  "    Never         | 
before  in  the  history  of  the  Nation  had  anything  oc-        ' 
curred  which  so  nearly  froze  the  blood  of  the  peop"'; 
for  the  moment,  as  this  awful  deed.     He  was  smit- 
ten on   the  brightest,  gladdest  day  of  all  his  life,  and 
was  at  the  summit  of  his  power  and  ho|)e.  For  eighty        1 
days,  all  during  the  hot  months  of  July  and  August,        \ 
he  lingered  and  suffered.     He,   however,   remained 
master  of  himself  till  the  last,  and  by  his  magnificent 
bearing  was  teaching  the  countr)-  and  the  world  the 
noblest  of  human  lessons — how  to  live  grandly  in  the 
very  clutch  of  death.     Great  in  life,  he  was  svirpass- 
ingly  great  in  death.     He  passed  serenely  away  Sept.         J 
19,  1883,  at  Elberon,  N.  J.,  on  the  very  bank  of  the        ] 
ocean,  where  he  had  been  taken  shortly  previous.   The 
worid  wept  at  his  death,  as  it  never  had  done  on  the 
death  of  any  other  man  who  had  ever  lived  upon  it. 
The  murderer  was  duly  tried,  found  guilty  and  exe- 
cuted, in  one  year  after  he  committed  the  foul  deed. 


't-       K 


^>... 


T IVEJV  T  Y-FIRS  T  PRESIDENT. 


1%^  ■  ^^^'  ''^ ' 


HESTER      A.      ARTHUR, 

twenty-first    Presi'^.^iu   of  the 

United    States,    was    born    in 

Franklin  Cour  ty,  Vermont,  on 

thefifthofOdober,  1830,  andis 

the  oldest   of  a   family    of  two 

sons  and   five   daughters.     His 

father  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  William 

Arthur,  aBaptistd'.rgyman,  who 

emigrated  to  tb.s  countr)'  from 

the  county  Ant;im,  Ireland,   in 

his  1 8th  year,  and  died  in  1875,  in 

Newtonville,   neai    Albany,   after  a 

long  and  successful  ministry. 

Young  Arthur  was  educated  at 
Union  College,  S(  henectady,  where 
he  excelled  in  all  his  studies.  Af- 
ter his  graduation  he  taught  school 
in  Vermont  for  two  years,  and  at 
the  expiration  of  that  time  came  to 
New  York,  with  $500  in  his  jxjcket, 
and  entered  the  office  of  ex-Judge 
E.  D.  Culver  as  student.  After 
being  admitted  to  the  bar  he  formed 
a  partuership  with  his  intimate  friend  and  room-mate, 
Henry  D.  Gardiner,  with  the  intention  of  practicing 
in  the  West,  and  for  three  months  they  roamed  about 
jn  the  Western  States  in  search  of  an  eligible  site, 
but  in  the  end  returned  to  New  York,  where  they 
hung  out  their  shingle,  and  entered  upon  a  success^ 
ful  career  almost  from  the  start.  General  Arthur 
soon  afterward  tvArr'^d  the  daughter   of  Lieutenant 


Hemdon,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  who  was  lost  at 
sea.  Congress  voted  a  gold  medal  to  his  widow  in 
recognition  of  the  bravery  he  displayed  on  that  occa- 
sion. Mrs.  Arthur  died  shortly  before  Mr.  Arthur's 
nommation  to  the  Vice  Presidency,  leaving  two 
children. 

Gen.  Arthur  obtained  considerable  legal  celebrity 
in  his  first  great  case,  the  famous  Lemmon  suit, 
brought  to  recover  possession  of  eight  slaves  who  had 
been  declared  free  by  Judge  Paine,  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  New  York  City.  It  was  in  T852  that  Jon. 
athan  Lemmon,  of  Virginia,  went  to  New  York  with 
his  slaves,  intending  to  ship  them  to  Texas,  when 
they  were  discovered  and  freed.  The  Judge  decided 
that  they  could  not  be  held  by  the  owner  under  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law.  A  howl  of  rage  went  up  ftom 
the  South,  and  the  Virginia  Legislature  authorized  the 
Attorney  General  of  that  State  to  assist  in  an  appeal. 
Wm.  M.  Evarts  and  Chester  A.  Arthur  were  employed 
to  represent  the  People,  and  they  won  their  case, 
which  then  went  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  Charles  O'Conor  here  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  slave-holders,  but  he  too  was  beaten  by  Messrs 
Evarts  and  Arthur,  and  a  long  step  was  taken  toward 
the  emancipation  of  the  black  race. 

Another  great  service  was  rendered  by  General 
Arthur  in  the  same  cause  in  1856.  Lizzie  Jennings, 
a  respectable  colored  woman,  was  put  off  a  Fourth 
Avenue  car  with  violence  after  she  had  paid  her  fare. 
General  Arthur  sued  on  her  behalf,  and  secured  a 
verdict  of  $500  damages.  The  next  day  the  compa- 
ny issued  an  order  to  admit  colored  persons  to  ride 
on  their  cars,  and   the  other  car  companies  quickly 


CHESTER  A.  ARTJfUR. 


followed  their  example.  Before  that  the  Sixth  Ave- 
nue Company  ran  a  few  special  cars  for  colored  per- 
sons and  tiie  other  lines  refused  to  let  them  ride  at  all. 

General  Arthur  was  a  delegate  to  the  Convention 
at  Saratoga  that  founded  the  Rejiublican  party. 
Previous  to  the  war  he  was  Judge-Advocate  of  the 
.Second  Brigade  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  Gov- 
ernor Morgan,  of  that  State,  ai)ix)inted  hnn  Engineor- 
in-Chief  of  his  staff.  In  1861,  he  was  made  Inspec- 
tor General,  and  soon  afterward  became  Quartermas- 
ter-General. In  each  of  these  offices  he  rendered 
great  service  to  the  Government  during  the  war.  At 
the  end  of  Governor  Morgan's  term  he  resumed  the 
practice  of  the  law,  forming  a  partnership  with  Mr. 
Ransom,  and  then  Mr.  Phelps,  the  District  Attorney 
of  New  York,  was  added  to  the  firm.  The  legal  prac- 
tice of  this  well-known  firm  was  very  large  and  lucra- 
tive, each  of  the  gentlemen  composing  it  were  able 
lawyers,  and  possessed  a  splendid  local  reputation,  if 
not  indeed  one  of  national  extent. 

He  always  took  a  leading  part  in  State  and  city 
]X)litics.  He  was  apjxjinted  Collector  of  the  Port  of 
New  York  by  President  Grant,  Nov.  21  1872,  to  suc- 
ceed Thomas  Murphy,  and  held  the  office  until  July, 
?o,  1878,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Collector  Merritt. 

Mr.  Arthur  was  nominated  on  the  Presidential 
ticket,  with  Gen.  James  A.  Garfield,  at  the  famous 
National  Republican  Convention  held  at  Chicago  in 
June,  1880.  This  was  perhaps  the  greatest  political 
convention  that  ever  assembled  on  the  continent.  It 
was  comjx)sed  of  the  heading  [Xjliticians  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  all  able  men,  and  each  stood  firm  and 
fought  vigorously  and  with  signal  tenacity  for  their 
respective  candidates  that  were  before  the  conven- 
tion for  the  nomination.  Finally  Gen.  Garfield  re- 
ceived the  nomination  for  President  and  Gen.  Arthur 
for  Vice-President.  The  campaign  which  followed 
was  one  of  the  most  animated  known  in  the  history  of 
our  country.  Gen.  Hancock,  the  standard-bearer  of 
the  Democratic  party,  was  a  popular  man,  and  his 
party  made  a  valiant  fight  for  his  election. 

Finally  the  election  came  and  the  country's  choice 
.vas  Garfield  and  Arthur.  They  were  inaugurated 
.vlarch  4,  1 88 1,  as  President  and  Vice-President. 
\  few  months  only  had  passed  ere  the  newly  chosen 
President  was  the  victim  of  the  assassin's  bullet.  Then 
came  terrible  weeks  of  suffering, — those  moments  of 
anxious  suspense,  when  the  hearts  of  all  civilized  na- 


tions were  throbbing  in  unison,  longing  for  the  re 
covery  of  the  noble,  the  good  President.  The  remark- 
able patience  that  he  manifested  during  those  hours 
and  weeks,  and  even  months,  of  the  most  terrible  suf- 
fering man  has  often  been  called  u[X)n  to  endure,  was 
seemingly  more  than  human.  It  was  certainlv  God- 
like. During  all  this  period  of  deepest  anxiety  Mr. 
Arthur's  every  move  was  watched,  and  be  it  said  to  hisf 
credit  that  his  every  action  displayed  only  an  earnest 
desire  that  the  suffering  Garfield  might  recover,  to 
serve  the  remainder  of  the  term  he  had  so  auspi- 
ciously begun.  Not  a  selfish  feeling  was  manifested 
in  deed  or  look  of  this  man,  even  though  the  most 
honored  ]X)sition  in  the  world  was  at  any  moment 
likely  to  fall  to  him. 

At  last  God  in  his  mercy  relieved  President  Gar- 
field from  further  suffering,  and  the  world,  as  nevei 
before  in  its  history  over  the  death  of  any  othei 
man,  wept  at  his  bier.  Then  it  became  the  duty  o( 
the  Vice  President  to  assume  the  resixansibilities  ol 
the  high  office,  and  he  took  the  oath  in  New  York, 
Sept.  20,  1881.  The  position  was  an  embarrassing 
one  to  him,  made  doubly  so  from  the  facts  that  all 
eyes  were  on  him,  anxious  to  know  what  he  would  do, 
what  [xjlicy  he  would  pursue,  and  who  he  would  se- 
lect as  advisers.  The  duties  of  the  office  had  been 
greatly  neglected  during  the  President's  long  illness,' 
and  many  im]X)rtant  measures  were  to  be  immediately 
decided  by  him ;  and  still  farther  to  embarrass  him  he 
did  not  fail  to  realize  under  what  circumstances  he 
became  President,  and  knew  the  feelings  of  many  on 
this  point.  Under  these  trying  circumstances  President 
Arthur  took  the  reins  of  the  Government  in  hJs  oui, 
hands;  and,  as  embarrassing  as  were  the  condition  of 
sdfair,:  he  happily  surprised  the  nation,  acting  so 
wiselj  hat  but  few  criticisea  ais  administration. 
He  served  the  nation  well  and  faithfully,  until  the 
close  of  his  administration,  March  4,  1885,  and  was 
a  popular  candidate  before  his  party  for  a  second 
term.  His  name  was  ably  presented  before  the  con- 
vention at  Chicago,  and  was  received  with  great 
favor,  and  doubtless  but  for  the  personal  popularity 
of  one  of  the  opposing  candidates,  he  would  have 
been  selected  as  the  standard-bearer  of  his  party 
for  another  campaign.  He  retired  to  private  life  car- 
rying with  him  the  best  wishes  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, whom  he  had  served  in  a  manner  satisfactory 
to  them  and  with  credit  to  himself. 


/   l^^-L^y/     C/C-^c^C^CCL^Ly^A 


TWENTY-SECOND  PRESIDENT. 


103 


TEPHEN  GROVER  CLEVE- 
I, AN D,tl)e twenty  second  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States,  was 
l)Orn  in  1837,  in  the  obscure 
town  of  Caldwell,  Essex  Co., 
N.  J.,  and  in  a  little  two-aiid-a- 
half-story  white  house  which  is  still 
standing,  characteristically  to  mark 
the  humble  birth-place  of  one  of 
America's  great  men  in  striking  con 
trast  with  the  Old  World,  where  all 
men  high  in  office  must  be  high  in 
origin  and  born  in  the  cradle  of 
wealth.  When  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  three  years  of  age,  his 
father,  who  was  a  Presbyterian  min- 
ister, with  a  large  family  and  a  small  salary,  moved, 
by  way  cl  the  Hudson  River  and  Erie  Canal,  to 
Fayetteville,  in  search  of  an  increased  income  and  a 
larger  field  of  work.  Fayetteville  was  then  the  most 
straggling  of  country  villages,  about  five  miles  from 
Pompey  Hill,  where  Governor  Seymour  was  born 

At  the  last  mentioned  place  young  Grover  com- 
menced going  to  school  in  the  "good,  old  fashioned 
way."  and  presumably  distinguished  himself  after  the 
manner  of  all  village  boys,  in  doing  the  things  he 
ought  not  to  do.  Such  is  the  distinguishing  trait  of 
all  geniuses  and  independent  thinkers.  When  he 
arrived  at  the  age  of  14  years,  he  had  outgrown  the 
caoacity  of  the  village  school   and  expressed  a  most 


emphatic  desire  to  be  sent  to  an  academy.  To  this 
his  father  decidedly  objected.  Academies  in  those 
days  cost  money;  besides,  his  father  wanted  him  to 
become  self-sup|x>rting  by  the  quickest  possible 
means,  and  tliis  at  that  time  in  Fayette /ille  seemed 
to  be  a  position  in  a  country  store,  where  his  father 
and  the  large  family  on  his  hands  had  considerable 
influence.  Grover  was  to  be  paid  ^50  for  his  services 
tiie  first  year,  and  if  he  proved  trustworthy  he  was  to 
receive  $100  the  second  year.  Here  the  lad  com- 
menced his  career  as  salesman,  and  in  two  years  he 
had  earned  so  good  a  reputation  for  trustworthiness 
that  his  employers  desired  to  retain  him  for  an  in- 
definite  length  of  time.  Otherwise  he  did  not  ex- 
hibit as  yet  any  particular  "  flashes  of  genius  "  or 
eccentricities  of  talent.  He  was  simply  a  good  boy. 
But  instead  of  remaining  with  this  firm  in  Fayette- 
ville, he  went  with  the  family  in  their  removal  to 
Clintoi,  w!i:;re  he  had  an  opportunity  of  attending  a 
high  school.  Here  he  industriously  pursued  his 
s'udies  until  the  fanii'y  removed  with  him  to  a  point 
o  1  Bl  ick  River  known  as  the  "  Holland  Patent,"  a 
villa;^e  of  500  or  600  people,  15  miles  north  of  Utica, 
M  Y.  At  this  place  hi-;  father  died,  after  preaching 
but  three  Sundays.  This  event  broke  up  the  family, 
and  Grover  set  out  for  New  York  City  to  accept,  at  a 
small  salary,  the  position  of  '  under-teacher  "  in  a,i 
asylum  for  the  blind.  He  taught  faithfully  for  two 
years,  and  although  he  obt.iir.ed  a  good  reputation  in 
this  capacity,  he  concli'd-  <  that  teaching  was  not  his 


5    GROVER  CLEVELAND. 


calling  for  life,  and,  reversing  the  ti.iiJitional  order, 
he  left  the  city  to  seek  his  fortune,  instead  of  going 
to  a  city.  He  first  thought  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  :is 
IhTc  was  some  charm  in  that  name  for  him;  but 
before  proceeding  to  that  place  he  went  to  BufT.ilo  to 
»sk  the  advice  of  his  uncle,  Lewis  F.  Allan,  a  noted 
stock-breeder  of  that  place.  The  latter  did  not 
speak  entluisiastically.  "What  is  it  you  want  to  tlo, 
my  boy?"  he  asked.  "Well,  sir,  I  want  to  study 
lav»,"  was  the  reply.  "Good  gracious!"  remarked 
ih«  old  gentleman  ;  "  do  you,  indeed  ?  What  ever  put 
that  into  your  head  ?  How  much  money  have  you 
got?"  '•Well,  sir,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  haven't  got 
any." 

After  a  long  consultation,  his  uncle  offered  him  a 
place  temporarily  as  assistant  herd-keeper,  at  $50  a 
year,  while  he  could  "  look  around."  One  day  soon 
afterward  he  boldly  walked  into  the  office  of  Rogers, 
Bowcn  &  Rogers,  of  Buffalo,  and  told  Iheni  what  he 
wanted.  A  number  of  young  men  were  already  en- 
gaged in  the  office,  but  Grover's  persistency  won,  and 
ne  was  finally  permitted  to  come  as  an  office  boy  and 
Have  the  use  of  the  law  library,  for  the  nominal  sum 
of  $3  or  $4  a  week.  Out  of  this  he  had  to  pay  for 
his  board  and  washing.  The  walk  to  and  from  his 
uncle's  was  a  long  and  rugged  one;  and,  although 
the  first  winter  was  a  memorably  severe  one,  his 
shoes  were  out  of  repair  and  his  overcoat — he  had 
none — yet  he  was  nevertheless  prompt  and  regular. 
On  the  first  day  of  his  service  here,  his  senior  em- 
ployer threw  down  a  copy  of  Blackstone  before  him 
with  a  bang  that  made  the  dust  fly,  saying  "Thai's 
where  they  all  begin."  A  titter  ran  around  the  little 
circle  of  clerks  and  students,  as  they  thought  that 
was  enough  to  scare  young  Grover  out  of  his  plans  ; 
out  in  due  time  he  mastered  that  cumbersome  volume. 
Then,  as  ever  afterward,  however,  Mr.  Cleveland 
exhibited  a  talent  for  executiveness  rather  than  for 
chasing  principles  through  all  their  metaphysical 
Viossibil'ties.  "  Let  us  quit  talking  and  go  and  do 
t,"  was  practically  his  motto. 

The  first  public  office  to  which  Mr.  Cleveland  was 
elected  was  that  of  SherifT  of  Erie  t'o.,  N.  Y.,  in 
which  Buffalo  is  situated;  and  in  such  capacity  it  fell 
lO  his  duly  to  inflict  capital  pi'-.Ishment  uiwn  two 
cjiniinals.  In  i88t  he  was  elected  Mayor  of  die 
City  of  Bufifalo.  ci  the  Democratic  ticket,  with  es- 
oecial  reference  to  the  bringing  about  'er-  i>i    -  .'-.—.c 


in  the  administration  of  the  municipal  affairs  of  that 
city.  In  this  office,  as  well  as  that  of  Sheriff,  his 
performance  of  duty  has  generally  been  considered 
fair,  with  possibly  a  few  exceptions  which  were  fer- 
reted out  and  magnified  during  the  last  Presidential 
campaign.  As  a  specimen  of  his  plain  language  in 
a  veto  message,  we  quote  fiom  one  vetoing  an  iniqui 
tous  street-cleaning  contract:  "This  is  a  time  foi 
plain  speech,  and  my  objection  to  your  action  shall 
be  plainly  stated.  I  regard  it  as  the  culmination  of 
a  mos  bare-faced,  impudent  and  shameless  scheme 
to  betray  the  interests  of  the  people  and  to  worse 
than  squander  the  people's  money."  The  New  York 
Sun  afterward  very  highly  commended  Mr.  Cleve- 
land's administration  as  Mayor  of  Buffalo,  and  there- 
upon recommended  him  for  Governor  of  the  Empire 
State.  To  the  latter  office  he  was  elected  in  1882, 
and  his  administration  o.*"  the  affairs  of  State  was 
generally  satisfactory.  The  mistakes  he  made,  if 
any,  were  made  very  public  throughout  the  nation 
after  he  was  nominated  for  President  of  the  United 
States.  For  this  high  offine  he  was  nominated  July 
II,  1884,  by  the  National  Democratic  Convention  at 
Chicago,  when  other  competitors  were  Thomas  F. 
Bayard,  Roswell  P.  Flower,  Thomas  A.  Hendricks, 
Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Allen  G.  Thurman,  etc.:  and  he 
was  elected  by  the  people,  by  a  majority  of  about  a 
thousand,  over  the  brilliant  and  long-tried  Repul)- 
lican  statesman,  James  G.  Blaine.  President  Cleve- 
land resigned  his  office  as  Governor  of  New  York  in 
January,  18S5,  in  order  to  prepare  for  his  duties  as 
the  Chief  Executive  of  the  United  States,  in  which 
capacity  his  term  commenced  at  noon  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1885. 

The  silver  question  precipitated  a  controversy 
between  those  who  were  in  favor  of  the  continu- 
ance of  silver  coinage  and  those  who  were  opposed, 
Mr.  Cleveland  answering  for  the  latter,  even  before 
his  inauguration. 

On  June  2,  1886,  President  Cleveland  married 
Frances,  daughter  of  his  deceased  friend  and 
partner,  Oscar  Folsom,  of  the  Buffalo  Bar.  Their 
union  has  been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  one  daugh- 
ter, Ruth.  In  the  campaign  of  1888,  President 
Cleveland  was  renominated  by  his  party,  but  the 
Republican  candidate.  Gen.  Benjamin  Harrison, 
was  victorious.  In  the  nominations  of  1S92  these 
two  candidates  for  the  highest  position  in  the  gift 
of  the  people  were  again  pitted  against  each  other 
and  President  Cleveland  was  victorious  by  an 
overwhelming  majority. 


>^' 


,«.rt«*' 


4^j2a^    Oy^o^ 


TWENTY-THIRD  PRESIDENT. 


..o»o..gJXt®- 


[ENJAMIN  HARRISON,  the 

twenty-third  President,  is 
the  descendant  of  one  of  the 
historical  families  of  this 
country.  The  head  of  tlie 
family  was  a  Major  General 
Harrison,  one  of  Oliver 
Cromwell's  trusted  follow- 
ers and  fighters.  In  the  zenith  of  Crom- 
well's power  it  became  the  duty  of  this 
Harrison  to  participate  in  the  trial  of 
Charles  I,  and  afterward  tc  sign  the 
death  warrant  of  the  king.  He  subse- 
q'jient:j  paid  for  this  with  his  life,  being 
hung  Oct.  13,  1660.  His  descendants 
came  to  America,  and  the  next  of  the 
family  that  appears  in  history  is  Benja- 
rain  Harrison,  of  Virginia,  great-grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and 
»ftev  wbom  he  was  named.  Benjamin  Harrison 
was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  during 
the  years  1774—5-6,  and  was  one  of  the  original 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  He 
w*'  three  times  elected  Governor  of  Virginia 
Oen    William  Henry   Harrison,  the  son  of  the 


distinguished  patriot  of  the  Revolution,  after  a  sue 
cessful  career  as  a  soldier  during  the  War  of  1812, 
and  with-a  clean  record  as  Governor  of  the  North- 
western Territory,  was  elected  President  of  the 
United  States  in  1840.  His  parser  was  cut  short 
by  death  within  one  month  after  liis  inruguration. 
President  Harrison  ^etz  born  at  Nof^:Ii  Bond, 
Hamilton  Co.,  Ohio,  Aug.  SO,  1833  His  life  upto 
the  time  of  his  graduation  by  the  Miami  University, 
at  Oxford,  Ohio,  was  the  uneventful  one  of  a  coun- 
try lad  of  a  family  of  small  means.  His  father  was 
able  to  give  him  a  good  education,  and  nothing 
more.  He  became  engaged  wliile  at  college  to  tha 
daughter  of  Dr.  Scott,  Principal  of  a  female  schoo. 
at  Oxford.  After  graduating  he  determined  to  en- 
ter  upon  the  study  of  the  law.  He  went  to  Cin 
cinnati  and  then  read  law  for  two  years.  At  the 
expiration  of  that  time  young  Harrison  receivad  tb'; 
only  inheritance  of  his  life;  his  aunt  dying  left  bin; 
a  lot  valued  at  $800.  He  regarded  this  legacy  as  & 
fortune,  and  decided  to  get  married  at  ouce,  taka 
tliis  money  and  go  to  some  Eastern  town  an  I  be 
gin  the  practice  of  law  He  sold  his  lot,  and  with 
tiie  money  in  his  pocket,  he  started  out  witn  his 
young  wife  to  fight  for  a  place  in  the  world.     H« 


108 


BENJAMIN  HARRISONS 


■  k'ciilcd  to  go  to  Infliannpolis,  which  was  even  at 
llmt  time  a  town  of  pioiuisL'.  lie  met  willi  sliglit 
fiicourageuient  at  lir:<t,  inalviiig  scarcely  anything 
llie  (irst  j'car.  He  woricod  diligently,  applj'ing  him- 
self closely  to  his  calling,  built  up  an  extensive 
practice  and  took  a  leading  rank  in  the  legal  pro- 
icssion.     lie  is  the  father  of  two  children. 

In  1800  Mr.  Harrison  was  nominated  for  tlie 
position  of  Supreme  Court  Reporter,  and  t!ien  be- 
gan his  experience  as  a  stump  spcake;  He  can- 
vassed the  State  thoroughly,  and  was  elected  by  a 
handsome  majority.  In  1SG2  he  raised  the  17th 
Indiana  Infantr}-,  and  was  chosen  its  Colonel.  His 
regiment  was  composed  of  *.he  rawest  of  material, 
out  Col.  Harrison  employed  all  liis  time  at  first 
uiasterilig  militiiry  tactics  and  drilling  his  men, 
when  he  therefore  came  to  move  toward  the  East 
Tith  Sherman  his  regiment  was  one  of  the  best 
'irilled  and  organized  in  tl;e  army.  At  Resaca  he 
especially  distinguished  himself,  and  for  his  bravery 
at  Peachtree  Creek  he  was  made  a  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral, Gen.  Hooker  speaking  of  him  in  the  most 
>;omplimentary  terms. 

During  the  absence  of  Gen.  Harrison  in  the  field 
Le  Pupreme  Court  declared  the  office  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  Reporter  vacant,  and  another  person 
was  elected  to  the  position.  From  the  time  of  leav- 
ing Indiana  with  his  regiment  until  the  fall  oi  1861 
be  had  taken  no  leave  of  absence,  but  having  been 
nominated  that  year  for  the  same  otlice,  he  got  a 
thirty-day  leave  of  absence,  and  during  that  time 
made  a  brilliant  canvass  of  the  State,  and  was  elected 
for  another  terra.  He  then  started  to  rejoin  Sher- 
man, but  on  the  way  was  stricken  down  with  scarlet 
'iCver,  and  after  a  most  trying  siege  made  his  way 
to  the  front  in  time  to  participate  in  the  closing 
iEcidcnts  of  the  war 

In  1808  Gen.  Harrison  declined  vc-elcction  as 
.■«lK)rter,  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law  In  1870 
iie  was  a  candidate  for  Governor,  Although  de- 
bated, the  brilliant  cami)aign  hi-  ij^ade  won  iorhini 
a  National  reputat:;>n,  and  ho  was  much  sought,  cs- 
pecial.y  in  the  East,  to  make  speeches.  In  1880, 
as  usual,  he  took  an  active  par^.  in  i,ae  campaign, 
Mid  w:;'  elected  to  the  'Jnited  States  Senate.  Here 
uc  set-ved  six  years,  anc'  .-as  known  as  one  ci  the 
ibie.il  men,  best  lawyer*  uud  strongcs*^  debaters  in 


that  body.  With  the  expiration  of  his  Senatorial 
tLMin  he  leturncd  to  llie  practice  of  his  profession, 
becoming  the  head  uf  one  of  the  strongest  firms  iu 
the  State. 

The  political  campaign  of  1888  was  one  of  the 
most  memorable  in  the  history  of  our  country.  The 
convention  which  assemijled  in  Chicago  in  .Iiine  an.. 
named  Mr.  Harrison  as  the  chief  standard  bearer 
of  the  Republican  party,  was  great  in  ever3'  partic- 
ular, and  on  this  account,  and  the  attitude  it  as- 
sumed ujiou  the  vital  questions  of  the  diiy,  chief 
among  which  was  the  tariff,  awoke  a  deep  interest 
in  the  campaign  throughout  the  Nation.  Shortly 
after  the  nomination  delegations  began  to  visit  Mr. 
Harrison  at  Indianapolis,  his  home.  This  move- 
ment became  popular,  and  from  all  sections  of  the 
country  societies,  clubs  and  delegations  jtjurneyed 
thither  to  jmy  their  respects  to  the  distinguished 
statesman.  The  popularity  of  these  was  greatly 
increased  on  account  of  the  remarkable  speeches, 
made  by  Mr.  Harrison.  He  spoke  daily  all  through 
the  summer  and  autumn  to  these  visiting  delega- 
tions, and  so  varied,  masterly  and  eloquent  were 
Iiis  speeches  that  they  at  once  placed  him  in  the 
foremost  rank  of  American  orators  and  statcsmc.'). 

On  account  of  his  eloquence  as  a  speaker  and  hie 
power  as  a  debater,  he  was  called  upon  at  an  un- 
commonly early  age  to  take  part  in  the  discussion 
of  the  great  questions  that  then  began  to  agitate 
the  country.  He  was  an  uncompromising  anti 
slavery  man,  and  was  matched  against  some  of  t'.:e 
most  eminent  Democratic  sjwakers  of  his  Stau,, 
No  man  who  felt  the  touch  of  his  blade  de;  ired  ti. 
be  pitted  with  him  again.  With  all  his  c!oq-'ence 
jis  an  orator  he  never  spoke  for  oratorical  effect, 
i)ut  his  words  always  went  like  bullets  to  the  mark 
He  is  purely  American  in  his  ideas  and  it:  a  spier 
did  type  of  the  American  statesman.  Gifted  witli 
quick  perception,  a  logical  niind  and  a  ready  tongue, 
he  is  one  of  th«  most  distinguished  impromptu 
speakers  in  the  Nation.  Many  of  these  speeches 
sparkled  with  the  rarest  of  eloquence  and  contained 
arguments  of  greiitest  weight.  Many  of  his  terse 
slatements  have  already  become  aiihorisms.  Origl- 
nal  in  thouglit  precise  iu  logic,  terse  in  statement, 
jet  withal  faultless  in  eloquence,  he  is  recognized  as 
the  sound  statesman  and  brill  Ian    orator  O'  tiic  d«y 


■M^  J^^^  ^i> 
"f^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^® 


Johnson,  Massac,  Pope  -e^  Hardin  Counties 


ILLINOIS 


-V 


1^  INT^RODUQT^ORY. 


3.HE  time  has  arrived  wlien  it 
becomes  the  duty  of  the 
people  of  this  county  to  per- 
petuate the  names  of  their 
pioneers,  to  furnish  a  record 
of  their  early  settlement, 
and  relate  the  story  of  their 
progress.  The  civilization  of  our 
day,  the  enlightenment  of  the  age 
and  the  duty  that  men  of  the  pres- 
ent time  owe  to  their  ancestors,  to 
themselves  and  to  their  posterity, 
demand  that  a  record  of  their  lives 
and  deeds  should  be  made.  In  bio- 
graphical history  is  found  a  power 
to  instruct  man  by  precedent,  to 
enliven  the  mental  faculties,  and 
to  waft  down  the  river  of  time  a 
safe  vessel  in  which  the  names  and  actions  of  the 
people  who  contributed  to  raise  this  country  from  its 
primitive  state  may  be  preserved.  Surely  and  rapidly 
the  great  and  aged  men,  who  in  their  prime  entered 
the  wilderness  and  claimed  the  virgin  soil  as  their 
heritage,  are  passing  to  their  graves.  The  number  re- 
maining who  can  relate  the  incidents  of  the  first  days 
of  settlement  is  becoming  small  indeed,  so  that  an 
actual  necessity  exists  for  the  collection  and  preser- 
vation of  events  without  delay,  before  all  the  early 
settlers  are  cut  down  by  the  scythe  of  Time. 

To  be  forgotten  has  been  the  great  dread  of  mankind 
from  remotest  ages.  AH  will  be  forgotten  soon  enough, 
in  spite  of  their  best  works  and  the  most  earnest 
efforts  of  their  friends  to  perserve  the  memory  of 
their  lives.  The  means  employed  to  prevent  oblivion 
and  to  perpetuate  their  memory  has  been  in  propor- 
tion 'o  the  amount  of  intelligence  they  possessed. 
Th-;  pyramids  of  Egypt  were  built  to  perpetuate  the 
names  and  deeds  of  their  great  rulers.  The  exhu- 
mations made  by  the  archeologists  of  Egypt  from 
buried  Memphis  indicate  a  desire  of  those  people 


to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  their  achievements. 
The  erection  of  the  great  obelisks  were  for  the  same 
purpose.  Coming  down  to  a  later  period,  we  find  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  erecting  mausoleums  and  monu- 
ments, and  carving  out  statues  to  chronicle  their 
great  achievements  and  carry  them  down  the  ages. 
It  is  also  evident  that  the  Mound-builders,  in  piling 
up  their  great  mounds  of  earth,  had  but  this  idea — 
to  leave  something  to  show  that  they  had  lived.  All 
these  works,  though  many  of  them  costly  in  the  ex- 
treme, give  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  lives  and  charac- 
ters of  those  whose  memory  they  were  intended  to 
perpetuate,  and  scarcely  anything  of  the  masses  of 
the  people  that  then  lived,  i  The  great  pyramids  and 
some  of  the  obelisks  remain  objects  only  of  curiosity; 
the  mausoleums,  monuments  and  statues  are  crum- 
bling into  dust. 

It  was  left  to  modern  ages  to  establish  an  intelli- 
gent, undecaying,  immutable  method  of  perpetuating 
a  full  history — immutable  in  that  it  is  almost  un- 
limited in  extent  and  perpetual  in  its  action;  and 
this  is  through  the  art  of  printing. 

To  the  present  generation,  however,  we  are  in- 
debted for  the  introduction  of  the  admirable  system 
of  local  biography.  By  this  system  every  man,  though 
he  has  not  achieved  what  the  world  calls  greatness, 
has  the  means  to  perpetuate  his  life,  his  history, 
through  the  coming  ages. 

The  scythe  of  Time  cuts  down  all ;  nothing  of  the 
physical  man  is  left.  The  monument  which  his  chil- 
dren or  friends  may  erect  to  his  memory  in  the  ceme~ 
tery  will  crumble  into  dust  and  pass  away;  but  his 
life,  his  achievements,  the  work  he  has  accomplished, 
which  otherwise  would  be  forgotten,  is  perpetuated 
by  a  record  of  this  kind. 

To  preserve  the  lineaments  of  our  companions  we 
engrave  their  portraits,  for  the  same  reason  we  col- 
lect the  attainable  facts  of  their  history.  Nor  do  we 
think  it  necessary,  as  we  speak  only  truth  of  them,  to 
wait  until  they  are  dead,  or  until  those  who  know 
them  are  gone  ;^to  do  this  we  are  asliamed  only  to 
publish  to  the  world  the  history  of  those  wh()se  live" 
are  unwcthy  of  uublic  record. 


*^^}^ 


^^?x^ 


jIL^  ON.  ALONZO  D.  PIERCE.  Among  the 
|[/)Ji  foremost  of  the  citizens  who  have  had  the 
^^^  making  of  Pope  Countj^  within  the  past 
(^)  three  decades  is  the  Hon.  Alonzo  Pierce,  a 
man  of  well-rounded  character,  warm  and  gener- 
ous nature,  far-seeing  business  acumen  and  large 
public  spirit.  He  won  distinction  as  one  of  the 
most  fearless  and  efficient  officers  of  the  Illinois 
regiments  that  did  such  noble  service  during  the 
late  war,  and  has  been  prominent  in  the  civic  and 
business  life  of  this  section  since  that  era  of  battle 
that  proved  the  worth  of  his  manhood  and  citizen- 
ship. 

Mr.  Pierce  was  born  at  Jamestown,  Chautauqua 
County,  N.  Y.,  January  17,  1831,  a  son  of  David 
Pierce,  who  was  also  a  native  of  New  York,  born 
in  the  town  of  Hoosick,  Rensselaer  County.  His 
father  had  removed  to  that  part  of  the  country 
from  New  England,  his  birthplace,  and  had  rented 
land  of  the  Van  Rensselaers,  a  noted  Knicker- 
bocker family  of  that  region.  His  last  years  were, 
however,  spent  at  Jamestown. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  in  eastern 
New  York,  and  settled  in  Chautauqua  County 
when  a  young  man,  becoming  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Jamestown.  In  1833  he  again  started 
Westward,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  two  chil- 
dren, and  made  his  way  to  Ohio.  He  stopiied  for 
a  wliile  at  Mentor,  on  land  that  was  subsequently 


included  in  Gen.  Garfield's  estate  at  tlie  time  of 
his  death.  From  there  he  went  to  Ashtabula 
County,  and  bought  a  sawmill  that  was  operated 
by  water-power.  During  the  winter  season  he 
manufactured  lumber,  and  engaged  in  farming  the 
remainder  of  the  year.  In  1859,  he  once  more 
turned  his  face  "Westward,  and  coming  to  Illinois 
bought  land  in  the  western  part  of  Pope  County, 
and  there  serenel}'  passed  the  rest  of  his  days  until 
his  death,  in  1876,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four  \-ears. 
His  wife  died  in  1890,  at  the  age  of  seventj'-eight 
years.  Her  maiden  name  was  .Jane  Jackson,  and 
she  was  born  in  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  a 
daughter  of  Daniel  Jackson.  She  was  the  mother 
of  four  children:  Lovina,  Alonzo  D.,  Isabelle  and 
Andrew  J.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  Demo- 
crat until  the  war  broke  out,  but  from  that  time 
he  was  a  firm  adherent  of  the  Republican  party. 
While  a  resident  of  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio,  he 
served  as  Constable  under  John  Sherman,  Sr. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  made  the  most  of 
his  opportunities  for  obtaining  a  practical  educa- 
tion, and  attended  school  quite  regularly  until 
1848.  In  that  year  he  commenced  sailing  on  the 
Lakes,  and  was  thus  engaged  for  two  seasons.  In 
the  winter  of  1849  he  came  to  Illinois;  and  in 
February,  1850,  with  several  others,  started  from 
Naperville  for  an  overland  journey  to  California, 
tlioirs  being  the  second  train  of  that  season  to  face 


IIH 


I'OUTRAIT  ANU    BIOOIIAIMIICAL    RKVIKW. 


the  perils  jind  liaidsliips  to  lu'  ciR'oimti'i'cd  in 
crossing  tiie  wide  and  desolate  plains  and  the 
nii^lity  harrier  of  niounlains  that  lay  helween  the 
little  party  and  the  wonderfid  gold  (ields  of  the 
modern  Kl  Dorado,  where  eaeh  ho|)ed  to  make  his 
forluiu".  They  er<»ssed  the  Mississippi  River  at 
t'omicil  lilutTs,  proeeeded  to  the  present  site  of 
Omaha,  thence  Sonthward  to  Ft.  Kearney  (the 
present  site  of  Nebraska  City),  and  then  their 
course  lay  Westward  over  the  plains  and  Rocky 
iMt)untains.  At  that  time  there  was  scarcely  a 
white  settler  between  the  Missouri  River  and  Cali- 
fornia, except  the  Mormons  atSt.  Lake.  Deer  and 
antelope  were  plentiful,  and  the  beautiful  crea- 
tures were  so  little  used  to  seeing  white  men,  that 
they  hardly  knew  whether  or  not  to  fear  them. 
Buffaloes  were  encountered  in  innumerable  num- 
bers. 

At  the  foot  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains  the 
))arty  ran  out  of  provisions.  The  Mormons,  who 
shrewdly  took  advantage  of  the  tide  of  emigration 
that  poured  over  the  Rockies  at  this  point  to  make 
money  from  the  necessities  of  the  emigrants,  had 
driven  stock  hither  a  thousand  miles  from  their 
abiding-place,  and  kept  them  there  in  readiness  to 
sell  to  half-starved  travelers  at  the  most  exorbitant 
prices.  For  ten  pounds  of  fresh  beef  our  subject 
and  his  comrades  gave  them  a  good  wagon,  harness 
for  four  horses,  nearly  a  boxof  si)erni  candles,  half 
a  box  of  soap  and  ^i>  in  cash. 

.July  13,  our  party  of  adventurers  arrived  at 
Ilangtown  (now  Placcrville),  and  were  soon  en- 
gaged in  seeking  gold.  Mr.  Pierce  mined  for 
nearly  two  years  with  fair  success,  and  then  pur- 
ch.ised  a  ranch  in  the  Sacramento  A'alley,  twenty- 
five  miles  above  the  city  of  the  same  name.  A 
few  months  later  he  found  that  his  title  was  not 
good,  and  selling  what  stock  he  had  to  pay  his 
debts,  he  returned  to  the  mountains,  where  he 
joined  his  former  partner,  having  !ji2l)  in  cash  with 
which  to  begin  life  again.  He  bought  an  interest 
in  a  mine  with  his  old  partner,  and  continued  min- 
ing until  18.')(>.  Tiring  of  the  rough  and  wild  life 
of  a  mining  camp,  in  that  j'ear  he  returned  to  his 
old  home  in  Ohio,  traveling  by  the  Nicaragua 
route,  and  he  went  into  the  lumber  business  with 
his    father  in   Ashtabula   County.     The  panic   of 


IH;')?  came,  bringing  hard  times  and  linaiicial  dis- 
aster to  many  a  linn,  and  the  Pierces  were  obliged 
to  suspend  business.  Tliej-  continued  to  reside  in 
Ohio  until  1S.')!I,  and  then  father  and  son  came  to 
Illinois  to  retrieve  their  fallen  fortunes.  Togetlier 
they  bought  land  on  sections  21  and  '25,  township 
14,  range  5,  and  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits 
until  the  Rebellion  broke  out. 

As  soon  as  ptissible.  Mr.  Pierce  settled  his  affairs 
and  arranged  to  enter  the  ranks  as  a  soldier  to 
help  defend  his  country 's  honor,  his  heart  going 
out  in  undying  patriotism  to  her  in  the  hour  of 
her  greatest  trial,  when  she  needed  the  support  of 
every  true-born  freeman.  He  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  August,  IStil,  in  Company  A,  Sixth  Illiiioi- 
Cavalry,  and  for  four  long  and  bitter  years  served 
the  Government  vviih  unwavering  fidelity  in  the 
performance  of  his  duties,  however  arduous,  and 
with  unshaken  loyalty  to  the  old  Hag,  until  a  few 
months  after  peace  was  declared,  and  he  and  his 
gallant  men  were  no  longer  needed  at  the  front. 
Soon  after  his  enlistment  he  was  promoted  to  the 
position  of  First  Sergeant,  and  was  made  drill- 
master,  company  clerk  and  Quartermaster-Sergeant. 
¥ov  bravery  in  battle  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  Captain,  and  was  afterward  commissioned  Ma- 
jor for  his  heroic  conduct.  He  was  with  his  regi- 
ment in  its  various  marches,  and  in  the  campaigns 
in  which  it  bore  au  important  part,  and  was  al- 
ways conspicuous  for  his  valor  and  intreiiidity  in 
ever.v  encounter  with  the  enemy.  At  Belmont, 
Tenn.,  he  led  one  hundred  of  his  command  against 
Richardson's  regiment,  and  had  the  rebels  well 
whipped  before  the  rest  of  his  regiment  came  up. 
Sixty  of  the  one  hundred  men  who  thus  bravely 
followed  their  daring  leader  were  either  killed  or 
wounded.  In  that  engagement  the  valiant  Major 
had  a  hand-to-hand  encounter  with  Maj.  Benson, 
of  the  rebel  army,  upon  whom  he  indicted  a  mor- 
tal wound.  Our  subject's  military  life  was  brought 
to  an  end  by  his  honorable  discharge  with  his  regi- 
ment in  November,  ISG.'j. 

Returning  home  from  his  long  sojourn  in  the 
South,  Mr.  Pierce  resumed  farming.  In  1877  he 
turned  his  attention  to  the  mercantile  business, 
opening  a  store  for  the  sale  of  general  merchandise, 
and  continued   actively  eng.aged  in  th.it  line  until 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


119 


he  turned  the  business  over  to  his  sons  in  1892. 
Then,  having  become  interested  in  tlie  creamery  at 
Goiconda,  he  began  to  devote  himself  to  dair^' 
farming,  which  he  finds  profitable  under  his  wise 
management,  the  employment  of  modern  methods 
and  the  careful  selection  and  care  of  stock . 

In  18.57  our  subject  was  married  to  Miss  Orrilla 
Willard,  of  Naperville,  and  her  pleasant  compan- 
ionship and  helpfulness  have  added  grace  and  full- 
ness to  his  life.  Four  children  have  hallowed  their 
union:  May,  wife  of  Frank  Staubitz;  Walter;  Car- 
rie, wife  of  Charles  Steyer;  and  Henry. 

Mr.  Pierce  has  been  conspicuously  identified  with 
the  political  life  of  the  county  since  the  early  days 
of  the  Republican  party,  wlien  he  cast  his  first  Presi- 
dential vote  for  Gen.  Fremont.  He  was  a  fearless 
and  bold  advocate  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  be- 
ing one  of  the  first  Abolitionists  in  Pope  County, 
when  it  was  absolutely  dangerous  for  a  man  to 
champion  the  cause  of  the  slave.  He  is  a  man  of 
strong  convictions  and  resolute  will,  of  a  cour- 
ageous and  dauntless  nature,  his  life  on  the  fron- 
tier strengthening  these  traits,  and  he  has  never 
swerved  from  any  course  that  he  thought  right. 
He  used  to  attend  political  meetings  here  armed  to 
the  teeth,  and  made  stump  speeches  with  his  re- 
volver in  his  hand,  while  cooly  facing  an  excited 
assembly  of  people  who  were  decidedly  at  odds 
with  him  on  the  political  questions  of  those  ante- 
bellum days.  In  1856  he  voted  for  Joshua  R. 
Giddings  for  Congress.  He  continued  to  act  with 
the  Republican  party  until  1887,  and  then,  finding 
himself  at  variance  with  it  on  the  tariff  issue,  and 
his  sentiments  more  in  harmony  with  the  Demo- 
crats in  that  regard,  he  has  since  affiliated  with 
them.  His  fellow-citizens  knowing  him  to  be  a 
man  among  men,  gifted  with  fine  personal  attri- 
butes and  rare  business  iiualifications,  hold  him  in 
high  esteem,  and  have  honored  hi:n  and  themselves 
by  his  election  to  two  of  the  most  important  offices 
that  the3'  can  bestow  by  their  suffrage.  In  1870 
he  was  elected  Sheriff  of  Pope  County,  and  so  well 
did  he  act  in  the  interests  of  law  and  order,  that 
he  was  re-elected  in  1872,  and  again  in  1874,  and 
it  is  conceded  that  no  more  zealous  or  capable  offi- 
cial ever  held  the  office.  In  1876  the  popular 
Sheriff    was  sent  to  represent  his  constituents  in 


the  State  Legislature,  and  there  too  he  did  good 
service.  Mr.  Pierce  is  one  of  the  leading  members 
of  Raum  Post  No.  362,  G.  A.  R.,  of  which  he  w.as 
one  of  the  organizers;  and  he  is  likewise  an  active 
member  of  Goiconda  Lodge  No.  131,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.; 
and  of  Goiconda  Chapter  No.  162,  R.  A.  M. 


^2. 


■jll  AMES  P.  TAYLOR  has  been  a  thrifty  and 
practical  farmer  of  Pope  Count3',  111.,  and 
although  he  has  disposed  of  the  greater  part 
^^^^''  of  his  real  estate  he  is  still  the  owner  of 
and  engaged  in  cultivating  forty  acres  of  land  in 
the  vicinity  of  Elizabeth,  which,  though  small, 
most  emphatically  indicates  that  Mr.  Taylor  thor- 
oughly understands  the  art  of  farming.  The  land 
is  exccptionall}'  well  tilled,  and  on  it  are  excellent 
farm  buildings  of  all  descriptions,  among  which  is 
a  neat  frame  residence,  in  which  Mr.  Taylor  and 
his  amiable  wife  are  spending  their  declining 
years. 

James  P.  Taylor  was  born  in  IJartholoraew 
County,  Ind.,  November  9,  1825,  a  son  of  Aaron 
Taylor,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  the  Buckeye 
State,  and  whose  life  was  devoted  to  the  honorable 
occupation  of  farming.  He  became  a  resident  of 
Pope  County,  111.,  in  1833,  the  journey  to  Goi- 
conda being  made  by  water,  and  in  what  was  then 
the  wilds  of  the  State  he  began  to  carve  out  a 
home  for  himself  and  wife  and  those  who  might 
come  after  them.  His  wife  was  Miss  Anna  Lee,  a 
daughter  of  John  Lee,  a  Iloosier  bj"  birth  and 
bringing  up,  and  to  him  she  proved  a  true  help- 
mate in  his  early  days  of  adversity.  They  entered 
a  tract  of  Government  land  in  the  vicinity  of 
Glendale,  and  on  that  tract  of  land  their  home  con- 
tinued to  be  until  the  death  of  Mrs.  Taylor  in 
1834,  at  which  time  she  was  in  the  prime  of  woman- 
hood. She  left  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  of 
whom  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  third 
child  and  second  son.  In  1836  the  head  of  the 
family  was  also  taken  away,  being  killed  by  a  fall- 
ing tree  which  he   w.as  clioiipiiig  down.     The  little 


12(1 


I'OKI'UAIT   AM)    I'.KtCi;  AI'IIICAI.    lil'A  I  I'.W. 


band  of  orpliuii  cliildicn  wim-c  kindly  looked  iiflcr 
liv  tlic  g<Ktd  citi/.<'iis  III  till"  nt'if^liborliood,  and 
\oiins;  .lames  V.  found  a  liomo  with  Thoniiu*  Kills, 
with  wlioin  lie  lived  for  eifjlit  yeais,  or  until  lie 
was  seventeen  years  old,  when  he  started  to  make 
his  own  way  in  the  world  and  l}ej,'an  assistinj;  in 
the  construftion  of  a  mill    in   (irandpier  Precinct. 

Mr.  Taylor  then  spent  one  year  on  the  farm  of 
.lordaii  Story,  after  which  he  worked  for  sometime 
ft)r  .lames  Fulkerson,  his  compensation  being  a 
hoi-se.  On  the  22d  of  November,  1847,  he  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Catherine  Kormwalt, 
of  Middle  Tennessee,  the  daughter  of  .lohn  Form- 
wait,  and  soon  after  the  celebration  of  their  nup- 
tials they  took  a  tract  of  Government  land,  con- 
sisting of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  for  a  por- 
tion of  which  they  paid  *1.2.'j,  and  only  twelve 
and  one-half  cents  for  a  considerable  portion.  Hoth 
these  young  people  were  sturdy  and  ambitious, 
and  they  labored  faithfully  to  improve  their  prop- 
erty, with  the  result  that  in  time  they  had  one  hun- 
dred acres  in  a  good  state  of  cultivation.  This 
farm  lies  one  mile  south  of  Ilartsville,  and  is  con- 
sidered one  of  the  desirable  places  of  the  county. 
Durini"  the  twenty-two  years  that  they  resided 
and  labored  on  this  farm,  nine  children  were  born 
to  them,  .lonalhan  F.,  who  is  a  successful  lawyer 
of  Carbondale,  is  married  and  has  four  sons; 
Spencer  15.,  a  farmer  of  Golconda  Precinct,  has  three 
daughters  and  two  sons;  Caleb  M.,  who  farms  near 
his  jiarent-s,  has  four  sons  and  one  daugiiter;  Rich- 
ard F.,  the  i)rosecuting  attorney  of  Elizabetlitown, 
has  one  son  and  one  daughter;  Willium  F.,  at  Pop- 
lar Bluff,  Mo.,  is  a  skillful  practicing  physician; 
Priscilla  1.  is  the  wife  of  Daniel  Flannery;  and  one 
son  and  two  daughters  they  buried  in  infancy. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  make  their  home  with  their 
daughter  Priscilla,  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  are 
both  in  poor  health  and  unable  to  carry  on  the  la- 
bors of  their  farm.  This  daughter  is  the  mother 
of  four  children,  one  girl  and  three  boys. 

In  1864  Mr.  Taylor  enlisted  in  the  Uiiioii  army, 
in  the  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-sixth  Illinois  In- 
fantry, Company  K,  as  Second  Sergeant,  but  was 
in  no  battle  during  his  six  months'  army  ca- 
reer. The  life  that  he  led  was  hard,  however,  and 
for  two  mouths  he  was  dangerously  ill  in  the  hos- 


pital at  Chicago,  and  long  after  he  returned  to 
his  home.  He  now  receives  a  ])ension  of  !jil2  per 
month.  Our  subject  has  always  been  a  Democrat, 
and  was  at  one  time  elected  Constable,  but  soon 
resigned  the  position.  He  has  been  a  School  Di- 
rector for  many  years.  Mrs.  Taylor  has  been  an 
invalid  for  about  two  years,  and  has  been  a  life- 
long sufferer  with  phthisic.  She  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  liaptist  Church  for  over  twenty-seven 
years  and  is  an  earnest  and  sincere  Christian. 


■f  f  J. 


=«^>- 


V  us.  MARTHA  AK.NOLI),  widow  of  An- 
drew J.  Arnold,  controls  and  manages  the 
farm  on  section  9,  ^'ienlla  Township,  of 
which  she  is  joint  owner  with  her  mother, 
and  is  an  intelligent  factor  in  promoting  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  .lohnson  County.  She  was 
born  in  England,  ]\Iarch  19,  1845,  and  accompa- 
nied her  father  to  this  country  when  a  J"0ung  girl, 
her  mother  following  them  in  April,  1861. 

Mr.  Smith,  our  subject's  father,  had  worked  in  a 
woolen  factory  in  the  Old  Country,  and  was  poor 
when  he  came  here.  He  was,  however,  industri- 
ous and  thrifty,  and  was  prospered  as  a  farmer, 
which  calling  he  adopted  after  coming  to  the 
United  States,  and  at  his  death  left  a  comfortable 
property,  the  old  homestead  upon  which  his  last 
years  were  passed  falling  to  his  wife  and  daughter 
Martha.  Mrs.  Smith  married  again  after  the 
death  of  her  husband,  becoming  the  wife  of  Thomas 
Goddard,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Du  Quoin.  She 
is  the  mother  of  three  children  by  her  first  mar- 
riage: Martha;  Emma,  wife  of  .John  Miller,  of 
Hamilton  County;  ami  Clara,  wife  of  K.  JNI.  King, 
of  Vienna. 

Our  subject  was  married  .luly  10.  1864,  to  An- 
drew Jackson  Arnold,  and  her  wifely  devotion  to 
his  interests  contributed  much  to  his  success  in 
life.  Mr.  Arnold  w.as  born  in  Kentucky,  March 
13,  1838.  His  father  w.is  Elijah  Arnold,  who  was 
a  native  of  North  Carolina,  whence  he  went  to 
Henderson  County.  Ky.,  wheie  he  engaged  in  far- 
ming   until   his   demise.     Our    subject's    husliaml 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


121 


liad  to  work  hard  when  a  boy,  as  did  all  farmers' 
sons  brought  up  under  pioneer  restrictions,  and 
only  had  an  occasional  chance  to  attend  school. 
In  January,  18a4,  when  he  was  nearly  sixteen 
years  old,  he  started  out  in  the  world  to  seek  For- 
tune's favors,  setting  out  on  his  momentous  jour- 
ney on  foot,  with  a  light  purse,  but  with  the  stead- 
fast intention  of  making  the  best  of  his  life.  He 
at  length  arrived  in  northern  Illinois,  found  em- 
ployment on  a  farm,  went  to  work  with  a  will,  and 
was  thus  engaged  when  the  war  broke  out.  He 
was  then  in  the  full  Hush  and  vigor  of  the  opening 
years  of  a  promising  manhood,  and  .as  he  was  im- 
bued with  the  ardent  patriotism  that  characterizes 
every  loyal  citizen",  while  doing  his  duty  at  home 
he  watched  the  course  of  the  rebellion  with  intense 
interest,  and  was  ready  when  more  men  were 
needed  at  the  front  to  volunteer  his  services,  en- 
listing in  Company  D,  Eighty-ninth  Illinois  In- 
fantry, in  August,  1862.  He  took  part  in  a  num- 
ber of  engagements,  including  the  hotl}'  contested 
battle  of  Stone  River.  His  naturally  strong  con- 
stitution broke  down  under  the  ravages  of  army 
life,  and  he  was  remanded  to  the  hospital,  but  did 
not  rally  so  as  to  be  fit  for  further  service,  and  ac- 
cordingly was  honorably  discharged  at  Indianap- 
olis. 

After  his  retirement  from  the  service  Mr.  Ar- 
nold went  to  work  again  at  farming,  still  desirous 
to  make  a  home  for  himself.  In  1870  he  came  to 
.Johnson  Count}',  and  for  a  number  of  years  rented 
a  place  for  agricultural  purposes,  and  also  engaged 
in  the  grocery  trade  at  Vienna  for  a  time,  living 
in  the  village  about  five  years.  He  bought  some 
land  in  Bloomfield  Township,  which  was  subse- 
ijuently  sold.  After  his  army  service  he  had  never 
regained  his  former  strength  and  health,  an  insid- 
ious disease,  contr.acted  while  he  was  in  the  South, 
finally  causing  his  death.  His  last  years  were 
spent  on  the  farm  in  ^'ienna  Township  on  which 
his  famil}'  is  living.  He  devoted  himself  to  agri- 
cultural pursuits,  conducting  his  operations  with 
good  financial  success,  showing  himself  to  be  a  sa- 
gacious, capable  farmer,  with  a  clear  understand- 
ing of  his  vocation  in  all  its  branches.  When 
scarcely  past  the  prime  of  life  his  labors  were 
brought   to  an    end    by    death,  .January  11,  1887, 


and  the  township  was  thus  deprived  of  one  of  its 
worthiest  citizens,  one  who  had  been  true  to  him- 
self and  others  in  every  relation — in  his  family  a 
kind  and  considerate  father;  to  his  neighbors 
friendly  and  obliging;  and  alw.ajs  faithful  in  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  citizenship.  His  burial, 
which  took  place  in  Odd  Fellows'  Cemetery,  w.as 
conducted  with  due  solemnit3\ 

Six  children  were  born  of  the  union  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Arnold,  namelj":  Mary  Ellen,  at  home  with 
her  mother;  Joshua,  who  is  married  and  lives  at 
Anna;  Martha  Elizabetli,  who  also  resides  at  home; 
Rufus  Monroe,  who  died  in  Vienna,  September 
18,  1875;  Emma  Edith,  who  died  July  20,  1870; 
and  George,  at  home  with  his  mother. 

Since  her  husband's  death  Mrs.  Arnold  h.as 
taken  entire  charge  of  the  farm,  which  comprises 
eighty  acres  of  exceedingly  fertile  land,  and  under 
her  energetic  and  clear-sighted  management  it  is 
made  to  yield  to  the  utmost,  and  good  order  pre- 
vails on  every  side.  She  displays  excellent  quali- 
fications as  a  farmer,  and  is  a  business  woman  of 
more  than  ordinary  capacity.  She  and  her  family 
have  a  pleasnnt  honse,  over  which  she  rules  as  a 
wise  mother.  She  has  her  children's  interests  at 
heart  and  is  giving  them  the  best  educational  ad- 
vantages that  she  can  afford. 


^       citizei 
^^/    forth. 


'^  AMES  MADISON  ABBOTT,  a  resident  of 
Golconda,  was  one  of  the  noble  army  of 
izen-soldiers  who  did  such  grand  service 
he  Union  during  the  late  war,  and  to 
which  he  devoted  the  opening  years  of  manhood, 
sacrificing  health,  wliich  is  dearer  than  life  itself,  for 
his  country.  He  was  born  in  Lynchburgh,  Tenn., 
April  23,  1843.  His  father,.James  M.  Abbott,  who 
was  also  a  soldier  in  the  late  war  and  died  while 
fighting  for  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  was  born  in 
North  Carolina  in  1814,  and  was  a  son  of  Sterlino- 
Abbott,  who  was  a  native  of  the  same  State, whence 
he  removed  to  Tennessee  and  cast  in  his  lot  with  its 
pioneers.  He  selected  a  tract  of  Government  land 
near    Lynciiburgh,   and    on   tlie  farm   that  he  re- 


122 


l'(»l!li;Air    AM)    I'.IOdli  Al'IIIC  AL   lUA  1 1;\\ 


claimed  from  the  wilderiif.ss  lie  ilit'd  diiriii<;  tlic 
hito  W!ir  at  a  ri|)e  old  age.  His  wife  liorc  the 
maiden  name  of  Susan  Merrill,  and  was  like- 
wise a  native  of  North  Carolina.  Her  father, 
Kvans  Menill,  is  thoujjht  to  have  been  born  in 
Pennsylvania  and  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier. 
After  that  war  he  settled  in  North  C'aroli?ia  and 
died  there.  The  grandmother  of  onr  subject  died 
on  the  home  farm  in  Tennessee. 

The  father  of  our  subject  learned  the  trade  of  a 
blacksmith  in  his  younger  daj's  but  did  not  follow 
it  many  years.  In  the  fall  of  1848  he  emigrated 
to  this  State  with  his  family,  making  the  removal 
with  teams  and  cooking  and  camping  by  the  waj'. 
On  his  arrival  he  selected  a  tract  of  Government 
land  five  miles  south  of  Oolconda,  erected  a  log 
house,  and  commenced  at  once  to  clear  a  farm, 
upon  which  he  resided  until  his  enlistment  in 
18(M  in  Company  K,  One  Hundred  and  Thirty- 
sixth  Illinois  Infantry.  lie  did  his  duly  faithfully 
at  the  front,  but  the  extreme  hardships  to  which 
he  was  subjected  were  too  much  for  him  to  bear, 
and  the  same  year  he  died  in  the  service,  yielding 
up  his  life  for  his  country,  and  all  that  was  mortal 
of  him  was  laid  to  rest  at  St.  Louis.  His  wife  sur- 
vived him  many  years,  her  death  occurring  on  the 
home  farm  in  1889.  She,  too,  was  a  native  of 
North  Carolina,  her  maiden  name  being  Mary 
Evans,  and  her  parents  were  Elliott  and  Elizabeth 
(.Speck)  Evans. 

The  subject  of  this  brief  biographical  record  was 
but  five  years  old  when  the  family  came  to  Illinois. 
At  that  time  this  section  of  the  country  was  but 
little  iuiproved;  deer  and  wild  turkeys  were  plen- 
tiful and  bears  were  occasionally  to  be  found.  IVIr. 
Abbott  passed  his  youth  beneath  the  parental  roof, 
affording  his  father  valuable  assistance  in  redeem- 
ing his  land  from  its  native  stale,  and  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  great  Rebellion  found  him  quietly 
working  on  the  farm.  The  patriotic  spirit  inher- 
ited from  a  Revolutionary  grandsire  was  aroused 
as  he  watched  the  course  of  the  war,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  offer  his  services  to  help  protect  the  Old 
Flag.  Accordingly,  September  24,  18G1,  he  en- 
listed, although  he  was  but  eighteen  years  old,  be- 
coming a  member  of  Company  G,  Sixth  Illinois 
Cavalry,      lie    displayed    line    soldierly    (pialitios. 


fighting  with  the  coolness  of  a  veteran  whenever 
he  went  into  battle,  and  he  stood  by  his  colors 
until  he  was  disabled  by  a  gunshot  wound  while 
at  the  front  duringan  cngjigemont  with  the  enemy, 
some  time  in  18(;;i,  a  bullet  passing  completely 
through  his  lungs  and  body.  He  was  so  prostrated 
by  this  serious  wound  that  nearly  cost  his  life,  that 
he  was  honorably  discharged.  He  is  still  an  in- 
valid, suffering  continually  from  the  effects  of 
his  wound,  and  is  unable  to  do  any  manual  labor. 
Mr.  Abbott  was  married  in  1869  to  Miss  Mary 
Slagic,  a  native  of  Golconda  and  a  daughter  of 
John  R.  and  Isabelle  (Aldrich)  Slagle,  natives  of 
Indiana.  Two  children  have  been  born  to  them, 
Myrtle  and  May.  Mr.  and  Jlrs.  Abbott  are  worthy 
Christian  people  and  members  in  high  standing  of 
the  Presbyterian  Chuicli.  .Mr.  Abbott  is  a  true 
Democrat. 


L.  BURNETT  is  a  true  son  of  Johnson 
County,  "native  and  to  the  manor  born," 
and  an  honor  to  its  citizeiislii]).  He  is  a 
teacher  by  profession,  and  one  who  has 
made  his  mark  as  an  intelligent  and  progressive 
educator.  Failing  health  obliged  him  to  give  up 
his  favorite  pursuit,  at  least  for  a  time,  and  turn- 
ing to  the  active  and  invigorating  occupation  of 
a  farmer,  he  is  successfully  managing  a  well- 
equipped  farm,  of  which  he  is  the  proprietor, 
known  as  the  "old  Johnson  Farm."  which  is  of  his- 
torical interest  .as  one  of  the  first,  if  not  the  verj' 
first,  settled  in  this  section  of  tlie  eoinitry. 

Our  subject  was  born  October  12,  18.')0,  on  the 
farm  in  this  count}'  still  owned  and  occupied  by 
his  father,  Asahel  B.  Burnett,  of  whom  a  sketch 
appeal's  elsewhere  m  this  work.  He  was  an  onl}' 
child,  and  received  a  careful  home  training. 
Brought  up  on  a  farm,  he  early  formed  habits  of 
industry,  and  acquired  a  knowledge  of  agriculture 
that  has  been  of  advantage  to  him  since  he  again 
resumed  its  labors.  In  his  .school  days  he  was  a 
bright    boy,   always  standing   well   in   his  cl.asses, 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


123 


and  lie  had  tlie  advantage  of  his  fatlier's  instruc- 
tions, as  tiie  latter  taugiit  the  school  in  which  he  was 
a  pupil.  At  the  age  of  nineteen,  having  secured  a 
good  education,  he  commenced  to  teach,  and  was 
engaged  in  that  vocation  for  seventeen  years,  al- 
ways in  his  native  county,  with  the  exception  of 
one  term.  The  old  saying,  "A  prophet  is  not  with- 
out honor  save  in  his  own  country,"  has  no  signif- 
icance in  his  case,  as  full  appreciation  of  his 
talents  by  his  fellow-citizens  is  shown  b\-  his  con- 
tinuous responsible  position  at  the  head  of  various 
schools  where  he  is  best  known. 

Desiring  to  make  the  profession  in  which  he  had 
so  successfuU^y  engaged  a  business,  Mr.  Burnett 
entered  the  Normal  School  at  Carbondale  for  one 
term,  and  acquitted  himself  with  honor  while  a 
student  in  that  institution,  maintaining  a  high 
standing  in  scholarship.  Since  his  first  term  of 
school  he  alwa3's  held  a  first-grade  certificate.  He 
applied  himself  so  closely  to  his  beloved  profes- 
sion, that  his  health  began  to  fail,  and  it  was  evi- 
dent that  unless  he  made  some  change  life  for 
him  had  not  many  more  years  to  run.  Therefore 
he  bought  the  farm  called  the  "old  Johnson  Farm," 
comprising  seventy-five  acres  of  land,  situated  in 
Vienna  Township,  and  he  has  since  engaged  in 
general  farming,  and  is  giving  some  attention  to 
raising  strawberries  and  other  small  fruits.  He  has 
here  an  attractive  home  on  this  old  place,  which 
was  so  early  in  the  settlement  of  the  county  re- 
claimed from  the  wilderness.  The  old  house, 
which  has  been  remodeled  and  repaired,  was  built 
in  1818,  and  is  a  relic  of  pioneer  days. 

Mr.  Burnett  was  married  in  1882,  to  Miss  Sarah 
C.  Con  ley,  a  native  of  Pope  County,  who  was, 
like  himself,  a  bright  }'oung  school  teacher,  and  the 
ac(iuaintance,  formed  while  they  were  pursuing 
their  calling,  ripened  into  a  congenial  and  happy 
marriage,  which  has  been  hallowed  to  them  by  the 
birth  of  four  children:  Asahel  Breese;  Chloe  Bertie; 
Ophy,  who  died  in  infancy;  and  Harry  C,  de- 
ceased. Mrs.  Burnett's  parents  were  from  the 
State  of  iSIew  York,  and  lived  in  Pope  County'  af- 
ter coming  to  Illinois  until  their  death. 

Our  subject  has  in  a  measure  regained  his  health 
under  the  stimulus  of  an  active,  out-door  life,  and 
he  still  cherishes  the   idea  of   re-entering   his  old 


field  of  labor,  for  which  he  is  so  well  adapted,  as 
soon  as  he  is  able  to  carry  forward  its  work  with- 
out detriment  to  his  physical  well-being.  He  is  a 
gentleman  of  culture,  is  still  a  careful  student,  and 
the  educational  interests  of  this  county  should 
have  the  benefit  of  his  experience  and  prestige  as 
a  teacher. 


i>-^^<i 


^;]LEY  A.  SNOW,  who  was  born  on  an  old 
Kentuck}'  farm  January  23,  1850,  is  an 
JfV/  important  member  of  the  farming  com- 
munity of  Vienna  Township,  Johnson  County, 
where  he  has  a  well-conducted  and  substantiall3' 
improved  farm  on  sections  9  and  10.  His  father 
was  Calvin  N.  Snow,  who  was  a  native  of  Ala- 
bama, whence  he  went  to  Kentuck3'  when  he  was 
twelve  3-ears  old  with  his  father,  William  Snow, 
the  removal  being  made  with  a  wagon.  The  grand- 
father of  our  subject  settled  on  a  farm  on  his  ar- 
rival at  his  destination,  and  worked  hard  to  im- 
prove it.  He  finally'  came  to  Illinois,  but,  not 
contented  here,  sighed  lor  his  old  Kentucky  home, 
and  returning  to  its  shelter,  is  enjoying  its  com- 
forts at  the  ripe  old  age  of  ninetj'  years,  while  his 
wife,  the  companion  of  his  J03's  and  sorrows  these 
man3-  ^-ears,  has  attained  the  venerable  age  of 
eight3'-nine. 

The  father  of  our  subject  had  but  meagre  school 
advantages,  but  he  had  an  unlimited  opportunity 
to  acquire  a  thorough  knowledge  of  agriculture 
on  his  father's  farm.  He  remained  with  his  par- 
ents until  he  was  twent3--two,  and  then  took  his 
first  step  toward  independence,  first  marrying 
Miss  Sallie  Bridgeman.  He  went  to  farming  on 
his  own  account  on  rented  land,  and  subsequentl3' 
owned  a  farm,  which  he  finalh'  sold,  and  in  1863 
left  Kentucky  to  take  up  his  abode  in  Johnson 
County,  this  State,  traveling  with  teams.  He  had 
a  little  money  with  which  to  begin  life  anew,  and 
had  brought  his  tools,  household  furniture,  etc., 
with  him  in  the  wagons.  He  first  located  in  Gorc- 
ville  Township,  and  after  farming  as  a  renter 
two  years,  bought  a  farm,  which  he  occupied  two 


1-21 


I'oiii'UAi  r  AM)   nhx.KAi'iiK  Ai.  iii;\ii;w. 


years  niorc.  St'lling  it,  he  rented  Isiiid  for  fann- 
ing purposes  the  ensuing  four  years.  His  next 
move  was  to  Union  County,  wlioncc  he  went  two 
years  later  to  Arkansas,  and  he  is  now  a  prosper- 
ous farmer  of  Faulkner  County,  tliat  Slate,  where 
he  owns  a  good  farm.  His  wife,  wiio  had  encour- 
aged and  assisted  him  in  iiis  hiiiors,  departed  this 
life  April  1,  18K1.  Their  marriage  had  been  fruit- 
ful of  ten  children,  of  whom  tliese  six  are  living: 
Wile^'  A.;  William  .lasper,  of  Arkansas;  Amanda, 
wife  of  V.  1).  Utley,  of  Arkansas;  Francis  .1.; 
Thomas  C;  and  .Iidia  Ann.  wife  of  Isaac  Taylor, 
all  of  Arkansas. 

Wiley  A.  Snow,  of  whom  we  write,  is  the  eldest 
of  the  family.  His  bo^'hood  was  passed  on  a 
farm,  and  he  attended  school  whenever  he  could, 
applying  himself  diligently  to  his  books,  as  he 
was  ambitious  to  secure  a  good  education.  He 
assisted  his  father  in  caring  for  his  farm  until  he 
was  twenty  years  old,  and  then  began  farming 
for  himself,  working  at  it  the  ensuing  two  years. 
He  tlien  entered  a  general  merchandise  store  as  a 
clerk,  and  the  insight  that  he  gained  into  busi- 
ness methods  while  there  has  been  of  value  to  him 
in  his  after  work.  At  the  time  of  his  marriage  he 
resumed  farming,  carrying  on  operations  in  Gore- 
ville  Township,  and  after  the  harvest  removing 
to  a  place  near  Vienna,  where  he  raised  one  crop 
prior  to  settling  on  his  present  farm  on  sections 
9  and  10,  Vienna  Township,  his  home  being  on  the 
former  section.  He  bought  a  part  of  this  place, 
which  comprises  eighty-flve  and  three-fourth  acres 
of  land,  and  the  remainder  was  inherited  by  his 
wife.  It  was  unimproved  when  it  came  into  his 
possession,  but  ho  has  made  of  it  one  of  the  finest 
farms  in  the  vicinity — placing  the  land  under  ad- 
mirable tillage,  erecting  a  neat  dwelling  house  and 
other  needed  buildings,  and  otherwise  increasing 
its  value.  He  is  metliodical,  thrifty  and  indus- 
trious in  the  management  of  his  farming  inter- 
ests, and  is  very  well-to-do  as  the  result  of  his 
untiring  work.  The  peoi)le  among  whom  he  lives 
hold  him  in  sincere  respect  and  esteem  for  his 
many  excellent  qualities  of  head  and  heart,  and 
the  Christian  Church  has  in  him  a  devoted  work- 
ing member.  His  estimable  wife  is  a  consistent 
member  of  the  Methodist  Church.     In  politics  he 


is  a  Republican.  He  is  interested  in  e<lucationai 
matters,  and  is  resolved  that  his  children  shall 
have  good  educations,  keeping  them  in  school 
whenever  it  is  in  session. 

The  maiden  name  of  our  subject's  wife  was 
Mary  Ann  Uidenhower,  and  she  was  born  in  I'nion 
County,  of  which  her  parents  were  pioneers,  set- 
tling there  in  1848,  after  their  arrival  from  their 
old  home  in  North  Carolina.  Her  father,  who 
died  in  September,  18(59,  was  a  farmer,  and  had 
held  the  oflice  of  County  Surveyor  for  two  years. 
Mis  widow  is  still  living.  The  following  is  re- 
corded of  her  nine  children:  Otto  L.,  who  was  in 
the  army,  died  in  18C8;  Pernina  Artemisia  mar- 
ried Milton  Howe,  and  died  near  Reynoldburgh; 
Er.astus  Iv.  lives  in  Texas;  Mary  Ann  is  the  wife 
of  our  subject;  Harris  M.  is  a  resident  of  Vienna; 
Carrie  L.,  who  died  in  Simpson  Township,  was 
the  wife  of  .John  L.  Mount;  Adda  Ma3'  is  the 
wife  of  Alvis  Berrj',  of  Eiiualit>',  Saline  County; 
Rob  Roj'  is  a  resident  of  \'ienna;  and  Fleta  M.  is 
the  wife  of  James  Gibson,  of  Goreville. 

Four  children  complete  the  pleas.int  home  circle 
of  our  subject  and  his  wife,  namely:  Norman  T.,  - 
Herman,  Lloyd  and  Bernard.  Two  were  called 
hence  bj'  early  death:  Homer,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  seven  years;  and  Henry  Calvin,  who  w'as  thir- 
teen months  old  when  he  died. 


*^^! 


ll«=Jsu 


f/NDKHW  .lACKSOX  PKRKINS,  the  poi.u- 
lar  and  well-known  proprietor  of  the  Per- 
kins House,  is  one  of  Johnson  County's  na- 
tive-born sons,  and  first  saw  the  light  on 
the  old  family  homestead  July  14,  18.53.  His  fa- 
ther was  the  late  Capt.  William  Perkins,  who  was 
an  honored  pioneer  of  the  county,  a  gallant  oSliccr 
during  the  war,  and  a  man  of  prominence  in  the 
public  life  and  in  the  business  circles  in  this  part 
of  the  State. 

Capt.  Perkins  was  born  January  ti,  1819,  in 
Kentucky.  His  father,  who  w.as  a  farmer,  died 
there,  while  his  mother  spent  her  last  years  in  this 
county.     Ho  had  to  work  hard  uikhi  the  old  farm 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


125 


that  was  bis  boj-hood's  home,  and  onl}'^  had  an 
occasional  chance  to  attend  school,  but  he  had  an 
active,  receptive  brain,  and  besides  learning  to 
read  and  write  outside  of  the  school-room,  he  ac- 
quired a  practical  education  in  other  directions, 
and  was  a  well-informed  man.  He  was  ambitious 
to  make  something  of  himself,  and  at  the  age  of 
nineteen  left  the  shelter  of  the  paternal  roof  to 
try  life  in  the  young  and  growing  State  of  Illinois, 
coming  to  new  scenes  with  but  little  money,  but 
with  an  assured  capital,  consisting  of  a  clear  head, 
willing  hands  and  an  honest,  courageous  heart. 
He  at  once  engaged  in  hard  work  on  a  farm,  re- 
ceiving twenty-five  cents  a  day  in  pa}'ment  for  his 
toil,  and  he  continued  for  some  time  to  labor  for 
others  at  whatsoever  he  could  lind  to  do,  contriv- 
ing to  lay  up  a  little  monej*  in  spite  of  low  wages. 
He  thus  accumulated  sufficient  means  to  enable 
him  to  take  unto  himself  a  helpmate,  and  May  10, 
1840,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Eliza 
Simpson,  whose  people  were  early  settlers  of  the 
county. 

After  his  marriage  the  Captain  rented  land  in 
.Johnson  County,  and  devoted  all  the  time  he 
could  spare  to  its  cultivation,  having  to  do  other 
work  to  obtain  money  to  support  himself  and 
wife.  Sometimes  he  would  cut  wood,  and  once 
he  made  a  trip  to  New  Orleans  with  a  flatboat 
load  of  hop  poles  to  sell.  In  this  manner  he 
toiled  on  for  a  number  of  years,  and  then  bought 
a  farm  two  miles  east  of  the  present  site  of 
Vienna.  A  roughly  built  log  cabin  constituted 
the  main  improvement  on  the  place  when  he  took 
possession  of  it,  and  it  was  only  by  diligence, 
perseverance  and  the  application  of  sound  meth- 
ods of  farming  that  he  made  of  it  one  of  the  best 
farms  in  the  neighborhood,  clearing  the  land  b}' 
felling  the  primeval  forest  trees  and  burning  them 
to  get  them  out  of  the  way.  He  subse(|uently 
sold  that  farm  and  turned  his  attention  to  milling 
in  Vienna,  having  an  interest  in  a  flourmill  and 
in  a  sawmill,  in  connection  with  A.  J.  Ku3'ken- 
dall. 

The  war  broke  out,  and  Capt.  Perkins  laid  aside 
all  plans  for  the  future  to  respond  to  his  country's 
call  for  help,  and  with  cheerful  self-sacrifice  and 
an    enthusiastic    patriotism    that   was  contagious, 


assisted  in  raising  a  company  for  service,  which 
was  incorporated  in  the  Fourteenth  Illinois  Cav- 
alry as  Company  G,  and  he  was  appointed  its 
Captain.  He  was  in  the  army  nearly  four  years, 
fought  in  many  battles,  and  in  action  evinced 
true  courage,  promptness  and  decision  that  made 
his  services  as  an  officer  valuable  and  inspired  his 
men  with  confidence.  He  was  finally  seriously 
wounded  in  an  engagement  with  the  enemy,  was 
taken  to  a  farm-house,  where  he  remained  until  he 
had  so  far  recovered  as  to  be  able  to  walk  with 
crutches,  and  then,  he  having  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  rebels  at  the  time  he  was  wounded, 
he  was  sent  to  Anderson  ville  to  drag  out  life  as 
best  he  could  amid  the  sickening  environments  of 
the  prison  stockade  at  that  place.  Some  months 
later  he  was  fortunately  exchanged,  was  subse- 
quently discharged  on  account  of  disability,  and 
returned  home  with  impaired  health,  and  never 
again  regained  the  vigor  and  fine  physical  condi- 
tion of  bygone  years. 

The  Captain  was  a  man  of  affairs,  who  was  in- 
fluential in  public  life,  and  was  a  man  of  large 
public  spirit,  who  was  active  in  promoting  enter- 
terprises  for  the  advancement  of  the  county. 
Among  other  things,  he  was  persuaded  to  sign  a 
bond  for  a  mail  route  between  Dongola,  Union 
County,  and  Vienna.  The  principal  on  the  bond 
died,  and  the  Captain  had  to  complete  the  con- 
tract for  carrving  the  mail.  In  1868  he  was 
elected  Sheriff  of  the  county,  and  served  the  full 
term.  Previous  to  that  time,  in  about  1866,  he 
bought  what  has  since  been  known  as  the  Per- 
kins House,  a  hotel  property  in  Vienna,  which 
he  improved  to  some  extent,  adding  to  the  build- 
ing, and  he  had  it  under  his  management,  except 
when  he  rented  it,  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
April  30,  1892.  Thus  there  passed  away  from  the 
scenes  of  his  usefulness  one  who  had  been  for 
many  j'cars  closel}'  identified  with  the  growth  of 
the  county,  and  whose  memory-  will  long  be  cher- 
ished for  his  great  worth  as  a  man  and  a  citizen. 
The  partner  of  his  jo^'s  and  sorrows  preceded  him 
in  death,  dving  in  August,  1889.  They  were  the 
parents  of  twelve  children.  Cynthia  E.,  John 
Lewis  and  Henry  S.,  who  are  dead;  James  K.,  a 
railway  bridge  carpenter,  at  Menna;  Mary  L.  and 


■2r, 


riiiMi.'Air   \Mi  r.Mx.i; Ai'iiK  Ai.  i;i;\ii;w 


August  M., dcccasL'd ;  Indiiiiia,  wife  of  W.  E.  Gale- 
iicr,  of  Tuiuii'l  Hill;  Andrew  .).,  our  subject;  Kdie 
('.  and  Mary  .!.,  both  of  whom  are  dead;  William 
Iv,  a  resident  of  Poplar  HIvifT,  Mo.;  and  Lizzie  K., 
deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Perkins  also  took  to  their 
liome  and  hearts  and  leared  as  fine  of  llieir  own  ,). 
A.  Simpson. 

Andrew  .1.  Perkins,  of  wliom  we  write,  is  the 
eight  child  of  the  family.  His  early  years,  were 
spent  on  the  farm,  but  when  he  was  eight  years 
old  his  parents  removed  to  town,  and  he  had  the 
advantage  of  an  education  in  the  scliools  of 
Vienna.  When  he  was  a  boy  he  was  mail-car- 
rier for  his  father  between  this  village  and  Don- 
gola,  and  he  also  worked  in  the  livery  stable  that 
his  father  operated  in  connection  with  the  hotel. 
He  conceived  the  idea  of  going  to  Texas  to  seek 
liis  fortune,  but  he  went  no  further  than  Arkansas 
on  his  journey  thither,  and  stopping  there  a  few 
months  was  variously  employed,  working  on  a 
farm,  at  paper  hanging,  working  in  a  confectioner}' 
store,  baker's  shop,  etc. 

After  his  marriage,  in  1876,  he  lived  in  tiie 
hotel  witli  his  father  and  engaged  in  the  transfer 
business.  After  running  an  express  wagon  nearly 
a  3'ear,  he  went  on  the  road  selling  goods.  In 
187!)  he  learned  the  art  of  photography-  at  Vienna, 
and  for  a  while  gave  his  attention  to  that  busi- 
ness. Ill  1880  he  bought  a  half  interest  in  a  bar- 
ber shop,  learned  the  trade,  and  at  the  end  of  ten 
\'ears  bought  out  his  partner,  and  was  sole  propri- 
etor of  the  establishment.  He  carried  on  a  thriv- 
ing business,  but  abandoned  it  in  .September,  1891, 
to  take  charge  of  the  hotel  property,  which  he 
bought  of  his  father.  He  is  admirably  adapted  to 
his  position  as  "mine  host,"'  being  perfectly  fam- 
iliar with  the  management  of  a  hotel,  always 
courteous  and  accommodating,  and  he  enjoys  his 
share  of  public  patronage.  He  is  an  exemplary 
citizen,  imbued  with  true  public  spirit,  and  having 
the  interests  of  his  town  and  county  at  heart.  He, 
is  a  member  of  the  .School  lioard,  and  apjireciating 
fully  the  benefits  of  a  good  education,  uses  his  in- 
fluence to  keep  the  local  schools  up  to  a  high 
standard.  In  politics  he  is  a  Hcpublicaii.  Ilo  lias 
served  on  the  Village  Hoard  of  Trustees. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  PeiUiiis  with  Miss  Sarah  C. 


Ralls  was  solemnized  Kelnuaiy  Kt,  lK7(i.  .Mrs. 
Perkins'  parents  came  from  Teniies.see  to  this 
State  in  the  early  years  of  its  settlement,  and  her 
mother  is  still  living  at  a  venerable  age,  making 
her  home  with  her.  Mr.s.  Perkins  is  a  consistent 
Christian,  and  an  active  member  of  the  Metluidist 
Kpiscopal  Church.  Her  union  with  our  subject 
has  been  blessed  to  them  by  the  birth  of  six  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Hariy;  two  who  died  in  infancy; 
Fred;  Winnie,  deceased;  and  Nellie. 


ENHV  T.  I'.KIlXiHS,  .lustice  of  the  Peace 
at  X'ieiiiia,  is  pros|)eroiisly  engaged  in  tlie 
grocery  business  in  that  village,  and  is  one 
of  its  leading  citizens.  He  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 25,  1831,  in  Marshall  Count3',Tenn.,  one  iiiik- 
from  Lowisburgh.  His  father  was  .lames  \).  Bridges, 
who  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina  and  a  son  of 
Fianuis  Bridges,  who  was  also  a  native  of  that  .State. 
The  latter  was  a  son  of  William  Bridges,  who  was 
an  Knglishinan  by  birth  and  came  to  this  country 
in  Colonial  times,  settling  in  North  Carolina,  where 
he  died.  The  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  reared 
and  married  in  his  native  State,  Sarah  Cadle,  a  na- 
tive of  the  State  and  a  daughter  of  .lesse  Cadle. 
becoming  his  wife.  In  181.5,  he  emigrated  to  Ten- 
nessee and  settled  in  that  part  of  Maury  County 
now  included  in  Marshall  County, where  he  bought 
land,  which  he  farmed  some  j-ears.  His  next  move 
was  to  Mississippi,  but  he  only  remained  two  years, 
and  then  took  up  his  abode  in  Carroll  County, 
Tenn.,  where  his  earthly  pilgrimage  w.as  brought 
to  a  close  by  liis  death  at  a  ripe  old  age. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  seven  yeais  old 
when  the  family  located  in  the  wilds  of  Tennessee. 
Here  he  grew  to  man's  estate  and  was  married  in 
Maury  County  to  Elizabeth  Thomii.^oii,  who  was 
a  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah  (Seliefner) 
Thompson,  and  also  a  native  of  North  Carolina. 
In  18;}.T  Mr.  Bridges  went  to  Mississijipi  and  took 
up  his  residence  on  a  fniiii  thai  lie  purchased,  situ- 
ated seven  miles  cast   nf  lloli\  Spriiiirs.     lleie   he 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


127 


divided  Ills  time  between  farming  and  mercantile 
pmsuits,  trading  cliietly  with  the  Chickasaw  Indi- 
ans. Six  years  after  his  removal  to  Mississippi  he 
sold  his  property  there  and  took  up  his  residence 
at  Dyersburgh,  Tenn.,  where  he  engaged  in  farm- 
ing and  teaming.  Two  years  later  he  made  another 
removal,  going  to  Ballard  County,  Ky.,  where  he 
bought  a  farm  and  established  a  smithy  and  wagon 
shop,  which  he  managed  in  addition  to  farming. 
In  1844  he  woundup  his  affairs  there  and  came  to 
this  State  and  county,  accomp.anied  by  his  wife 
and  eight  children,  the  removal  being  made  with 
teams.  He  settled  in  Vienna,  entering  a  tract  of 
Government  land  near  the  village,  and  while  he 
superintended  the  improvement  of  his  land  he 
operated  a  smithy  and  wagon  manufactoiy.  In 
1852  he  again  disposed  of  his  propert3',  and  buy- 
ing laud  in  Laclede  Count^^,  Mo.,  he  engaged  in 
farming  and  stock-raising  there  until  his  death,  in 
February,  1863.  His  wife  died  in  this  county  in 
1882.  They  reared  six  children  to  honorable  and 
useful  lives,  namely,  Jesse  C,  Henry  T.,  Sarah, 
Charlotte,  AVilliam  and  Benjamin. 

He  of  whom  we  write  was  but  two  and  one-half 
j'ears  old  when  the  familj'  entered  upon  its  vari- 
ous migrations,  and  he  was  thirteen  years  old  when 
he  was  brought  to  Illinois.  When  he  was  twelve 
years  old,  the  active,  industrious  lad  began  to  learn 
the  trade  of  a  blacksmith  under  the  instruction  of 
his  father,  with  whom  he  remained  until  he  was 
twenty  years  old.  He  became  an  expert  at  his 
trade,  and  at  that  age  opened  a  shop  for  himself 
at  Vienna.  In  1880  he  abandoned  that  business  to 
engage  in  the  grocery  business,  which  he  has  car- 
ried on  with  good  financial  success  ever  since,  hav- 
ing a  well-conducted  store,  which  is  amply  stocked 
with  first-class  groceries. 

December  31,  1852,  the  marriage  of  our  subject 
with  Miss  Jlary  E.  Carter,  a  native  of  Giles  County, 
']"enn.,  and  a  daughter  of  Vincent  and  Elizabeth 
(Rose)  Carter,  was  solemnized.  They  have  five 
children  living,  namely:  Amanda  Belle  Cowsert, 
James  IL,  Vesta  Hogg,  Harry  T.  and  "Willie. 

Mr.  Bridges  is  a  man  of  sterling  sense  and  sound 
judgment,  and  he  has  been  selected  by  his  fellow- 
citizens  to  administer  the  law  in  the  capacity  of 
Justice   of  the  Peace.     He  is  now  serving  his  sec- 


ond term  in  that  capacity  at  Vienna,  having  form- 
erly held  the  office  for  the  township.  He  was  also 
Police  Magistrate  for  six  years,  and  his  decisions, 
as  in  his  present  position,  were  always  marked  by 
a  clear  knowledge  of  the  legal  bearings  of  each 
case,  and  were  alwaj'S  impartial.  In  politics,  he  is 
a  straightforward  Republican  and  stands  faithfully 
by  his  party  whate'er  betides.  He  is  a  man  of 
prominence  in  various  social  organizations,  be- 
longing to  the  following-orders:  Vienna  Lodge  No. 
150,A.F.&  A.M.;  Vienna  Chapter  No.  57,  R.  A.M.; 
Council  No.  67,  R.  &  S.  M.;  and  he  was  a  charter 
member  of  Vesta  Lodge  No.  340,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  with 
which  he  is  still  connected.  He  is  also  a  member 
of  Vienna  Encampment  No.  53. 


-^^+^1= 


(T/^^  ON.  WILLIAM  A.  SPANN,  of  Vienna,  is  a 
ifjjl  lawyer  of  the  highest  order,  whose  char- 
/^^  acter  and  legal  attainments  mark  him  as 
(^,  one  of  the  most  successful  and  honored 
members  of  the  Bar  of  southern  Illinois.  He  was 
born  in  Cherokee  County,  Ala.,  October  6,  1840, 
and  is  a  son  of  Silas  Spann,  a  retired  mercliant  re- 
siding at  Alto  Pass,  in  this  State. 

The  father  of  our  subject  is  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  where  he  carried  on  the  occupation  of 
farmer  in  earlj^  manhood.  In  1848  he  left  that 
State  for  New  Orleans,  La.,  but  he  did  not  tarry 
there  long,  as  the  following  j'ear  found  him  in 
Union  County,  this  State,  where  he  was  one  of  the 
pioneer  merchants  for  the  sale  of  general  merchan- 
dise in  the  village  of  Anna,  carrying  on  business 
with  a  Mr.  Sessions  under  the  firm  name  of  Sessions 
&  Spann.  He  finally  bought  his  partner's  interest 
in  the  concern,  and  remained  sole  proprietor  until 
his  retirement  from  business  in  1878,  having  in 
the  course  of  a  long  and  honorable  career  accumu- 
lated an  ample  property,  and  he  is  now  serenel}' 
passing  the  sunset  of  life  at  Alto  Pass,  his  j-ears 
numbering  eighty-three.  He  has  been  four  times 
married.  His  first  wife,  Martha  Lott,  a  native  of 
Georgia,  the  mother  of  our  subject,  died  in  Chero- 
kee County,  Ala.     He   was  then   married   to  Mrs. 


128 


PORTRAIT  AND   lUOGRArHICAL   REVIEW. 


I'liillaiil,  of  Al:tbiima.  She  died,  and  he  wiis  wed- 
dfil  lu  C'liurlotte  Alexander,  of  I'liion  t'ouiily, 
iiiid  after  her  demise  he  married  Mrs.  Cox,  also  of 
rnion  County.  There  were  four  ehihh'cn  horn  of 
the  (irst  marriajje,  four  of  the  .second,  :incl  a  like 
number  of  liie  third. 

Our  subject  was  the  sect)nd  child  of  his  father's 
lii-st  marriage,  and  he  was  but  two  years  old  when 
he  was  deprived  of  the  tender  care  of  his  mother 
by  her  untimely  death.  He  lived  with  his  grand- 
mother and  some  uncles  until  he  was  sixteen 
years  old,  and  was  trained  to  habits  of  industry 
on  a  farm,  lie  had  but  little  chance  to  satisfy  his 
craving  for  an  education  in  the  poor  subscription 
schools  of  the  locality  in  which  he  lived,  whicii 
were  illy  sujjplied  with  textbooks,  Webster's  old 
spelling  book  being  the  one  in  which  he  obtained 
the  rudiments  of  what  knowledge  heac'iuired  from 
books  in  his  childhood. 

After  the  de.ith  of  his  father's  second  wife,  he 
came  to  Illinois,  in  .lunc,  18;)7,  and  here  his  pros- 
pects of  obtaining  an  education  brightened.  He 
was  not  only  a  bright  scholar  and  retained  what 
be  learned,  but  he  was  a  determined  and  energetic 
student,  and  applied  himself  eagerly  to  his  studies 
in  the  school  at  Jonesboro,  which  he  attended  from 
July  1  to  October  1,  when  he  entered  the  public 
schools  of  that  place.  He  cherished  an  ambition  to 
become  a  lawyer,  and  having  hud  a  solid  founda- 
tion for  the  acquirement  of  legal  knowledge,  he 
commenced  a  regular  course  of  reading  with  Judge 
Crawford  as  preceptor,  in  November,  1870.  June 
15,  1875,  he  was  admitted  to  the  l$ar  at  Mt.  Ver- 
non, but  he  did  not  immediately  enter  upon  the 
regular  practice  of  his  profession,  having  personal 
matters  to  look  after,  and  among  other  things  at- 
tending to  the  management  of  the  farm  that  he 
owned  in  Johnson  County.  In  March,  1877,  he 
opened  an  otlice  at  Vienna,  where  he  has  since 
made  his  home.  During  the  fifteen  years  that  have 
elapsed  since  he  settled  hero,  he  has  become  widely 
known  as  a  jurist  well  learned  in  law  and  of  nuis- 
terly  ability  :is  a  practitioner,  possessing  su|)erior 
gifts  .IS  an  advocate,  a  keen  insight  into  human  na- 
ture that  is  very  helpful  to  him,  and  the  Uict  and 
business  acumen  needful  to  conduct  legal  cases  to 
a  successful  issue.     He  is   coiuleous  and    gentle- 


manly in  his  bearing,  lirm  in  his  adherence  to  lii> 
convictions  of  right  and  justice,  and  his  reputation 
has  attracted  to  him  a  large  clientage  in  Johnson, 
Pope,  Saline,  Pulaski,  Alexander,  I'liion,  William- 
son and  Massac  Counties,  his  business  calling  him 
to  the  courts  of  all  these  counties  when  in  sessit>n, 
and  he  fre(|uently  has  cases  in  the  State  .Supreme 
Court  and  in  the  Tnited  StJvtes  Supreme  Court  at 
Cairo  and  .Springfield. 

December  21,  18G2.  our  subject  w.as  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Narcissa  A.  Simpson.  Twenty- 
two  years  of  wedded  happiness  were  vouchsafed 
to  them,  and  then  she,  who  had  filled  in  a  perfect 
measure  the  relations  of  wife,  mother  and  friend, 
died  January  21,  1885.  Her  union  with  our  sul)- 
ject  was  hallowed  b^'  the  birth  of  six  children: 
Flora,  wife  of  Alec  Hess,  of  Vienna;  Mattie,  wife 
of  A.  K.  Cantwell;  and  these  four  at  home  with 
llieir  father:  Lula,  Ida,  Hallie  and  Willie. 

Mr.  Spann  is  a  Democrat  of  approved  soundness, 
:U though  by  no  means  a  bitter  partisan,  and  hi> 
fellow-citizens,  irrespective  of  party,  would  \iv 
pleased  to  have  him  take  a  more  active  part  in 
public  life,  for  which  he  is  soerainentl3-  fitted,  but 
its  honors  and  emoluments  have  no  attraction  for 
him  in  his  devotion  to  his  profession.  In  1880, 
however,  he  was  prevailed  upon  by  his  friends  to 
enter  the  political  arena  as  a  candidate  for  the 
Legislature,  was  elected  to  represent  this  district, 
and  was  I'e-elected  to  the  office  in  1882.  In  Au- 
gust, 1885,  he  was  appointed  Postmaster  at  Vienn:i 
by  President  Cleveland,  and  had  charge  of  the 
post-oflice  in  this  village  until  his  resignation  in 
February,  1889. 


'\f?OSEPH  H.  BROADWAY  is  numbered  among 
I  the  early  settlers  of  Pope  County,  and  has 
made  his  own  way  in  the  world  from  his 
early  years.  He  is  truly  a  .self-made  man, 
and  it  is  to  his  native  characteristics  of  industry 
and  well-directed  effort  that  he  has  acquired  his 
present  position  as  one  of  the  prospcrousand  well- 
to-do  farmers  of  townsliiii  r_'.     He   owns  a    well- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEAV. 


131 


improved  and  liiglil.y  cultivated  farm,  comprising 
four  hundred  and  ten  acres  cm  section  13,  and  has 
made  almost  all  the  improvements  on  his  place, 
having  himself  erected  all  his  comfortable  build- 
ings and  his  pleasant  farm  residence.  He  is  en- 
gaged in  general  farming,  and  also  raises  horses, 
mules,  cattle,  liogs  and  sheep. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Tennessee,  November 
8,  1827,  and  is  the  son  of  Ro\"al  B.  and  Nancy 
(O'Neil)  Broadway.  The  father  was  a  native  Vir- 
ginian, while  his  wife  was  born  in  Tennessee.  Our 
subject's  paternal  grandfather,  John  B.  Broadway, 
was  likewise  a  native  of  Virginia,  where  he  carried 
on  extensive  farms,  but  later  removing  to  Tennes- 
see, made  that  State  his  home  until  liis  death.  Our 
subject's  father  emigrated  to  Illinois  at  an  early 
day,  and  became  the  owner  of  some  raw  land  in 
Pope  Count}'.  He  made  the  journey  to  this  State 
in  wagons,  camping  out  and  cooking  on  tlie  way, 
the  trip  consuming  some  three  weeks. 

.Iosei)li  Broadway  was  one  in  a  family  of  nine 
children,  and  attended  school  a  few  montlis  in  his 
native  State  and  a  short  time  after  coming  to  Illi- 
nois. However,  his  attendance  at  school,  all  told, 
did  not  cover  more  than  a  j'ear,  and  therefore  he  has 
been  largely  self-educated  since  arriving  at  mature 
years  and  becoming  sensible  of  his  needs  in  that 
direction.  In  those  pioneer  daj-s  the  early  settlers 
had  a  great  many  difficulties  to  overcome,  and  his 
mother  used  to  card,  weave  and  spin  the  cloth  for 
the  garments  of  her  whole  famil}-,  and  until  our 
subject  was  twenty  years  of  age,  he  had  never  pos- 
sessed anything  but  homespun  clothes.  The  school- 
house  which  he  attended  for  a  short  time  was 
built  of  logs,  and  was  of  the  most  primitive  de- 
scription in  regard  to  furnishings.  Wild  game  was 
still  veiy  plentiful,  and  wolves  often  annoyed  the 
settlers,  sometimes  creating  havoc  in  their  flocks 
and  herds. 

When  seventeen  j'ears  of  age,  Jlr.  Broadway 
started  out  to  make  his  own  way  in  the  world, 
working  for  four  j-ears  with  a  neighbor  and  receiv- 
ing liis  board  and  clothes  in  compensation  for  his 
services.  At  the  end  of  the  four  years  his  em- 
ployer gave  him  a  horse,  a  heifer  and  a  few  hogs, 
hut  he  concluded  to  remain  for  two  years  longer, 
and  engaged   in  farming    on    shares    at  the  same 

6 


place.  He  then  entered  land  at  $1.25  per  acre,  and 
has  been  engaged  in  farming  ever  since  on  his 
original  purchase. 

On  the  14th  of  November,  1850,  a  marriage 
ceremony  was  performed  which  united  the  desti- 
nies of  Mr.  Broadway  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Frieze, 
who  was  born  in  Greene  County,  Tenn.,  April  14, 
1826,  and  whose  parents  were  among  the  early 
and  honored  pioneers  of  Illinois.  The  home  of 
our  worthy  subject  and  his  amiable  wife  has  been 
blessed  with  a  daughter,  who  was  born  November 
8,  1862,  and  whose  name  is  Mary  Elizabetli.  The 
family  are  members  of  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian Church,  at  New  Libert}',  and  are  active  in 
the  various  branches  of  its  work.  For  ten  years 
Mr.  Broadway  has  been  a  School  Director,  and  is 
one  of  the  warm  advocates  of  good  schools  and 
teachers.  He  easts  his  ballot  in  favor  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  nominees  of  the  Republican  paity,  and 
can  always  be  found  using  his  influence  for  the 
promotion  of  all  good  measures,  and  on  the  side 
of  right  and  justice.  He  has  made  it  one  of  his 
chief  objects  in  life  to  leave  to  his  descendants  an 
honorable  name,  untarnished  and  without  blemish. 


\fjOHN  B.  YOUNG,  M.  D.,  is  prominent  not 
only  as  one  of  the  leading  physicians  and 
druggists  of  Pope  County,  but  as  one  of  its 
most  successful  financiers  and  business  men, 
and  as  a  progressive  farmer  and  daiiyman,  has 
done  substantial  service  in  promoting  the  ad- 
vancement of  agriculture  in  this  section,  and  has 
acquired  a  valuable  property  b}'  masterly  manage- 
ment of  his  affairs  and  judicious  investment  of  his 
funds. 

The  Doctor  is  of  Scottish  birth  and  ancestiy, 
born  in  Aberdeeusliire  September  7,  1846.  His 
father,  John  Young,  was  born  in  Inverness,  and 
his  parents  were  life-long  residents  of  Scotland, he 
being  the  only  member  of  the  family  who  ever 
came  to  America.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a  baker, 
and    conducted    the    business   in    Alierdecn    until 


i:!2 


I'dlMKAlT  AM)    I'.loCUAniRAI.    I!i;\li;W. 


1856,  when  he  came  [<•  \\w  1  in  led  States,  and  lo- 
cating in  Chicago,  lie  pursiu'd  his  calling  in  that 
city  for  two  yesirs.  In  1858  he  was  joined  by  liis 
fiiniily,  and  coming  lo  Goiconda,  he  |)ui'chased  a 
farm  near  tiie  village,  and  devoted  himself  to agri- 
cidture  until  his  death.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wile  was  Helen  Brand,  and  slie  was  born  in  Aber- 
deen. Scotland,  while  her  last  years  were  passed  in 
(iolconda.  They  reared  four  children,  namely: 
.lohn  15.,  Elizabeth  M.,  Helen  and  George  B. 

Our  subject  laid  the  foundation  of  a  liberal 
education  in  the  excellent  schools  of  Aberdeen, 
which  he  attended  steadily  from  the  time  he  was 
old  enough  until  he  came  to  this  country',  in  IS.'iS. 
It  was  Ai)ril  11  of  that  year  that  he  embarked 
with  his  mother,  brother  and  sisters  at  Aberdeen, 
on  the  sailing-vessel  "Trans-Atlantic,"  on  that 
memorable  voyage  across  the  ocean  that  was  to 
convey  him  to  a  new  home  and  strange  scenes  far 
from  the  land  of  his  birth.  Landing  at  (Quebec 
six  weeks  later,  the  little  family  group  proceeded 
directly  to  Chicago  by  wa^'  of  the  Grand  Trunk 
Haihvay,  to  be  united  once  more  with  the  husband 
and  father,  from  whom  they  had  been  separated 
for  two  years.  From  there  they  went  by  rail  to 
Cairo,  and  thence  b\'  steamer  to  Goiconda. 

From  that  time  until  he  was  sixteen  years  old 
our  subject  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm,  and 
gained  an  intelligent  insight  into  all  branches  of 
agriculture,  which  he  has  since  found  very  useful. 
The  young  lad  had  been  watching  with  keen  in- 
terest the  progress  of  the  war,  and  at  the  youthful 
age  mentioned  determined  to  enlist  under  the  ban- 
ner of  his  adopted  country  that  he  might  do  what 
he  could  to  help  preserve  int.act  the  Government, 
under  whose  protection  he  was  to  pass  his  remain- 
ing days.  lie  entered  the  army  in  1863  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Company  K,  One  Hundred  and  Thirtj'-sixth 
Illinois  Infantry,  and,  mere  boy  as  he  was,  served 
with  credit  to  his  regiment  and  with  the  patriotism 
of  a  true-born  son  of  the  soil  during  the  five 
months  and  twenty  days  of  his  term  of  enlistment, 
and  was  honorably  discharged  at  the  end  of  that 
time. 

After  his  return  home  Dr.  Young  began  to  learn 
the  trade  of  a  tinsmith,  served  an  apprenticeship 
of  three  yeare,  and  then  bought  the   business  of 


his  employers,  conducted  it  himself  for  a  few  yeai-s, 
and  then  turning  his  attention  to  other  interests, 
has  since  einplo^-ed  a  man  to  manage  it.  In  187.3 
he  commenced  the  stud_v  of  medicine,  and  in  the 
spring  of  187.')  was  graduated  from  Rush  Medical 
College,  Chicago,  with  a  comprehensive  knowl- 
edge of  the  profession,  and  in  the  course  of  an 
extensive  practice,  upon  which  he  immediately 
entered,  opening  his  oHice  at  Goiconda,  he  has  had 
the  practical  experience  that  gives  added  value  to 
the  services  of  a  physician,  especially,  if,  like  our 
subject,  he  keeps  himself  well  informed  in  regard 
to  the  progress  made  in  the  medical  world  and  is 
quick  to  take  advantage  of  new  discoveries  and 
to  adopt  new  methods  and  measures  of  treatment 
when  he  feels  assured  of  their  superiority  over  the 
old. 

The  Doctor  is  a  man  of  innate  force  of  character 
and  of  great  versatility,  united  with  rare  execu- 
tive ability  and  excellent  judgment,  and  his  ener- 
gies are  by  no  means  confined  to  the  limitations 
of  his  professional  duties.  He  has  two  well-im- 
proved and  valuable  farms  a  mile  from  town,  which 
he  devotes  to  general  farming  and  dair}-  purposes, 
the  farms  being  under  his  personal  supervision. 
In  1880  he  entered  the  drug  business,  which  he  has 
conducted  ever  since,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  con- 
trols a  good  business  in  the  tinsmith  line.  He 
keeps  these  varied  interests  well  in  hand,  derives 
from  them  a  handsome  income,  and  is  one  of  the 
solid,  monied  men  of  the  county-.  A  citizen  of 
his  calibre  and  standing  necessaril}' exerts  a  whole- 
some intluence  in  the  community,  and  his  public 
spirit  may  be  counted  on  to  further  all  plans  to 
promote  the  public  weal.  The  Doctor  is  well 
known  and  popular  in  social  circles  as  a  member 
of  Lodge  No.  131,  A.  F.  &  A.  JL;  of  Goiconda  Chap- 
ter No.  162,  R.  A.  M.;  and  of  Goiconda  Post  No. 
362,  G.  A.  R. 

Our  subject  enjoys  two  of  life's  richest  l)lessings, 
a  pleasant  home  and  an  amiable,  companionable 
wife,  to  whom  he  was  united  in  marriage  in  186i). 
Mrs.  Young  was  formerly  Alice  M.  Hoffman,  and 
was  born  in  Goiconda,  a  daughter  of  Jared  and 
Marv  (Holland)  Hoffman.  Four  children,  two  of 
whom  are  living,  were  born  to  her  and  our  sub- 
ject,   Mary   E.  and   Lulu,  the  elder  of    whom  is 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


133 


the  wife  of  Edward  D.  Clark,  cashier  of  the  Pope 
Count}'  Bank.  Mi-s.  Young  is  a  woman  of  refined 
character  and  true  womanly  worth,  and  her  name 
is  associated  with  the  good  work  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  of  whicli  she  is  a  member. 


AVID  G.THOMPSON,  State's  Attorney  of 
I  j)j  Pope  Count}%  is  one  of  the  most  talented 
<^3(^  and  popular  members  of  the  Bar  in  this  sec- 
tion and  is  prominent  in  public,  political 
and  social  life.  He  is  a  native  son  of  the  county,  born 
on  a  farm  two  miles  north  of  Golconda  October  21, 
18.')3.  His  father,  the  late  Gordon  Thompson,who 
was  well  known  and  honored  in  this  count}'  dur- 
ing his  life,  was  born  in  Giles  Count}',  Va.,  Decem- 
ber 18,  1813.  He  was  a  son  of  John  Thompson, 
who  was  a  planter  and,  so  far  as  known,  spent  his 
entire  life  in  Virginia.  The  mai-den  name  of  his 
wife,  the  grandmother  of  our  subject.was  Anderson. 
She  survived  her  husband  a  number  of  years,  was 
married  the  second  time  to  a  Mr.  Hughes,  and  after 
his  death  came  to  Illinois  with  her  children  and 
spent  the  remainder  of  her  days  in  Pope  Count}r. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  very  young  when 
his  father  died,  and  he  then  went  to  live  with  his 
maternal  grandparents,  by  whom  he  was  reared. 
He  resided  in  Virginia  until  he  was  twenty-two 
years  of  age,  and  then,  in  1836,  set  out  on  horse- 
back to  traverse  the  intervening  wilderness  to 
visit  his  mother  and  family  in  this  State.  After 
his  arrival  he  located  on  a  piece  of  Government 
land,  intending  to  stop  one  season  only, and  raised 
a  crop  of  tobacco,  which  he  sent  down  the  river  to 
market,  intending  to  take  the  proceeds  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  his  return  to  Virginia.  But  he 
never  heard  of  his  tobacco  again,  and  consequently 
did  not  go  Imck  to  his  native  State,  but  made  a 
permanent  settlement  here.  He  at  first  entered  a 
small  tract  of  land  from  the  Government,  bullion 
the  place,  and  at  once  began  to  reclaim  a  farm 
from  the  primitive  wilderness.  He  thus  became 
identified  with  the  pioneei-s  of  the  county,  and 
well  did  he  perform  his  part  in  promoting  the  de- 


velopment of  its  agriculture  and  its  growth.  He 
was  much  prospered  in  his  undertakings  and  ac- 
quired a  handsome  property.  He  entered  other 
tracts  of  land  at  different  times  as  his  means  in- 
creased, and  atone  time  owned  four  hundred  acres, 
much  of  which  was  improved.  He  continued  to 
reside  on  his  farm  until  his  death,  in, January,  1892, 
rounded  out  his  life  at  a  venerable  age. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Jane  Clemens  and  she  was  a  native  of  Living- 
ston County,  Ky.  Her  father,  David  Clemens,  was  a 
Virginian  by  birth  and  was  a  son  of  Jerry  Clem- 
ens, who  was  also  born  in  Virginia  and  was  de- 
scended Trom  one  of  the  early  English  families 
that  settled  in  the  Old  Dominion  in  Colonial  times. 
He  was  a  planter  and  is  supposed  to  liave  been  a 
life-long  resident  of  his  native  State.  The  mater- 
nal grandfather  of  our  subject  emigrated  from 
Virginia  to  Kentucky  and  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Livingston  County.  The  mother  of  our 
subject  died  in  1862,  and  the  father  subsequently 
married  Louisa  J.  Williams,  who  survives  him. 
He  reared  seven  children  by  his  first  marriage: 
Loami  J.  Threlkeld,  James  C,  Emma  M.  Mizell; 
Amanda  J.,  Sarah,  and  John  N.,  all  deceased;  and 
David  G. 

Our  subject  obtained  the  rudiments  of  his  edu- 
cation in  the  district  school  and  subsequently  be- 
came a  student  at  the  Southern  Illinois  Normal 
University  at  Carbondale,  where  he  made  rapid 
advancement  and  stood  high  in  scholarship,  being 
graduated  in  the  Class  of  '78.  At  the  age  of  nine- 
teen he  began  teaching  and  taught  for  four  terms. 
This  was  but  a  means  to  an  end,  as  he  had  decided 
to  adopt  the  legal  profession,  and  during  that  time 
he  commenced  the  study  of  law.  In  1880  he 
bought  the  Herald,  a  weekly  paper,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  its  publication  for  a  period  of  two 
years.  He  did  not  abandon  his  preparations  for 
the  Bar,  however,  but  continued  his  studies  and 
was  admitted  in  1883.  He  at  once  opened  an 
office  at  Golconda  and  has  practiced  here  ever 
since.  In  1887  ho  f(jrnied  a  partnersliip  with 
George  A.  Crow,  under  tiie  firm  name  of  Thompson 
&  Crow,  and  they  conduct  an  extensive  legal  busi- 
ness, which  has  been  built  up  by  close  application 
to  professional  duties,  watchful  care  over  the  in- 


131 


I'nlMKAir  AM)   UK  •( .  K  A  I'll  l(  A  I,    i;i;\  IKW 


tercsts  intrusted  to  them,  by  a  clear  apprehension 
of  coranion  law  and  by  honorable  methods,  which 
have  secured  to  them  tiie  coiilideiice  of  their  fel- 
low-citizens. Mr.  Thonii)soM's  reputation  won  him 
election  to  the  important  post  of  State's  Attorney' 
in  1888,  and  re-election  in  1892,  and  all  are  agreed 
that  he  is  emineutly  littcd  for  the  ollice. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Mary  K. 
Iluffman  was  solemnized  in  April,  1882,  and  four 
childreu  grace  their  pleasant  home,  Nellie,  Mary 
Fay,  Kugcne  G.  and  John  II.  Mrs.  Thompson  is 
also  a  native  of  Poi)e  County  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Jared  and  Mary  E.  (Holland)  Huffman,  natives  of 
Tennessee. 

Mr.  ThomiKon  is  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Re- 
publicans in  this  county,  having  been  identified 
with  the  party  ever  since  he  cast  his  first  Presi- 
dential vole  for  Garfield  in  1880.  He  has  served 
as  Secretary  of  the  IJepublicau  County  Central 
Committee  for  some  years,  also  as  a  member  of  the 
Executive  Committee;  has  been  delegate  to  differ- 
ent Congressional  conventions,  and  twice  has  been 
sent  as  delegate  to  State  conventions.  In  his  so- 
cial relations  he  is  a  member  of  Golconda  Lodge 
No.  131,  A.  F.  fi  A.  M.;  and  of  Lodge  No.  292, 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  is  also  a  member  of  tlie  Presbyte- 
rian Church. 


J'lOIlN  II.  CLYMKR,  of  \icnna,  the  well- 
j  known  contractor  and  builder,  who  is  an 
important  factor  in  promoting  the  growth 
of  .lohnson  County,  served  with  credit  in 
the  great  Civil  AVar,  although  a  mere  boy  when 
he  entered  the  army.  He  was  born  in  Jlaur^' 
County,  Tenn.,  August  3,  1845.  His  father,  John 
C.  Clymer,  was  born  in  the  same  county,  and  was 
a  son  of  Joseph  Clymer,  who  was  a  native  of 
North  Carolina,  whence  he  removed  to  Tennessee, 
and  spent  his  last  years  in  Maury  County-. 

The  father  of  our  subject  engaged  in  farming 
in  his  native  State  until  1854,  when  he  came  to 
Illinois  and  settled  in  Johnson  County.  He  soon 
(•nimncnced  to   work  at  the   trade  of  a  carpenter, 


and  was  engaged  in  that  trade  a  number  of  years. 
He  is  now  a  resident  of  New  liurnside.  His  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Sarah  Shires,  was  a  native 
of  the  same  count}'  in  Tennessee  as  himself,  and 
her  parents  were  David  and  Holly  (Harris)  Shires. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clymer  have  five  children:  .Mary, 
David,  John  II.,  William  and  Holly. 

John  H.  Clymer,  of  this  biograjihical  review, 
was  ten  years  old  when  he  accompanied  his  par- 
ents to  their  new  home  in  this  county,  the  ever 
memorable  journey  being  made  with  a  team,  and 
the  Ohio  River  was  crossed  at  Golconda.  The 
famil}-  first  moved  into  an  old  log  church,  and 
lived  in  that  about  six  months,  and  then  removed 
to  what  is  now  Grantsburg  Township,  where  our 
subject  passed  his  boyhood  until  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war.  With  all  the  ardent  patriotism  of 
)'0uth,  he  desired  to  take  part  in  the  great  con- 
flict in  defense  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  Octo- 
ber 6,  1861,  found  his  name  enrolled  as  a  memlicr 
of  Company  I,  Twentj'-ninth  Illinois  InfantiT, 
although  he  was  but  sixteen  3'ears  of  age.  For 
three  long  and  trying  j'ears  he  was  at  the  front, 
and  earned  a  good  name  as  a  trusty,  brave  and 
loyal  soldier.  The  most  important  battles  in  which 
he  took  part  were  Ft.  Donelson,  Sliiloh,  the  siege 
of  Corinth  and  IIollj- Springs.  At  the  latter  place 
he  was  captured  by  the  rebels,  but  he  was  immed- 
iately paroled,  and  for  six  months  was  at  the 
parole  camp  at  St.  Louis.  He  was  then  exchanged 
and  did  garrison  duty  at  Vicksburg  until  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term  of  enlistment,  October  (>,  18(51, 
just  three  years  after  he  entered  the  army. 

Mr.  Clj'incr  resumed  work  at  his  trade  upon  his 
return  from  Southern  battlefields,  and  for  the 
past  twentj-  j'ears  has  been  engaged  in  business 
for  himself  as  a  contractor  and  builder.  For  a 
few  years  he  was  associated  with  J.  G.  Reese,  and 
later  with  J.  C.  JIackey.  He  has  erected  many  of 
the  substantial  buildings  of  the  county,  and  is  do- 
ing a  fine  business,  as  he  has  won  a  high  reputa- 
tion for  solid  work  and  square  dealings,  and  al- 
ways stiinds  by  his  contracts.  He  is  a  man  of  ex- 
emplary habits,  is  an  advocate  of  temperance,  and 
is  so  earnestly  interested  in  the  temperance  nio\e- 
ment  that  he  carries  his  views  into  his  jiolitics,  and 
is  a  stanch  Prohibitionist.     He  is  closely  identified 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


135 


with  the  religious  interests  of  the  village  as  a 
member  of  the  Christian  Church,  to  which  his  wife 
also  belongs,  and  both  are  held  in  high  considera- 
tion by  all  around  them. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cljmer  were  married  in  1863. 
Mrs.  Clymer,  whose  name  before  her  marriage  was 
.Tennie  Garrett,  was  born  in  this  county,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Amanda  (Cummins)  Gar- 
rett. Her  union  with  our  subject  has  been  blessed 
with  the  following  children:  Alice  Pluym,  Edward, 
Delia  Parker,  Fhjrcnce,  Thomas,  Charlie,  Walter 
and  HoUv. 


y;ILLIAM  F.  WEEKS,  who  is  proprietor  of 
a  gentleman's  clothing  and  furnishing 
^J^^  goods  establishment  at  Belknap,  is  a  J'oung 
man  of  fine  business  qualifications  and  bids  fair 
to  become  one  of  the  solid,  substantial  citizens  of 
Johnson  County.  He  was  born  August  9,  1864, 
on  a  farm  in  Pope  County,  and  is  a  son  of  James 
Weeks,  also  a  native  of  that  county,  coming  of 
one  of  its  earliest  pioneer  families.  He  was  born 
in  1827,  and  was  early  deprived  of  motherly  care 
and  paternal  guidance,  as  his  parents  died  when 
he  was  a  child  of  seven  years.  He  went  to  live 
with  an  elder  brother  and  had  but  little  chance 
to  attend  school,  but  in  later  years  he  made  up 
for  the  early  deficiencies  of  his  education  by  ap- 
plication to  books,  and  by  acquiring  a  knowledge 
of  places  and  events  through  observation.  He 
remained  with  his  brother  until  he  was  twenty 
jears  old,  and  then  took  unto  himself  a  wife  in  the 
person  of  Harriet  M.  Walker,  who  has  been  to  him 
a  true  helpmate  and  loving  companion.  She  came 
from  Tennessee  to  Vopo  County  with  her  parents, 
who  were  earl}'  settlers  of  the  county,  improv- 
ing a  good  farm  from  the  wilderness. 

After  his  marriage  James  Weeks  rented  land  in 
Pope  County,  and  his  wife  actively  co-operated 
with  him  in  the  making  of  a  home.  He  did  well 
in  his  undertakings,  and  several  years  later  was 
enabled  to  buy  a  farm  in  the  center  of  the  county 
from  his  savings.     lie  cleared    his  land,   and    in 


due  lime  he  and  his  wife  found  themselves  in 
possession  of  a  comfortable,  well-improved  prop- 
erty. He  finally  disposed  of  his  farm  and,  pack- 
ing up  the  household  goods,  started  with  his  fam- 
ily for  Missouri.  They  tarried  on  the  way  three 
years  in  Kentucky,  where  the  fatiier  raised  a  crop. 
Resuming  tiieir  journey,  the^'  at  length  arrived  in 
southeastern  Missouri,  where  Mr.  Weeks  bought 
a  large  tract  of  timber  land,  some  five  hundred 
acres,  and  in  the  ensuing  years  ho  engaged  exten- 
sively in  the  wood  business,  his  land  being  con- 
venicntl}^  situated  near  the  river,  and  he  cleared 
a  farm. 

Mr.  Weeks  disposed  of  the  farm  just  men- 
tioned at  tiie  end  of  twelve  years'  possession,  and 
bought  another  on  the  rich  bottom  lands  of  the 
river.  This  proved  to  be  a  disastrous  investment, 
as  an  unexpected  and  unprecedented  rise  of  the 
river  caused  such  an  overflow  of  water  as  not 
only  to  destroy  his  buildings  and  improvements, 
but  rendered  the  fertile,  productive  land  worth- 
less. By  this  disaster  Mr.  Weeks  was  reduced  to 
poverty,  and  he  began  life  anew  in  Tennessee, 
where  he  raised  one  crop  on  the  bottom  lands  and 
one  on  the  hills,  and  also  worked  at  the  lumber 
business.  He  managed  in  that  manner  to  improve 
his  financial  condition.  Returning  to  Illinois,  he 
boughta  small  farm,  with  improvements,  in  Massac 
County.  He  lived  there  three  years,  and  then 
came  to  Johnson  County  to  devote  himself  to  the 
ininisti'}',  as  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Bel- 
knap, over  which  he  presided  the  ensuing  three 
years.  He  is  now  engaged  in  farming  to  a  lim- 
ited extent.  He  is  a  man  of  sincere  Christian 
piet}-.  who  is  well  and  favorably  known.  He  and 
his  estimable  wife  were  blessed  in  their  union 
by  the  birth  of  nine  children:  Mahala,  wife  of 
James  Hamer;  Albert,  James,  Malcolm  and  New- 
ton, all  deceased;  AVilliam  Franklin;  Elizabeth, 
wife  of  John  Vernon,  of  Tennessee;  Minnie,  wife 
of  William  Stears,  of  Bloomfield,  Mo.;  and  James 
R.,  who  died  in  Missouri. 

Our  subject  is  the  sixth  child  of  the  family.  His 
boyhood  was  passed  much  like  that  of  other  farm- 
ers' boys.  He  received  a  good  home  training  and 
obtained  a  fair  education  in  the  common  schools. 
He  made  his  lidme  wilh    his    p.arents  until    he  was 


136 


I'ouTU'Air  AM)  i!i()(ii;Ai'iii(  Ai.  i;i;\  IKW. 


t-wenty-live  yeiirs  old,  iiiul  :it  thai  jiyc  iiuuiicd 
Ktlie  L.  Uedden,  of  Pope  Coiinly,  and  actively  set 
about  making  a  home  of  his  own.  For  a  month 
after  his  marriage  he  worked  out,  and  then  took 
advantage  of  a  good  opportunity  to  go  into  the 
dry-goods  and  grocery  business  at  Dclknap,  com- 
mencing on  a  very  small  scale.  He  did  well,  but 
at  the  end  of  two  years  disposed  entirely  of  his 
grocer}-  stock,  continuing  the  sale  of  dry  goods 
for  a  year  and  a-half,  and  then  entered  upon 
his  present  business.  lie  has  a  neat  and  well- 
conducted  establishment,  has  a  fine  assortment  of 
ever^'thing  in  his  line,  and  his  constantly  increas- 
ing patronage  testifies  to  the  satisfaction  that 
his  customers  are  sure  to  receive  at  his  hands. 
His  push  and  business  tact  are  shown  in  the  fact 
that  he  has  built  up  this  business  without  any 
help,  and  he  is  clearly  entitled  to  succeed.  He 
and  his  wife  have  a  cozy,  happy  home,  which  was 
blessed  with  three  children:  Everet  Guy  (de- 
ceased), William  V.,  and  a  child  that  died  in  in- 
fancy. Politically,  Mr.  Weeks  is  an  ardent  Dem- 
ocrat. He  and  his  wife  are  identified  with  the 
religious  clement  of  the  community  as  church 
members — he  of  the  Baptist  Church  and  she  of 
the  Methodist. 


«  I^IMJAM  A.  P.UHXS  is  a  general  merchant 
\rj//  at  lielknai),  and  a  man  of  hoiioral)le 
V7\j  standing  in  business  circles  throughout 
Johnson  County.  He  is  a  .son  of  Tarance  Burns, 
who  is  one  of  the  settlers  of  the  far-famed  Okla- 
homa Territory.  The  latter  was  born  in  Alabama, 
and  was  a  son  of  James  Burns,  who  was  both  a 
shoemaker  and  a  trader.  In  order  to  extend  his 
operations  in  the  latter  line  the  grandfather  re- 
moved to  Cincinnati  when  his  son  Tarance  was 
quite  young.  In  1844  the  family  came  to  Illinois, 
voyaging  down  the  Ohio  in  a  keel  boat  that  held 
all  their  earthly  possessions — the  said  boat  be- 
longing to  young  Tarance,  who  was  quite  an  ex- 
pert boatman.     When  thej'  arrived  at  their  jour- 


ney's end  ill  I'ope  County,  tiiey  found  it  to  be  a 
wild  countr}'  with  but  few  settlers,  and  after  a 
short  time  they  removed  to  Washington  County, 
and  settled  on  some  unimproved  Government 
land,  wliich  the  grandfather  took  up,  hastily'  con- 
structing a  rude  log  cabin  for  shelter,  and  then 
actively  entered  upon  the  pioneer  task  of  making 
a  home.  He  accumulated  a  fair  property, and  was 
a  worthy  type  of  the  pioneers  among  wIidiu  he 
spent  his  last  days. 

In  his  boyhood,  the  father  of  our  subject  at- 
tended school  as  opportunity  offered,  and  his  fa- 
ther also  taught  him  to  make  shoes,  but  he  never 
pursued  the  trade  in  after  life.  He  early  evinced 
a  liking  for  the  water  and  for  all  the  things  per- 
taining to  boating,  which  his  life  by  the  Ohio 
River  fostered,  and  he  became  familiar  with  all 
kinds  of  boats,  understanding  the  management  of 
each  craft,  and  this  knowledge  was  quite  useful 
when  the  family  migrated  bj'  water  to  this  State. 
He  was  married  after  coming  to  this  State,  in 
Perry  County,  near  Du  Quoin,  to  Trissa  Bowlin,  a 
native  of  Tennessee,  and  upon  their  arrival  here 
they  settled  on  a  place  adjoining  his  father's.  In 
1856  Mr.  Burns  went  to  Union  County  to  take  an 
interest  in  a  sawmill  business,  the  mill  having 
been  the  property  of  his  father.  He  subsequently 
sold  it  and,  going  to  Kansas,  ran  a  livery  stable  in 
Cherokee  County  until  1872.  In  that  year  he 
bought  a  farm  in  what  is  now  a  well-improved 
part  of  the  count}',  but  afterward  went  to  Kiowa 
County,  in  the  same  State,  and  farmed  there  three 
}-ears.  He  did  not  find  it  very  profitable,  as 
he  had  to  contend  with  drouth  and  hot  winds, 
so  he  sold  out,  and,  coming  back  to  Illinois,  bought 
a  farm  in  Belknap. 

Kansas,  however,  seemed  to  have  a  strong  fas- 
cination for  Mr.  Burns,  and  within  a  j'car's  time 
he  was  there  again,  having  first  disposed  of  his 
propertj^  here.  He  once  more  conducted  a  livery 
stable  in  the  eastern  part  of  Cherokee  Countv. 
He  finally  abandoned  that,  and  after  visiting 
Oklahoma,  took  up  his  abode  in  western  Kansas, 
having  a  good  farm  in  Kiowa  County,  amply  sup- 
plied with  all  conveniences  for'  carrying  on  agri- 
culture advantageously.  The  failure  of  crops  on 
account    of    dr}'    weather    caused     him    to    seek 


PORTRAIT  AND    r.Kxn.'AlMIICAL    UKN  IKW. 


137 


"greener  fields  and  pastures  new,"  and  he  found 
himself  in  Oklahoma  at  the  time  of  the  great  rush 
when  the  territory  was  opened  up  for  settlement. 
Although  there  was  not  land  enougii  to  go  around 
among  all  the  people  gathered  there,  Mr.  lUirns 
was  fortunate  enough  to  secure  a  quarter  of  a 
section,  and  is  still  living  upon  it. 

Mr.  Burn's  first  wife,  the  mother  of  our  subject, 
died  in  1872,  and  he  was  afterward  married  to  Isa- 
licl  Warrick,  a  native  of  Illinois.  lie  has  had  eleven 
diildren,  narael}':  Anderson,  who  died  in  infancy; 
William  A.;  Susan  J.,  wife  of  John  Smith,  of 
Oklahoma;  James  II.,  a  barber  in  Kiowa  County, 
Kan.;  Polly  Amanda,  who  died  in  Illinois;  John 
Franklin,  who  lives  in  Oklahoma;  Henrj^  C,  a 
resident  of  Crawford  County,  Kan.;  Marcus  L., 
who  died  at  the  age  of  two  years;  Mary  J.,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  four  years;  Rowan  M.,  who 
lives  in  Oklahoma;  and  Alice,  who  died  in  in- 
fanc3-. 

William  A.  IJurns  was  the  second  child  of  the 
family',  and  was  born  in  AVashinglon  County 
March  13,  1847.  He  had  a  common-school  educa- 
tion, and  was  early  drilled  in  farm  work,  helping 
his  father  on  the  farm  until  he  was  about  ten 
years  old,  and  then  assisting  him  in  the  sawmill. 
He  remained  an  inmate  of  the  paternal  home  un- 
til his  marriage  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  to  Miss 
Sarah  L.  Barrier,  a  native  of  North  Carolina, 
whence  her  parents  came  to  Illinois  in  1868.  Her 
father  is  dead,  but  her  mother  is  still  living  in 
Johnson  County.  After  marriage  Mr.  Burns  went 
to  farming  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  county, 
where  he  owned  fort3-  acres  of  land,  and  after 
making  some  improvements  took  up  his  residence 
on  it,  and  remained  a  year,  gathering  in  a  good 
crop  in  the  meantime.  Selling  that  place,  he  went 
to  Union  Count3'  to  work  in  a  sawmill,  the  same 
in  which  he  had  learned  the  business  with  his  fa- 
ther, but  owned  by  another  per.son.  He  worked 
by  the  day,  prudently  saving  his  wages,  until 
1875,  when  he  came  to  Belknap,  and  at  first  en- 
gaged as  a  carpenter,  building  a  house  with  an- 
other man.  In  1876  he  bought  a  small  stock  of 
general  merchandise  and  ventured  into  business 
in  a  small  way,  continuing  until  1880,  when  he 
disposed  of  his  stock  in  trade.    In  1881  he  l)Ought 


a  half  interest  in  a  general  mercantile  establish- 
ment at  Belknap  in  connection  with  W.  L.  Will- 
iams, to  whom  he  eventually  sold  his  share  in 
1888.  A  year  iater  he  again  entered  the  business 
world  at  Belknap  as  a  general  mercliant,  and  is 
doing  well  from  a  financial  point  of  view,  carry- 
ing a  fair  line  of  goods  and  receiving  his  full 
share  of  patronage. 

Mr.  Burns  married  for  his  second  wife  ]\Iiss 
Nora  Oduni,  a  native  of  Williamson  County.  Her 
father  was  originally  from  Tennessee,  and  died  in 
Hamilton  County,  and  her  motlier  died  in  Saline 
Count}-.  Of  the  children  of  our  subject's  first 
marriage,  Charles  O.  and  Laura  Ida  are  at  home 
with  him,  and  Thomas  F.  died  young  at  Belknap. 
By  his  second  marriage  there  were  three  children 
born:  Tarance;  and  Ettie  and  Rettie,  twins,  the 
latter  dying  when  ten  months  old. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  the  leading  men  in  tlie 
public  life  of  Belknai),  as  well  as  in  local  politics, 
and  is  also  prominent  in  townsliip  affairs.  He 
was  constantly  on  the  School  Board  of  the  town- 
ship for  several  years,  and  has  been  a  member  of 
the  Village  Board  of  Trustees  nearl}'  ever  since  he 
settled  here.  In  1876  he  was  appointed  Postmas- 
ter, and  held  that  office  until  1881.  Politicall}'  he 
is  a  Democrat  of  approved  loyalty  to  part}'  stan- 
dards, and  is  the  present  Committee  man  for  his 
township.  He  is  a  man  of  sound  business  principles, 
and  his  patrons  always  find  him  affable,  agreeable 
and  accommodating,  while  his  friends  know  him 
to  be  open-handed  ami  warni-lio.arted. 


i>~^^<m 


y~?ILLI AM  A.  ABJiOTT,  a  retired  farmer,  liv- 
ing with  his  son  on  a  farm  on  section  4, 
„  ^  "\'ienna  Townsliip,  Johnson  Count}-,  occu- 
pies an  honorable  position  among  the  pioneers  of 
Pope  County,  where  he  still  owns  a  farm,  which 
he  reclaimed  from  the  forest  wilds  of  that  region, 
purchasing  his  land  from  the  Government. 

Our  subject  is  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and 
his  fnthor  and  mother  were  also  natives  of  that 
State,    wlieiHc    tiiey  removed    to    Tennessee    and 


138 


I'OKrUAIT  AND    BI()(;KAPII1C'AL    ukmew. 


settled  on  a  farm.  From  there  they  came  to  Illi- 
nois later  in  life  and  spent  their  declining  years  in 
Pope  County,  where  they  owned  a  farm.  They 
had  a  family  of  ten  children,  of  whom  two  are 
living  besides  our  subject:  Martiia,  wife  of  New- 
ton Baker,  of  Pope  County;  and  Cornelius,  a 
farmer  of  that  count}'. 

William  Abbott  was  a  child  of  five  j'ears  when 
his  parents  went  to  Tennessee,  and  the  little  edu- 
cation that  lie  obtained  during  his  boyhood  was 
gained  at  the  subscription  school  taught  in  the 
locality  wliere  they  lived.  He  was  early  set  to 
work  to  help  improve  his  father's  farm,  and  re- 
mained an  Inmate  of  the  parental  home  until  he 
was  twenty-two  j^ears  old.  At  that  age  he  started 
in  life  for  himself,  and  at  the  same  time  secured  a 
wife  in  the  person  of  Miss  Jane  Davis,  a  native  of 
Tennessee,  who  has  faithfully  assisted  him  in  his 
work.  He  rented  a  farm,  upon  which  he  resided 
one  year,  gathering  a  fair  crop  in  repa}'ment  of 
his  labor,  and  the  following  year  he  left  Tennessee 
to  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  pioneers  of  Illinois. 

On  coming  to  this  State  Mr.  Abbott  first  settled 
in  White  County,  where  he  farmed  as  a  renter  for 
a  period  of  three  years,  meeting  willi  reasonable  suc- 
cess. Removing  thence  to  Pope  Count}',  he  rented 
land  the  first  year,  and  then  entered  a  quarter- 
section  of  Government  land,  and  buying  the  cabin 
that  had  been  built  upon  it,  he  moved  into  it  with 
his  family,  and  actively  entered  upon  the  hard 
task  that  lay  before  him  of  clearing  his  land  and 
placing  it  under  cultivation.  On  this  there  was 
fine  timber,  and  out  of  it  he  made  some  rails,  but 
had  to  burn  some  to  get  it  out  of  the  way,  thus 
destroying  lumber  that  would  command  a  high 
price  nowadays.  In  time  he  made  of  his  land  a 
o-ood  farm,  and  for  thirty-nine  years  he  made  it 
his  home  and  attended  to  its  cultivation.  In  1892 
he  rented  it  for  a  year,  and  took  up  his  residence 
with  his  son  in  Johnson  County,  where  he  is  en- 
joying the  declining  years  of  a  busy  life  in  com- 
fort, well  earned  by  his  former  toil,  as  he  did  his 
share  of  the  work  that  has  brought  Pope  County 
to  its  present  condition.  When  he  took  up  his 
abode  in  its  forest  wilds  it  was  but  sparsely 
settled,  and  there  were  but  few  civilizing  influ- 
ences  to  compensate   the   people   who    had  come 


there  from  older  settled  jrortions  of  the  country. 
They  lived  from  the  products  of  their  farms, 
varied  by  wild  game,  and  wore  homespun.  Edu- 
cational facilities  were  limited  to  an  occasional 
session  of  subscription  school,  taught  in  a  log 
house,  and  these  primitive  scliool  buildings  also 
served  for  churches  generally. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Abbott  were  blessed  with  ten  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Mary,  wife  of  John  Triplitt,  of 
Pope  County;  Matilda,  who  died  in  Johnson 
County;  James,  a  resident  of  Vienna  Township; 
Joseph  T.,  who  died  in  Pope  Count}';  Nancy  Jane, 
William  and  John  deceased,  all  dying  in  Pope 
County;  Catherine,  wife  of  Joseph  Busii;  Freeman, 
a  farmer  of  Johnson  County;  and  Martha,  who 
died  in  infancy. 


IM^ 


iTl  C.  COOLEY,  veterinary  surgeon  and  pro- 
prietor of  the  livery,  feed  and  sale  stable 
on  Sixth  Street,  Metropolis,  is  a  son  of  Ed- 
mund C.  Cooley,  who  came  to  this  county 
in  1869  from  Tennessee,  of  which  State  he  was  a 
native.  He  was  a  slave  in  his  native  State,  an<l 
while  in  slavery  married  Maria  Bearfleld,  who  was 
also  a  slave.  She  is  still  living,  and  makes  her 
home  with  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Of  the  fam- 
ily there  are  but  two  children  now  living,  llasker 
and  J.  C,  the  latter  of  whom  was  born  October  11, 
1853,  in  Tennessee.  He  had  an  opportunity  of 
attending  school  to  the  extent  of  about  ten  weeks, 
all  told,  and  did  not  therefore  acquire  much 
knowledge  in  school.  He,  however,  afterward 
built  upon  the  little  that  he  did  thus  acquire  by 
observation  and  actual  experience  in  life.  His 
father  was  a  very  generous  and  liberal  man,  and 
was  always  helping  some  one  by  lending  money 
and  in  other  ways,  and  for  this  reason  he  did  not 
accumulate  much  property. 

J.  C.  Cooley  was  always  a  determined  kind  of 
boy.  He  lived  with  his  father  until  he  was  twen- 
ty-three years  old,  at  which  time  his  father  died. 
He  always  had  a  liking  for  horses  and  for  trading, 
and  studied  various  works  on  diseases  of  the  horse. 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW. 


139 


iu  this  way  becoming  well  informed  on  the  sub- 
ject. Thus  equipped,  but  without  money,  he 
started  in  business  with  an  old  knock-kneed, 
sprained  and  hide-bound  mare,  put  her  in  condi- 
tion and  traded  her  off  for  a  good  horse,  and  from 
this  beginning  he  lias  built  up  a  good  trade.  In 
the  meantime  he  built  a  house,  and  continued  to 
follow  his  profession  as  a  veterinary  surgeon,  and 
accumulated  considerable  money,  until  he  was  able 
to  open  his  present  business.  Here  he  has  his  full 
share  of  trade,  and  keeps  a  good  stock  of  horses 
and  buggies,  transfer  wagons,  omnibuses,  carriages, 
etc.  He  began  where  he  is  now  located  in  1881, 
and  at  the  present  time  he  is  in  a  good  financial 
condition. 

In  1880  Mr.  Coolej"  was  married  to  Love  Turnbo, 
a  native  of  Tennessee,  whose  parents  removed  from 
that  State  to  Illinois.  Her  father  is  still  living, 
but  her  mother  is  dead.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cooley  have 
one  child,  .John  L.,  who  was  born  in  1881.  Mrs. 
Cooley  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Jlr.  C'oole3'  has  attained  to  his  present 
position  of  prosperity  wholly  by  his  own  efforts, 
and  deserves  great  credit  for  his  success. 


^  OHN  S.  BRIDGES,  Postmaster  at  Vienna,  and 
a  well-known  citizen  of  Johnson  Count}-,  of 
^,.^1  ,  which  he  is  a  native,  is  a  worthy  represeu- 
'^^fJ  tative  of  the  brave  veterans  of  the  late 
war  who  did  such  noble  service  in  preserving  the 
integrity  and  honor  of  the  L'nion.  He  was  born 
November  30,  1843,  on  his  father's  homestead  in 
Caclic  Precinct,  and  is  a  son  of  William  J.  Bridges, 
who  was  a  native  of  either  Virginia  or  Georgia. 
The  father,  early  in  life,  took  up  his  residence  in 
Kentucky,  and  was  there  married  to  Mary  Mc- 
Nabb,  who  is  thought  to  have  been  a  native  of 
that  State.  In  1843,  thej'  came  to  Illinois  and 
cast  in  their  lot  with  the  pioneers  of  Johnson 
Count}'.  Mr.  Bridges  bought  a  squatter's  claim  to 
a  tract  of  Government  land  in  Cache  Township, 
moved  into  tlie  log  cabin  that  stood  on  the  place, 


and  entered  actively  into  the  labors  of  developing 
a  fai-m.  In  the  busy  years  that  followed,  he  placed 
the  land  under  good  tillage,  made  excellent  im- 
provements, and  made  it  his  home  until  his  death 
in  February,  1890,  in  his  eightieth  5^car.  His 
wife  had  preceded  him  in  death  many  j'ears  before, 
d3ing  in  1857. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  passed  his  boyhood 
on  the  farm  that  was  his  birthplace,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  the  district  school.  When  he  was  but 
eighteen  3-ears  old,  he  enlisted  in  Company  C, 
One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry, 
and  went  fortlx  with  the  ardent  patriotism  of  j'outh 
to  help  fight  his  country's  battles.  He  served 
faithfull}'  until  the  close  of  the  rebellion,  taking 
an  active  part  with  his  regiment  in  every  campaign 
with  which  it  was  so  creditablj'  connected,  and 
was  honorabl}-  discharged  with  his  comrades  in 
September,  1865. 

After  his  long  experience  as  a  soldier,  Mr.  Bridges 
returned  home,  and  turned  his  attention  to  farm- 
ing on  rented  land  for  the  ensuing  four  years. 
At  the  end  of  that  time,  he  bought  a  farm  in  his 
native  township,  and  continued  to  carry  it  on  very 
successfully  until  1878.  In  that  j'ear  he  came  to 
Vienna,  and  has  since  made  this  village  his  home. 
At  the  time  of  his  removal  here,  he  had  been  ap- 
pointed Deputy  Sheriff,  in  which  capacit}-  he  acted 
four  years.  He  proved  a  popular  official,  and  when 
he  retired  from  that  position  was  elected  County 
Treasurer,  which  office  he  held  a  like  length  of 
time.  His  appointment  as  Postmaster  dates  from 
1889.  In  this,  as  in  the  other  responsible  public 
offices  entrusted  to  his  care,  he  discharges  his  duties 
with  intelligence  and  fidelity,  and  is  found  to  be 
the  right  man  in  the  right  place.  Besides  having 
charge  of  the  postoffice,  he  conducts  a  good  busi- 
ness as  a  furniture  dealer. 

Our  subject  was  first  married  in  1864,  to  Jliss 
Josephine  Richardson,  a  native  of  Kentuck}'.  Her 
death  occurred  in  Januaiy,  1866.  Mr.  Bridges 
was  married  a  second  time,  in  October,  1866,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Harvell,  who  was  born  in  Kentucky. 
Our  subject  has  seven  children  living:  Izora,  wife 
of  R.  F.  Hood;  Julia,  wife  of  Dr.  H.  Burris;  Mag- 
gie. Oscar,  Nettie,  Guy  and  Phebe.  Three  of  the 
children  born  to  our  subject  and  his  wife  are  dead: 


I  in 


I'Olil'U.MT   AM)    I'.IOCRAPHIt'AL    lil'A  1  K\V. 


■losepliiiie,  their  first  child,  who  died  :it  the  age  of 
nine  nioiitiis;  Mar^s  their  sccinid  child,  \v1k>  died 
at  tiic  age  of  twelve  years;  and  Willie,  llic  llfth 
oliild,  who  died  at  the  age  of  niiu;  inoulhs. 

Mr.  Bridges  cast  his  first  I'rcsidential  vote  for 
Ahraliam  l>incoln  in  18GI,  and  lias  alwaj-s  stood 
slaiiehly  by  tiie  Republican  party.  He  is  promi- 
nent in  social  circles,  and  is  a  member  of  the  fol- 
lowing organizations:  Vienna  Post  No.  221,  G.  A. 
R.;  Vienna  Lodge  No.  150,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  Vienna 
Chapter  No.  67,  K.  A.  M.;  Vienna  Lodge  No.  310, 
I.  O.  O.  F.;  Vienna  Encampment,  1.  ().  O.  F.;  and 
Egyptian  Lodge,  K.  II. 


ii  ^"  ?  '^  li 


tJfelLLIAM  A.  FITCII,  who  in  company  with 
njfl  his  brother-in-law,  (!eorge  A.  Arnesman, 
^7\^  is  conducting  a  well-appointed  mercantile 
establishment  at  Ganntown,  is  a  live  young  mer- 
chant, with  fine  business  qualifications  and  a  fair 
promise  of  becoming  one  of  the  raonied  men  of 
his  native  county.  He  was  born  in  Johnson 
County  October  11,  1866,  and  is  a  son  of  Robert 
W.  Fitch,  a  respected  farmer  of  G ran tsburg  Town- 
ship. 

The  father  of  our  subject  is  a  native  of  Tennes- 
see, and  a  sou  of  Anderson  Fitch,  a  farmer,  who 
was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  whence  he  moved 
to  Tennessee,  and  died  in  Henry  County,  that 
State.  Robert  Fitch  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  in 
Tennessee,  and  at  t)ie  breaking  out  of  the  war, 
when  he  was  seventeen  years  old,  he  came  to  Illi- 
nois with  two  of  his  brothers  who  had  previously 
married,  coming  hither  by  water.  He  had  to  earn 
his  living  the  first  few  years  bj'  working  out  on  a 
farm,  and  by  that  means  he  accumulated  about 
1300,  which  enabled  him  to  marry,  in  1865,  Eliza- 
beth Rentfro,  a  native  of  thiscountj'.  Her  people 
were  from  Tennessee,  and  were  among  the  early 
pioneer  farmers  of  the  county.  Her  grandfather 
was  a  lawyer,  who  held  the  position  of  County 
Judge  for  eight  years,  and  subse(iucntl3'  entered 
the  ministry  of  tlie  Protestant  Methodist  Church. 

Our  sulijoit's  father  nnd  niollicr  when  married  be- 


gan tiieir  wedded  life  on  a  rented  farm  in  this 
county',  which  they  occui)iedfor  a  number  of  years. 
They  then  bought  a  farm  in  (Jrantsburg Township, 
improved  it,  and  selling  it  at  a  good  price  over  the 
original  cost,  bought  another,  upon  which  they 
lived  for  three  years.  Tlie^'  disposed  of  that  one, 
and  after  four  years  purchased  another  farm  in 
Grantsburg  Township,  which  the^'  still  make  their 
home.  It  comprises  fifty  .acres  of  well-tilled,  fer- 
tile land,  and  is  provided  with  the  necessar}-  im- 
jn-ovements.  Jlr.  and  Mrs.  Fitch  have  been  blessed 
in  their  married  life  with  eleven  children,  namely : 
William  Anderson;  Charlie,  at  home  with  his  par- 
ents; Artabron,  who  is  married  and  engaged  in 
farming;  John  Jlilton,  who  is  teaching  school  in 
Massac  County;  Minnie  Belle,  wife  of  William 
Bain;  and  the  following,  who  are  at  home:  Josei)h 
Franklin,  Rachel,  Bertie,  Fannie,  Ora  and   Lillie. 

William  Anderson  Fitch  is  the  eldest  of  the 
family.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  was  given 
excellent  educational  advantages.  His  studies  in 
the  public  schools  were  supplemented  by  a  course 
in  a  select  school  in  Massac  County,  which  he 
attended  for  two  terms.  He  entered  the  teacher's 
profession,  and  taught  school  in  Missouri  for 
nearl}'  five  years.  Returning  home,  he  married, 
and  then  began  his  prosperous  career  as  a  merchant 
at  Ganntown.  He  was  first  in  partnership  with 
Gann  Brothers,  whom  he  subsequently  bought  out, 
and  is  now  in  partnership  with  his  brother-in-law. 
George  Arnesman.  They  have  a  neatly  fitted-up 
store,  well  stocked  with  a  good  line  of  general 
merchandise,  and  have  the  principal  trade  of  the 
town  and  out-lying  country.  They  are  eminently 
worthy  of  the  patronage  they  receive,  as  they  are 
strictly  honest  in  their  dealings,  never  misrepre- 
senting an  article,  and  they  are  always  prompt, 
obliging  and  courteous  with  their  customers,  be- 
sides having  the  good  judgment  and  enterprise  to 
select  their  stock  with  reference  to  the  tastes  and 
demands  of  the  people  to  whom  thej'  cater.  In 
politics,  our  subject  is  an  ardent  Republican,  and 
in  his  citizenship  he  is  truly  public-spirited. 

The  amiable  wife  of  Mr.  Fitch  was  formerly 
Alice  Arnesman,  and  is  from  IMassac  County,  of 
which  her  father  is  a  prominent  and  well-known 
citizen.     He  came  from  (Jermain'.  as  did  also  his 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


141 


wife.  lie  worked  a  while  in  Cincinnati  after  land- 
ing in  tliis  country,  and  then  came  here  a  poor 
man.  lie  engaged  in  farming,  and  is  now  among 
tlie  wealtliiest  men  of  Massac  County,  and  farms  on 
an  extensive  scale  and  has  a  large  amount  of  real 
estate  and  bank  stock. 


RS.  LISA  HOUSE,  widow  of  Tennessee 
House,  who  is  successfully  managing  her 
farm  on  section  13,  Vienna  Township,  is 
surely  entitled  to  an  honorable  place  among 
the  farmers  of  Johnson  County',  as  she  is  doing  her 
full  sliare  in  advancing  the  agricultural  interests 
of  this  region.  She  is  a  native  of  Illinois,  and 
was  born  in  Pope  Count}'  February  13,  1849.  Her 
father  was  James  Gillespie,  who  was  born  and 
brougiit  up  on  a  Kentucky  farm,  whereon  both 
his  parents  lived  and  died.  After  he  attained  to 
manhood,  he  set  out  from  his  old  home  with  a 
team,  to  seek  fortune's  favors  in  the  wilds  of  south- 
ern Illinois.  He  selected  Pope  County  as  the 
scene  of  the  pioneer  labors  whereby  he  hoped 
to  win  an  independence.  He  was  so  fortunate  as 
to  secure  a  meet  companion  and  faithful  wife  to 
share  his  toils  in  the  person  of  Euphemia  Bar- 
bara Lewis,  and  they  began  life  together  on  land 
that  he  bought.  They  worked  hard  in  the  im- 
provement of  a  farm,  and  in  spite  of  hardships 
encountered  and  privations  endured  as  pioneers, 
made  a  home  in  which  they  lived  in  comfort  until 
they  closed  their  eyos  in  death,  the  mother  dying 
in  September,  1864.  The  old  place  has  now  passed 
out  of  the  family  and  is  occupied  by  strangers. 
The  following  were  the  children  born  to  the  worthy 
parents  of  our  subject:  Julia,  who  died  in  Pope 
County;  Mary  Ann,  who  married  Jacob  House,  and 
with  her  husband  died  in  Pope  County;  Jane  Ann, 
Mrs.  Jesse  Hodges,  of  Vienna  Township;  Henrj-, 
who  died  in  Pope  County;  Letha,  who  died  in 
Johnson  County;  AVilliam  Theodore,  a  resident  of 
Johnson  County;  Lisa;  Lewis  Filmore  and  Louisa, 
both  of  whom  died  in  Pope  Count}-;  and  a  child 
that  died  in  infancy. 


The  subject  of  tliis  biographical  review  is  the 
seventh  of  the  family  in  order  of  birth.  She  grew  to 
a  useful  womanhood,  well  versed  in  all  that  pertains 
to  the  care  of  a  household,  and  was  well  fitted  to 
take  charge  of  a  home  when  she  gave  her  heart 
and  hand  in  marriage  to  Andrew  W.  Alford.  Mr. 
Alford  was  a  native  of  Mississippi,  and  was  en- 
gaged at  his  occupation  as  a  farmer  when  the  war 
broke  out.  February  9,  1862,  he  laid  aside  his 
work  to  enter  the  service,  and  was  appointed  ship's 
cook  on  board  the  United  States  gunboat  "Tyler." 
He  was  afterward  transferred  to  the  United  States 
ship  -'Mound  City,"  and  from  there  was  sent  to  do 
dutj'  on  board  of  the  ship  "Great  AVestern."  He 
was  honorably  discharged  February  13,  1865,  with 
his  health  greatly  impaired,  and  subsequently  died 
in  Kentucky.  By  that  union  our  subject  had  five 
children,  all  but  two  of  whom  died  in  infancy. 
The  survivors  are,  Louisa,  wife  of  W.  M.  Smith,  of 
Vienna  Township;  and  Harmon,  who  lives  with 
his  mother. 

Our  subject  was  married  to  Tennessee  House 
March  24,  1881.  A  native  of  Tennessee,  the  latter 
grew  up  to  the  life  of  a  farmer,  obtaining  a  limited 
education  in  the  common  schools,  but  his  natural 
shrewdness  and  industrious  habits  compensated 
him  for  the  lack  of  book-learning.  He  remained 
at  home  and  hard  at  work  until  he  enlisted 
in  the  army  in  February,  1864,  becoming  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Seventh  Tennessee  Cavalry.  He  re- 
mained in  the  service  until  after  the  war  closed, 
and  was  at  length  honorably  discharged,  August 
7,  1865,  with  a  well-earned  record  for  fidelity  and 
good  soldiership.  The  terrible  strain  of  a  soldier's 
life  had  told  upon  his  health,  and  he  never  regained 
his  former  vigor,  his  death  ultimately  resulting 
from  the  effects  of  his  army  career. 

After  Mr.  House's  marriage  with  our  subject,  he 
commenced  farming  in  Johnson  County,  renting  a 
farm  three  miles  from  Belknap.  He  carried  on 
that  place  a  year,  although  laboring  with  difflculty 
on  account  of  ill-health,  and  the  next  year  rented  a 
farm  a  mile  from  that  one,  upon  which  he  remained 
a  year.  After  that,  he  spent  the  ensuing  year  on 
still  another  farm,  and  then  removed  to  a  place  in 
the  same  neighborhood,  and  there  his  life  was 
brought  to  a  close  Januai-}'  4,  1884.     A  good  and 


142 


PDRTRAIT  AND    BIOOUAPIIICAL   REVIEW. 


honest-minded  citizen  was  thus  lost  to  his  commu- 
nity, one  who  had  suffered  for  his  patriotism,  and 
in  all  things  had  shown  himself  worthy  of  the  re- 
spect accorded  him. 

By  her  husband's  death,  our  subject  was  left 
without  means,  his  sickness  taking  all  their  ready 
money,  but  her  dower  of  strengtii,  energy,  thrift 
and  abitity  to  do  well  whatsoever  she  attempted, 
stood  her  in  good  stead,  and  she  bravely  faced  the 
situation.  So  well  did  she  manage,  that  in  a  few 
short  years  she  was  enabled  to  buy  the  farm  on 
which  siie  is  living  in  Vienna  Township,  and  which 
she  carries  on  with  marked  skill,  with  the  advice 
and  active  assistance  of  her  son.  It  comprises  one 
hundred  and  nine  acres  of  land,  and  is  exceedingly 
productive,  yielding  a  good  income  to  the  care- 
ful cultivation  to  which  it  is  subjected,  and  Mrs. 
House  is  constantly  making  valuable  improve- 
ments. She  is  now  in  comfortable  circumstances, 
and  enjoys,  as  she  deserves,  the  high  regard  of  the 
people  among  whom  she  has  cast  her  lot,  who  find 
her  neighborly,  hospitable  and  obliging.  By  her 
second  marriage,  our  subject  had  two  children, 
Essie  Lee,  who  still  brightens  her  home,  and  Oscar 
C,  who  died. 


S)HEODORE  STEYER,  who  has  one  of  the 
most  attractive  homes  in  Golconda,  has  for 
many  years  been  variously  identified  with 
the  business  interests  of  Pope  County,  and  his 
push  and  well-directed  enterprise  have  been  potent 
factoi-s  in  its  upbuilding.  Mr.  Steyer  is  a  native 
of  Prussia,  and  was  born  in  the  town  of  IMarien- 
berg,  Saxony,  May  15,  1828.  His  father,  Lebreclit 
Steyer,  who  was  an  officer  in  the  Saxon  army,  and 
died  in  the  service  at  the  age  of  forty  years,  was  a 
native  of  the  same  locality.  The  great-grand- 
father of  our  subject  was  a  manufacturer  of  china- 
ware,  much  of  which  found  its  way  to  America. 
The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Christina  Reisniillcr,  and  she  was  a  life-long 
resident  of  Saxonv.     She  reared  thrcf  of  the   five 


children  born  to  her,  Clemens,  Theodore  and 
Cliarles.  The  latter  is  still  a  resident  of  his  na- 
tive place.  Clemens,  the  eldest  son,  who  was  a 
life-long  resident  of  the  land  of  his  birth,  early 
entered  tiie  civil  service  of  his  Government,  and 
rose  to  the  position  of  Postmaster-General,  which 
office  he  held  at  tlie  time  of  his  death  in  1889. 

Our  subject  was  given  fine  educational  advan- 
tages, being  a  student  first  at  tlie  Royal  Military 
Academy  at  Dresden,  and  after  finishing  his  course 
at  that  institution,  served  a  two  years'  apprentice- 
ship at  an  agricultural  college,  where  he  acquired 
a  practical  knowledge  of  husbandry,  which  was 
beneficial  to  him  in  after  years  when  he  engaged 
in  farming.  Thus  well  equipped  by  a  liberal  edu- 
cation, our  subject  determined  to  emigrate  to  the 
United  States  of  America  to  see  what  life  held  for 
him  in  a  country  so  full  of  resources,  and  of 
which  he  had  heard  much,  and  in  the  month  of 
May,  1850,  he  set  out  on  that  ever-memorable 
journey  across  the  waters  to  a  strange  land,  em- 
barking at  Hamburg  on  the  steamship  "Helena 
Slowman,"  bound  for  New  York.  The  steamer 
met  with  an  accident,  which  delayed  it  a  week, 
and  it  was  twenty  days  before  he  landed  in  the 
gieat  metropolis  of  this  continent.  He  came  di- 
rectly to  Golconda,  traveling  by  rail  to  Cleve- 
land, thence  by  lake  to  Toledo,  from  that  point 
to  Cincinnati  by  canal  and  rail,  and  from  the  lat- 
ter city  down  the  Ohio  River  to  his  destination. 

A  year  after  his  arrival  here  Mr.  Steyer  was 
married,  and  the  ensuing  two  years  lived  on  his 
father-in-law's  farm.  Then,  buying  a  farm  of  his 
own,  he  occupied  it  five  years,  and  at  the  expira- 
tion of  that  time  he  went  into  the  mercantile  bus- 
iness at  Golconda,  abandoning  that  three  years 
later  to  accept  tiie  position  of  County  Superinten- 
dent of  Schools,  for  which  his  education  so  well 
fitted  him.  He  did  much  to  raise  the  standard  of 
the  schools  under  his  supervision  while  he  held 
that  otlice,  which  he  resigned  at  the  end  of  nine 
j-ears  to  engage  in  the  manufacture  of  flour.  He 
purchased  a  flourmill,  made  considerable  needed 
improvement  in  its  equipment,  bought  a  stock  of 
grain,  and  had  everything  in  readiness  to  start 
the  mill  in  the  morning,  but  before  that  morning 
dawned  the  mill  and  all  its  contents  were   burned. 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


143 


and  his  earnings  of  years  went  up  in  the  flames. 
By  this  misfortune  he  was  left  in  debt,  but  his  man}' 
friends  in  the  town  rallied  to  his  relief,  showing 
their  confidence  in  him  by  offering  him  money 
without  interest  or  note,  and  with  this  generous  en- 
couragement he  was  enabled  to  begin  anew  with  a 
good  heart.  He  immediately  rebuilt,  and  operated 
the  mill  successfully  many  years,  in  fact, continuing 
his  connection  with  it  until  1891.  During  that 
time  he  launched  out  in  other  enterprises,  which 
have  i)roved  remunerative,  and  he  has  amassed  a 
comfortable  fortune  by  his  energy  and  judicious 
management.  He  is  the  proprietor  of  the  wharf 
boat,  and  he  also  owns  a  mill  in  Golconda  for  the 
manufacture  of  wooden-ware,  including  spokes, 
hubs,  staves,  barrel-heads,  etc. 

Mr.  Steyer's  residence,  an  elegant  brick  house, 
which  is  conveniently  located  near  the  business 
part  of  the  city,  is  one  of  the  finest  and  best  ap- 
pointed in  Golconda.  To  the  wife  who  presides 
over  it  and  makes  it  a  true  home,  our  subject  was 
married  April  8,  1851.  To  them  have  been  born 
eight  children,  of  whom  four  are  living:  Emma, 
widow  of  T.  T.  Fountain;  Mary,  wife  of  Curtis 
Treherne;  Charles  and  Flora.  Julia  and  Ida  eacli 
died  at  the  age  of  twenty  years;  Ruth  was  nine- 
teen when  she  passed  away;  and  Anna  was  five 
years  old.  Mrs.  Steyer's  name  before  marriage 
was  Ellen  Sim,  and  she  was  born  in  Aberdeen,  Scot- 
land. Her  father  was  Capt.  Alexander  Sim,  who 
was  also  a  native  of  Aberdeen.  He  was  a  son  of 
.John  Sim,  who  was  a  life-long  resident  of  Scot- 
land. Two  of  his  sons  came  to  America.  Will- 
iam received  his  early  education  in  Aberdeen,  and 
later  studied  medicine  in  London.  He  came  to 
this  country,  practiced  in  Golconda  many  years, 
making  a  name  and  place  for  himself  high  in  his 
profession,  and  died  here  at  a  ripe  age.  Mrs. 
Steyer's  father  was  reared  and  educated  in  Scot- 
land. He  entered  the  merchant  service  when  a 
young  man,  and  rose  to  be  commander  of  the 
vessel  in  which  he  shipped,  visiting  the  principal 
ports  of  the  world.  In  1840  he  came  to  tiie 
United  States,  and  settling  in  Pope  County,  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  land  and  devoted  himself  to 
farming,  passing  the  remainder  of  his  life  here,  and 
dying  in  187G.     The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 


Jane  Robinson,  and  she  was  born  in  Perth,  Scot- 
land, a  daughter  of  George  and  Annie  (Miclie) 
Robinson.  She  died  in  the  village  of  Golconda. 
Both  she  and  her  husband  were  Presbyterians  in 
religion. 

Mr.  Steyer  may  justly  be  classed  among  our 
so-called  self-made  men.  His  early  advantages 
were  good,  but  since  he  came  to  this  country  he 
has  had  the  shaping  of  his  own  fortunes,  a  steady 
purpose  to  win,  industrious  habits  and  sound  bus- 
iness principles  leading  him  to  success.  His  citi- 
zenship is  of  value  to  his  adopted  city,  as  he  is  a 
man  of  approved  public  spirit.  In  his  political  af- 
filiations he  is  with  the  Republicans.  Religiously, 
he  stands  by  the  faith  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  in 
which  he  was  reared. 


-J.J..5.4..5.J? 


)|[AMES  W.  GORE,  Police  Magistrate  at 
Vienna,  is  a  fine  representative  of  the 
native-born  sons  of  Johnson  County,  and 
^  belongs  to  one  of  its  oldest  and  most 
widely  known  families.  His  birtii  occurred  at 
Goreville  February  4,  1851.  The  village  was 
named  in  honor  of  his  father,  John  Gore,  who  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  in  1865,  was  one  of  the  lead- 
ing merchants  of  the  county,  and  was  prominent 
in  the  upbuilding  of  his  namesake.  He  was  also  a 
native  of  the  county,  born  near  Vienna  in  1827. 
Ills  father,  Walton  Gore,  is  thought  to  have  been 
born  in  Kentucky,  and  he  was  a  son  of  one  John 
Gore,  who  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  this 
part  of  Illinois,  locating  near  Vienna,  where  he 
engaged  in  farming  and  spent  his  last  years.  The 
grandfather  of  our  subject  was  quite  young  when 
his  parents  came  to  this  State.  He  was  reared  to 
agricultural  pursuits,  and  when  he  attained  man- 
hood he  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  what  is  now 
(ioreville  Township,  where  he  resided  until  his 
death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Fin- 
ney. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  brought  up  on  a 
farm,  but  he  turned  his  attention  to  mercantile 
pursuits  when   it  came  time  for  him  to  settle  in 


144 


roKTIJAri'  AM)    lSI(»(;i!Arill('AL    REVIEW. 


life.  He  opened  a  store  on  the  present  site  of 
Goreville,  and  was  tlie  pioneer  merchant  of  the 
flourishing  village  that  grew  up  around  him,  and 
was  given  his  name  as  a  mark  of  the  universal  es- 
teem in  which  he  was  held,  the  townshii)  also 
being  named  for  him  at  a  later  period.  He  was  a 
practical,  wide-awake  man  of  business,  managing 
his  affairs  with  discretion  and  foresight,  and  had  a 
well-kept  establishment,  in  which  he  carried  a  full 
line  of  general  merchandise.  He  also  dealt  exten- 
sively in  tobacco,  which  was  a  staple  i)roduct  here 
at  the  time  of  the  war.  His  untimely  death  in 
the  midst  of  a  useful  and  honorable  career  was  a 
blow  to  the  best  interests  of  the  village. 

The  mother  of  our  subject  bore  the  maiden  name 
of  Mar_y  J.  ISrufT.  She  was  born  near  Lick  Creek, 
Union  County,  and  litr  father  was  James  Bruff. 
She  was  married  a  second  time  after  the  death  of 
the  father  of  our  subject,  becoming  the  wife  of 
J.  Q.  A.  Collins,  and  resides  at  Goreville.  She 
reared  six  children  b}'  her  first  marriage,  and  has 
one  child  by  her  second  union. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  review  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  of  this  county.  After 
his  father's  death  he  commenced  to  work  on  the 
farm,  and  was  thus  employed  until  he  was  twenty- 
two  years  old.  He  then  accepted  the  position  of 
Clerk  in  the  office  of  the  County  Sheriff,  and  was 
engaged  in  that  capacity  until  the  fall  of  1876, 
when  he  was  elected  Circuit  Clerk.  He  held  that 
office  four  years,  and  after  that  gave  his  attention 
to  milling  a  year  and  to  mercantile  pursuits  as 
clerk  in  a  store  another  year,  and  he  then  entered 
public  life  again  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  for 
Vienna.  He  occupied  that  position  until  the  fall 
of  1884,  at  which  time  he  was  elected  County 
Clerk.  lie  received  the  honor  of  re-election  to 
that  office  in  1880,  and  held  it  until  1890.  In 
April,  18'.)1,  he  was  elected  Police  Magistrate  for 
a  term  of  two  years.  His  official  career  has  been 
such  as  to  inspire  trust  and  resijcct  in  the  hearts 
of  liis  fellow-citizens.  He  brings  a  clear  mind  and 
resolute  will  lo  the  discharge  of  his  duties;  his  de- 
cisions show  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  com- 
mon law,  and  are  given  without  fear  or  favor. 
Our  subject  is  known  in  social  circles  as  a  member 
of  Vesta  Lodge  No.  340, 1.  O.  O.  F.,  and  Vienna 


Encampment  No.  53.  Judge  Gore  was  married  in 
1876  to  Miss  Ellen  F.,  a  daughter  of  John  M. 
Kidenhower.  Four  children  complete  their  pleas- 
ant hoine  circle:  Olie,  Stella,  James  W.  and  Don- 
tie. 


-^1= 


■^f  OIIN  H.  KIVITT  is  a  farmer  of  sterling 
merit,  who  is  doing  his  part  in  sustaining 
and  advancing  the  great  agricultural  inter- 
ests of  Johnson  County,  and  has  his  farm, 
which  is  pleasantly  located  on  section  31,  Grants- 
burg  Township,  under  excellent  cultivation.  He 
was  born  in  Maur3'  County,  Tenn.,  .January  27, 
1834,  his  father,  James  Kivitt,  a  farmer,  living 
and  dying  in  that  State  when  our  subject  was  a 
child.  His  mother  afterward  married  John  II. 
Keed,  and  they  subsecpientl}-  migrated  to  this  Stale 
in  an  ox-wagon,  in  which  were  all  their  household 
goods  and  possessions.  The^'  had  but  little  money 
when  they  came  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  pio- 
neers of  Johnson  County,  and  first  settled  on  a 
rented  place.  In  the  fall  of  1850  they  moved  to 
the  farm  now  owned  and  occupied  by  our  subject, 
Mr.  Reed  buying  it  for  $300.  It  then  comprised 
but  seventy-four  acres,  but  forty-six  acres  were  af- 
terward added,  and  b}-  diligent  labor  it  was  well 
cleared,  and  suitable  buildings  were  erected,  and 
here  the  mother  and  step-father  of  our  subject 
passed  their  last  days  in  comfort.  Oursul)ject  was 
the  only  child  of  his  mother's  first  marriage.  B3' 
her  second  union  she  had  six  children:  Lafayette 
R.,  a  blacksmith  at  New  Grantsburg;  Hixj',  who 
died  in  Massac  County;  Sion,  a  resident  of  Me- 
tropolis; Elvira,  wife  of  Charles  Homes,  of  Joppa, 
Massac  County;  II.  C,  a  resident  of  Texas;  and 
Josephine,  wife  of  Jerome  Sexton,  of  Massac 
County. 

Our  sulijcct  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  western 
Tennessee,  where  he  spent  the  first  fourteen  years 
of  his  life.  He  attended  school  occasionally^  but 
could  not  go  often,  as  he  had  to  work  at  farming 
as  soon  as  large  enougii  to  handle  farm  implements, 
and  it  was  his  strong  and  willing  iiands  that  did 
miKli  of  the  clearing  of  the  timber  from  the  land 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


145 


aud  the  tilling  of  the  soil  after  the  family  had 
settled  iu  their  new  home  in  this  county,  when  he 
was  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  continued  to  assist 
his  step-father  in  the  management  of  the  farm  un- 
til he  was  twenty-three.  He  was  then  married  to 
Miss  Tempa  Dunn,  daughter  of  Henr}'  Dunn,  from 
Tennessee,  and  took  his  bride  to  live  on  the  old 
place,  which  he  bought.  He  had  some  of  his 
buildings  destroyed  by  fire,  but  he  is  constantly 
making  improvements  and  replacing  the  old  ones, 
and  has  a  comfortable,  orderly  farm,  which  yields 
abundant  harvests  in  repayment  of  his  well-di- 
rected toil. 

Mr.  aud  Mrs.  Kivitt  enjoy  life  together  iu  the 
serene  contentment  that  follows  well-doing  in 
every  round  of  duty,  and  among  their  blessings 
are  the  children  born  unto  them,  seven  in  number, 
of  whom  all  have  been  spared  to  be  their  stay  and 
comfort  except  John  J.,  who  died  iu  infancy.  The 
others  are:  Louisa  T.,  wife  of  M.  C.  Martin,  of 
Massac  County;  Ida,  at  home;  Jennie,  wife  of  A. 
A.  Smith,  of  Massac  County;  and  these  three  at 
home,  Charles  Henry,  Nancy  F.  and  Alfa.  Mr. 
Kivitt  is  a  man  of  intelligence,  who  fully  appreci- 
ates the  value  of  a  good  education,  and  is  doing 
all  he  possibly'  can  to  give  his  children  good 
advantages.  He  is  highly  thouglit  of  l)y  all  in  his 
community  as  a  man  who  is  true  in  all  the  rela- 
tions that  he  sustains  toward  others,  is  a  kind  hus- 
band, a  devoted  father,  a  good  neighbor,  and  a 
loval  citizen. 


>RED  BURNETT,  one  of  the  leading  grocers 
^i  and  dry-goods  merchants  at  Vienna,  is  one 
of  the  most  shrewd  and  enterprising  busi- 
ness men  of  Johnson  County.  He  is  a  native  of 
Ohio,  born  on  a  farm  near  the  town  of  Ravenna 
November  25,  1854.  His  father,  Charles  M.  Bur- 
nett, w.as  also  a  native  of  Ohio,  having  been  born 
in  Vernon,  Trumbull  Count}',  January  27,  1827. 
The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  tlie 
Rev.  John  Burnett,  a  Methodist  preacher,  and  also 
a  pioneer  farmer  of  Ohio.     He  was   born    in   New 


Jei-sey  December  2,  1800,  and  his  parents  were 
William  and  Mary  (Walker)  Burnett.  When  a 
3'oung  man  he  went  to  Ohio,  journeying  with 
teams,  and  for  a  part  of  the  wa}'  had  to  cut  a  road 
through  dense,  primeval  forests.  He  resided  in 
Trumbull  County  some  years,  but  his  last  days 
were  spent  in  Portage  County,  where  his  death 
occurred  October  6,  1878.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  December  5, 
1823,  was  Harriet  Merry.  She  was  born  in  1801, 
and  died  in  1864. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  and  married 
in  his  native  State,  Margaret,  daughter  of  John 
Henry,  becoming  his  wife.  He  had  been  reared  to 
agricultural  pursuits,  and  for  some  years  followed 
dairy  farming  successfully,  but  engaging  in  the 
oil  business  when  it  was  first  started,  he  was  un- 
fortunate in  his  investments  and  lost  the  most  of 
his  property.  In  1862  he  came  to  Illinois  to  be- 
gin life  anew,  and  for  two  years  was  activelj'  em- 
ployed in  farming  on  rented  land  in  this  county. 
Removing  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  to  Vienna, 
he  became  a  mail  contractor,  and  soon  entered  the 
livery  business,  in  which  he  continued  a  few  years. 
During  this  time  he  bought  land,  and  in  addition 
to  his  other  business,  farmed.  He  resided  in  Vi- 
enna until  bis  death,  April  2,  1881.  His  first  wife, 
who  was  a  native  of  Ashtabula  Count}',  Ohio, 
died  in  March,  1869,  leaving  four  children:  Frank, 
Fred,  Helen  and  John.  He  was  again  married,  and 
had  a  daughter,  Ethel,  by  the  second  marriage. 

Our  subject  was  a  boy  of  eight  years  when  the 
family  removed  to  Illinois.  He  assisted  his  father 
until  he  was  twenty-one,  and  then  commenced 
clerking  in  a  drug  store  and  in  the  Postofflce  for 
F.  M.  Simpson,  with  whom  he  remained  three  and 
a-half  years.  Maj'  30,  1830,  he  went  into  business 
on  his  own  account  as  a  grocer,  and  has  continued 
in  that  line  ever  since.  He  carries  a  large  stock  of 
the  best  groceries  to  be  found  in  the  market,  and 
has  a  fine  trade  both  in  the  village  and  in  the  sur- 
rounding country.  His  energies  arc  by  no  means 
confined  to  this  branch  of  business,  as  in  1884  lie 
opened  a  store  for  the  sale  of  dry  and  fancy  goods, 
.and  has  conducted  it  ever  since,  it  being  well  pat- 
ronized by  the  people,  who  a|)preeiate  the  advan- 
tages of  such  an  establishment. 


in; 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


Mr.  Hiirnell  was  man-ied  in  1879  to  Miss  Eliza- 
bclli  Fields,  who  was  born  in  Alabama,  and  was  an 
infant  when  her  parents  removed  from  that  State 
to  Mct'racken  County,  K3'.,  where  she  was  reared. 
Mr.  and  Mrs  Burnett  have  one  child,  Cora  Marga- 
ret. The  family  is  highly  esteemed, and  they  have 
many  warm  friends  in  the  community.  The  wife 
and  daughter  are  active  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  i\Ir.  Burnett  was  a  charter 
member  of  Vienna  Lodge  No.  218,  K.  of  P.,  with 
which  he  is  still  identified.  In  politics,  he  is  a 
sound  Republican. 


-"^^Jl-i^ 


-/Jf' BNER  FIELD  is  a  progressive  and  enter- 
(@yLl|i  prising  farmer,  whose  well-improved  and 
flnelj'  cultivated  farm  is  located  on  section 
19,  township  13,  range  6,  Pope  County 
His  homestead  comprises  two  hundred  and  seven 
acres,  upon  which  is  a  substantial  farm  residence, 
barns  and  other  buildings.  Our  subject  was  born 
in  this  count}'  November  12,  18-14.  His  pater- 
nal grandfather,  Lewis  Field,  was  one  of  the  hon- 
ored early  pioneers  of  Illinois,  to  which  State  he 
emigrated  from  Kentucky  about  the  j^ear  1810. 

Abner  Field  is  the  son  of  Lewis  and  Sarah 
(Fisher)  Field,  who  were  both  natives  of  Kentucky. 
The  former  emigrated  to  this  region  with  his 
father,  making  the  entire  trip  in  wagons,  and  land- 
ing at  Golconda,  where  he  took  up  land  from  the 
Government,  p.i3'ing  11.25  per  acre.  The  tract  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  which  he  owned  was 
about  the  first  sold  in  this  locality.  From  lime  to 
time  he  added  adjoining  lands  to  his  original  pur- 
chase until  he  found  himself "  possessed  of  some 
six  hundred  and  forty  acres,  all  of  which  were  lo- 
cated in  this  county,  lie  is  numbered  among 
those  who  have  paved  the  way  to  the  present  pros- 
perity of  this  region,  having  overcome  and  con- 
quered the  obstacles  and  ditliculties  of  pioneer  life 
with  courage  and  fortitude  well  worthy  the  emu- 
lation and  admiration  of  their  descendants.  He 
spent  his  remaining  du^s  on  his  farm,  which  was 


located  on  section  19,  the  identical  homestead  on 
which  our  subject  now  resides,  and  was  called  to 
his  final  reward  .luly  20,  I8."):»,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
two  3'ears. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  remained  on  the  old 
home  place,  which  he  carried  on  until  his  mother's 
death,  .January'  21,  1883,  at  which  time  she  was 
nearly  seventy-two  years  of  age.  Since  his  birth, 
Mr.  Field  has  p.assed  nearl}'  all  his  years  on  the  old 
farm  and  indeed  all  of  his  life  with  the  exception 
of  some  two  j'ears  when  he  was  in  the  army.  He 
enlisted  September  29,  1863,  becoming  a  member 
of  Companj'  G,  Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry.  He  was 
in  active  service  at  the  battle  of  Nashville,  in  1846, 
and  at  the  engagements  of  Eastport,  West  Point 
and  Meridian,  Miss.  He  was  a  faithful  and  valiant 
soldier,  always  to  be  relied  upon  bj-  his  superior 
officers,  who  reposed  the  greatest  confidence  and 
trust  in  him  on  all  occasions.  He  was  honorably 
discharged  at  Selma,  Ala.,  receiving  his  papers  at 
Camp  Butler,  November  25,  1865,  and  on  his  re- 
turn from  the  armj'  with  poor  health,  spent  the  fol- 
lowing 3'ear  in  attending  school  at  Columbus,  as 
he  fell  the  need  of  an  education.  During  his 
youth  he  was  entirely  without  schooling,  as  he  was 
needed  at  home  on  account  of  his  father's  death 
when  he  was  still  a  lad,  and  the  consequent  respon- 
sibility of  carrying  on  the  farm  being  placed  on 
his  young  shoulders. 

Our  subject  is  truly  a  self-made  man,  having 
conquered  almost  insurmountable  obstacles,  such 
as  want  of  education  and  poor  health  after  his  re- 
turn from  hardships  incident  to  army  life,  and 
various  other  impediments  in  the  road  to  success. 
His  mother  carded,  wove  and  spun  his  clothes  as 
well  as  her  own,  and  he  sometimes  laughingly  re- 
marks that  he  did  not  have  asuit  of  "store"  clothes 
until  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age.  November 
29,  1877,  Mr.  Field  was  married  to  Miss  Minnie 
Trovillion,  who  was  born  in  Columbus,  Pope 
County,  April  29,  1861.  Her  father  was  a  native 
of  Tennessee,  but  her  mother  was,  like  herself,  born 
in  this  county.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Field  a  family  of 
seven  children  were  born,  live  of  whom  are  now 
living:  Lucy  E.,  Allio  M.,  Lewis,  Bertha  and  ,\b- 
ner. 

In  1883  Mr.  Field  inherited    one    liundred    and 


i 


RESIDENCE     OF     J  .    Ivl  .  B  E  r  ,  SOI  !   ,   5  EG  .  5.    BlOOM  Fl  ELD   TP.    JO  Hf^SO  r  I     CO    ILL. 


F?l5.DEHC[     ...-    D  .  F.   BEAUMAN  ,  SEC   j^:;,  TUtUlEL    ri  1 1  L  TP.  JOH  i  J5uN    Lu.  i  ll 


RESIDENCE  OF    J  .    M  .  SM  ITH  ,   SEC.  2C.  ELVIRA  TP.  JOH  NSO  N     CO     i  LL 


i 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


149 


sixty  acres  of  his  fatlier's  propertj',  and  in  1889  piir- 
cliasefl  forty-seven  acres  more,  thus  making  his  farm 
one  of  two  hundred  and  seven  acres.  It  is  fertile, 
and  yields  an  abundant  income  to  the  happy  pos- 
sessor. As  a  man  lie  is  popular  and  genial,  owning 
many  friends  in  this  locality,  whom  he  has  at- 
tracted to  him  by  his  worth}'  and  sterling  character- 
istics. He  has  always  been  a  member  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  holds  membership  with  Temple 
Hill  Lodge  No.  701,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  with  the 
Baptist  Cliurch  at  Columbus. 


11^  ENRY  J.  N.  JOHNSON,  a  respected  farmer 
jfjl  of  Vienna  Township,  owning  and  occupy- 
/4\^^  ing  a  farm  on  section  10,  is  a  battle-scarred 
(^J)  veteran  of  the  late  war.  He  is  a  native  of 
tliis  State,  his  birth  occurring  on  the  old  homestead 
in  Massac  County  belonging  to  his  father,  Thomas 
Jolmson,  a  pioneer  of  that  part  of  the  country, 
and  a  son  of  one  of  its  earliest  settlers.  He  had 
come  to  Illinois  from  Tennessee  when  a  small  boy 
of  six  years,  and  although  an  illiterate  man,  he  be- 
came one  of  the  successful  farmers  of  the  county, 
owning  a  fine  farm  of  over  two  hundred  acres,  as 
the  result  of  his  toil.  H^  was  sevent^'-seven  years 
old  when  he  died.  His  wife,  the  mother  of  our 
subject,  whose  maiden  name  was  Jane  Shire,  died 
in  1850  at  the  age  of  fifty-one,  and  her  mortal  re- 
mains were  deposited  in  the  soil  of  the  old  home- 
stead. 

Our  subject  was  the  seventh  in  order  of  birth  of 
a  family  of  ten  children,  of  whom  four  are  living. 
He  was  brought  up  on  the  old  farm  where  he  was 
born,  and  has  always  devoted  himself  to  fanning, 
witli  the  exception  of  the  time  he  spent  in  the 
service  of  the  Government,  when  rebellion  threat- 
ened the  Union.  He  iiad  just  started  in  life  on 
his  own  account,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  when  lie 
threw  aside  his  work  to  go  into  the  army,  and 
from  Februaiy  1,  1864,  to  May  25,  1865,  he  was  in 
the  service,  having  enlisted  in  Company  K,  Four- 
teenth Illinois  Cavalry.  His  devotion  to  the 
cause  cost  him  dearly,  for  while  fighting   bravely 


at  the  front  in  an  engagement  with  the  enemy  he 
lost  his  right  eye;  liis  wound  also  made  him  quite 
deaf,  and  the  close  of  the  war  found  liun  suffering 
in  a  hospital. 

Notwithstanding  this  terrible  affliction  Mr. 
Johnson  quietly  resumed  his  old  occupation  as 
soon  as  able  after  returning  to  his  fatlier's  home, 
where  he  remained  for  a  time  after  his  war  serv- 
ices were  over.  Some  years  subsequent  to  his 
marriage,  he  rented  a  farm  for  three  years,  and 
managed  it  profitabl3\  From  that  time  he  moved 
about  from  placSi  to  place  until  he  bought  his  pres- 
ent farm,  which  then  comprised  but  fortj'  acres, 
but  to  which  he  has  added  a  like  amount  adjoin- 
ing. It  was  in  its  natural  condition,  and  he  has 
worked  patientlj-  and  with  good  results  to  develop 
it  into  a  well-cultivated  farm,  and  is  continually 
making  improvements,  which  have  increased  its 
value  much  since  it  came  into  his  jjossession. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  married  October  22,  1874,  to 
Miss  Rosa  Ann  Parker,  a  native  of  Massac  County, 
although  at  the  time  of  their  marriage  living  in 
Johnson  Count}'.  They  have  a  home  in  which 
peace,  plenty  and  comfort  abound,  and  eight  chil- 
dren complete  their  household,  namely:  Cj'nthia 
Jane,  Dora  V.,  John  T.,  Francis  M.,  James  H., 
Maude  M.,  Delia  V.  and  Rosa  L. 


(^  ft  ILLIAM  J.  BAKER,  deceased.  We  gladly 
\/\J//  ^^'^^^'^  ^  place  in  the  biographical  liistor}' 
\i/\t/  of  the  worthy  pioneers  and  enterprising 
farmers  of  Pope  County  to  the  veterans  of  the  late 
war,  among  whom  few  were  in  more  active  service 
or  more  faithfully  performed  their  duties  than  did 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  When  only  twent}'- 
one  j'ears  of  age  he  enlisted  in  the  Twenty-ninth 
Illinois  Infantr}',  at  Golconda,  joining  Company 
F  August  13,  1861,  and  serving  for  three  years. 
He  participated  in  the  important  and  noted  battles 
of  Ft.  Donelson  and  Sliiloh,  was  taken  prisoner 
at  II0II3'  Springs,  Miss.,  and  after  languishing  in 
captivit}'  for  five  months  was  exchanged  in  1865 
and  was  honorably  discharged  at  Natchez,  Miss., 
August  20,  of  that  yean 


150 


PORTRAIT  AND   BI OG R A  r 1 1  i(  A 1 .    REVI EW. 


The  birtli  of  our  subject,  occurred  in  the  State  of 
Tennessee,  the  dnte  of  the  event  being  July  5, 
183().  He  was  a  son  of  Henry  and  Martlia  (Stog- 
ner)  Baker,  the  father  a  native  of  .Soutli  Carolina, 
and  the  mother  of  Tennessee.  Henry  Baker  emi- 
grated to  Illinois  in  1851,  became  the  owner  of 
land  in  Pope  County,  and  liere  devoted  himself  to 
general  farming  and  stock-raising  until  his  death. 
The  mother  spent  her  remaining  days  at  the  home 
of  her  son.  who  witii  filial  love  and  care  did  all  in 
his  power  to  smooth  her  pathway  and  to  make  her 
last  years  the  happiest  of  her  life.'  Mr.  Baker  at- 
tended school  but  very  little  before  leaving  his 
native  State,  and  after  coming  to  Illinois  was  a 
pupil  in  the  district  schools.  Considering  his 
limited  chances  for  education  he  became,  entirely 
through  his  own  efforts,  a  well-informed  and  in- 
telligent man.  On  returning  from  the  army  he 
purchased  land  in  Pope  County,  and  resided  upon 
that  farm  for  eighteen  years,  during  which  time 
he  held  various  positions  of  responsibility  and 
honor,  serving  as  County  Treasurer,  also  as  As- 
sessor for  two  terms,  and  was  Postmaster  for  about 
eight  years  at  Allen  Springs. 

In  1884,  selling  his  former  propert}-,  Mr.  Baker 
purchased  a  house  and  lot  in  Columbus,  making 
his  home  in  that  i)lace  until  the  spring  of  1885, 
when  he  decided  to  purchase  the  farm  where  his 
wife  still  makes  her  home,  which  is  located  on  sec- 
tion 25,  township  13,  range  5,  and  where  he  en- 
gaged in  general  farming  and  stock-raising  until 
he  was  called  to  his  final  rest,  December  10,  1887. 
He  was  Notary  Public  at  Columbus,  also  served  as 
School  Director  for  a  number  of  j'ears  and  was  a 
member  of  Golconda  Lodge  No.  131,  A.  F.  &  A.  M., 
and  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 
Honorable  and  upright  in  all  his  dealings  with  his 
fellow-men,  public-spirited  and  always  glad  to  do 
his  share  in  forwarding  the  best  interests  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  he  merited  the  high  regard  in 
which  he  was  held  b}'  ever}'  one.  Politically,  he 
cast  his  ballot  in  favor  of  the  Republican  party. 

On  August  2G,  1866,  Mr.  Baker  and  Miss  Mary 
E.  Trovillion  were  united  in  marriage.  Mrs. 
Baker  was  born  in  Po])e  County,  May  13,  1843, 
her  parents  being  early  settlers  and  honored  pio- 
neers of   this    locality.     Her    father  was    born    in 


Tennessee,  but  her  mother  was  a  native  of  Illinois. 
Our  subject  and  his  wife  were  blessed  with  a  fam- 
ily of  eiglit  children,  the  three  elder  of  whom  are 
now  married  and  have  homes  of  their  own.  In 
order  of  birth  they  are  as  follows:  Minnie  Belle, 
Anna  Laura,  Lillie  G.,  George  B.,  Hosea,  Lora 
May,  Freddie  and  .Joseph  C.  The  different  mem- 
bers of  tlie  family  move  in  the  best  social  circles, 
and  are  workers  and  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  Since  her  husband's  death  Mrs.  Baker, 
with  the  help  of  her  sons,  has  carried  on  tlie  farm 
place  and  has  shown  herself  to  be  a  woman  of 
good  business  and  executive  ability. 


-^ 


^  AMES  MONROE  BENSON  was  born  three 
miles  from  the  State  House,  in  Sangamon 
County,  111.,  February  6,  1822.  His  father, 
Charles  R.  Benson,  was  born  September  28, 
1J93,  in  Greenbrier  County,  Ya.  (now  in  West 
Virginia),  and  his  father,  Babel  Benson,  was,  it  is 
believed,  a  native  of  Virginia.  He  removed  to 
Kentucky  in  1831,  and  resided  in  Todd  County, 
that  State,  until  his  death.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  was  Nellie  Seward.  Thej^  reared  a  family 
of  seven  children,  three  daughters  and  four  sons. 
Charles  R.  Benson  was  reared  in  Virginia,  and 
went  to  Tennessee  when  a  j'oung  man.  He  mar- 
ried near  Knoxville,  and  came  from  there  to  Illi- 
nois in  1821,  locating  in  Sangamon  County,  and 
thus  becoming  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  that 
county.  He  made  a  claim  on  a  piece  of  Govern- 
ment land,  built  a  house  upon  it  and  resided  there 
until  1824,  when  he  removed  to  Logan  County, 
Kj'.,  and  remained  there  until  1831. 

Then,  accompanied  bj'  his  wife  and  six  children. 
Mr.  Benson  returned  to  Illinois,  making  the  entire 
journey  overland  in  a  four-horse  wagon,  bringing 
his  household  goods,  and  camping  and  cooking  on 
the  way.  He  located  in  Gallatin  Countj',  and 
there  bought  a  tract  of  State  land  at  fifty  cents 
per  acre.  This  propertj'  was  timber  land,  and 
upon  it  he  erected  a  log  cabin,  sawing  the  lumber 
for  the   d'  ors   and    window    casings,    making    the 


PORTRAIT  AM)    BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW. 


151 


floor  of  puncheons,  and  the  chimney  of  sticks  and 
clay.  Mrs.  Benson  cooked  by  the  fireplace,  and 
with  her  own  hands  carded  and  spun  and  wove  the 
clolh  for  the  clothing  of  her  family.  There  was  no 
railroad  in  this  part  of  the  countr}'  for  years  after 
he  settled  in  Gallatin  County,  and  the  people  lived 
mainly  upon  what  their  farms  produced  and  upon 
wild  game,  such  as  deer  and  wild  turkeys,  which 
were  then  very  plentiful.  Mr.  Benson  cleared  his 
land  as  rapidh'  as  possible  and  made  of  it  a  good 
farm.  There  he  passed  the  rest  of  his  life,  though 
he  died  in  Stoddard  County,  Mo.,  while  on  a  hunt- 
ing expedition  in  1848.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Polly  B.  Riggin;  she  was  born  near  Knox- 
ville,  Tenn.,  .June  23,  1796,  a  daughter  of  James 
and  Mary  Riggin,  and  died  December  26,  1838. 
She  reared  a  family  of  nine  children:  James  M., 
A.  Hamilton,  Ignatius  M.,  Nancy  H.,  Mary  N., 
John  F.,  Charles  B.,  V^alentine  S.  and  Francis  A. 

James  M.,  the  eldest  of  the  family,  was  two 
years  old  when  the  famih"  moved  to  Kentucky, 
and  nine  years  old  when  they  returned  to  Illinois. 
He  was  reared  in  Gallatin  County,  and  attended 
the  pioneer  schools  kept  in  log  houses  without  anj- 
floors.  Tbere  was  then  but  little  public  money  for 
schools,  so  it  was  necessary  for  the  families  that 
desired  their  children  to  attend  school  to  subscribe 
an  amount  of  mone.y  proportionate  to  the  number 
of  pupils  to  be  sent.  The  teacher  boarded  around 
among  the  patrons  of  the  school.  James  M.  re- 
sided with  bis  father  until  his  marriage.  He  then 
rented  the  home  farm  until  18.51,  after  which"  he 
moved  to  Johnson  County  and  entered  a  tract  of 
Government  land,  which  is  included  within  the 
limits  of  his  present  farm.  At  first  he  erected  a 
liewed-log  house,  and  this  his  family  occupied  un- 
til 1867,  when  he  erected  a  good  frame  house. 
He  has  cleared  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  the  land,  erected  a  good  frame  barn, 
planted  fruit  trees  and  otherwise  improved  tlie 
farm. 

April  20,  1845,  Mr.  Benson  married  Celinda 
Slack,  who  was  born  in  Union  County,  111.  Her 
father,  William  Slack,  was  born  in  Kentucky,  of 
which  State  his  father,  also  William  Slack,  was  one 
of  the  ])ioncers.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Benson  came  to 
Illinois  when  a  .young  man,  and  in  Union  County 


married  Mary  Finney,  who  was  born  in  Virginia, 

and  was  a  daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  (Reynolds) 
Finney.  He  resided  in  Union  Count^^  a  short 
time,  but  when  Mrs.  Benton  was  one  month  old 
removed  to  Johnson  County  and  settled  in  Cache 
Township.  After  living  there  for  some  time  he 
removed  to  Bloomfield  Township  and  bought  a 
farm,  where  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  rest  of  their 
lives.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benson  have  four  children  liv- 
ing: Newton  J.,  Margaret  A.,  Alonzo  G.  and  James 
N.  Newton  J.,  a  graduate  of  the  Louisville  Medi- 
cal College,  is  now  practicing  medicine  at  Anna, 
Union  County.  Hi.  ;Margaret  A.  married  John  P. 
Carson,  and  lives  in  Carbondale.  Alonzo  G.  is 
a  farmer,  and  lives  in  Tunnel  Hill  Township. 
James  N.  is  also  a  farmer  of  Tunnel  Hill  Township. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benson  and  all  their  children  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Ciiurch.  Po- 
litically, Mr.  Benson  has  been  a  Republican  since 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  In  1861  he  enlisted 
in  Company  K,  Sixtieth  Illinois  Infantry,  and 
served  until  November  29,  1862,  when  he  was  dis- 
charged on  account  of  disability.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Vienna  Post  No.  221,  G.  A.  R.  He  has  al- 
ways been  a  temperate  man  in  practice,  and  is  an 
advocate  of  temperance. 


"jfJAMES  M.  PRICE,  a  native  of  Johnson 
County,  is  closely  .associated  with  two  of  its 
most  important  industries  as  a  successful 
farmer,  who  is  the  proprietor  of  a  valuable 
farm  on  section  3,  Vienna  Township,  and  as  an 
Extensive  dealer  in  grain,  with  headquarters  in  the 
village  of  Vienna.  Our  subject  was  born  Decem- 
ber 21,  1849,  and  is  a  son  of  William  H.Price,  who 
was  for  several  3'ears  prior  to  his  death  a  well- 
known  business  man  of  this  section.  He  was 
brought  up  on  a  farm  in  Tennessee,  that  being  his 
native  State,  and  in  early  manhood  he  came  to 
Illinois,  previous  to  1840,  and  first  settled  among 
the  pioneers  of  Fr.anklin  Count}'.  He  engaged  in 
selling  clocks  in  this  State  and  Missouri  for  some 
four  years,  .and  having  accumulated  some    money, 


\:>-> 


roUTKAn    AM)    lUlXlUAI'lIlCAI,    KKNIKW. 


he  came  to  Johnson  County.  He  built  a  mill  to 
be  operated  by  horse  power  and  was  employed  in 
milling  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1854.  The  peo- 
ple came  long  distances  to  patronize  him,  and  as 
there  was  much  demand  for  better  facilities  he 
erected  a  steam  saw  and  grist  mill,  which,  however, 
was  not  completed  when  he  died.  The  county 
lost  in  him  an  energetic,  enterprising  citizen,  who 
was  no  unimportant  agent  in  forwarding  its 
growth.  With  characteristic  foresight,  he  had  in- 
vested money  in  about  two  hundred  acres  of  heav- 
ily timbered  Government  land  on  section  3  of 
what  is  now  Vienna  Township,  foreseeing  its  ulti- 
mate rise  in  value,  and  while  carr3'ingon  the  lum- 
ber business  had  used  a  part  of  the  timber  on  his 
place,  lie  was  married  in  about  1840  to  Amanda 
JlcCorkle,  a  native  of  Johnson  County,  and  after 
settling  licrc  had  built  a  log  house,  which  was  his 
home  the  remainder  of  his  days.  His  wife  sur- 
vived him  until  1874,  and  tiien  she  too  passed 
away,  and  both  now  lie  sleeping  their  last  sleep  in 
private  grounds,  called  MeCorkle  Cemetery.  They 
were  the  parents  of  four  children:  Joseph  H.,  who 
resides  near  Corpus  Christi,  Tex.;  James  M.;  Em- 
ma, wife  of  A.  R.  Beard,  of  Hudsonville,  Crawford 
Count}-;  and  Mar}'  A.,  wife  of  John  Kecsee,  of 
C.arbondale. 

James  M.  Price  passed  his  boyhood  in  working 
on  his  father's  farm  and  in  the  mill,  attending 
school  mostly  during  the  winter  terms,  and  bj' 
close  application  to  his  studies  acquiring  a  prac- 
tical education.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  began 
life  on  his  own  account,  obtaining  a  position  as 
clerk  in  a  store,  in  which  capacitj'  he  was  employed 
the  ensuing  two  years.  He  next  worked  on  a 
farm  for  a  time,  and  then  tried  life  in  Texas  for  a 
year,  working  at  various  things  while  there.  Re- 
turning to  his  native  county,  ho  bought  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  twentj'  acres,  to  which  he  has 
added  by  furtlicr  purchase  eighty  acres,  and  now 
h.as  two  hundred  acres  of  land  of  great  fertility 
and  productiveness.  His  place,  which  is  under 
his  supervision,  is  well  equipped  with  buildings  of 
a  good  class  and  with  all  necessary  farming  raa- 
chincr}',  and  is  well  kept  in  all  particulars.  In 
addition  to  his  farming  interests  Mr.  Price,  as  al- 
ready stated,  is  quite  heavily  engaged  in   buying 


and  selling  grain  in  company  with  J.  Throgmor- 
ton,  they  liaving  a  commodious  warehouse  near 
the  railway  station  in  Vienna,  and  shipping 
mostl}'  to  Cairo,  where  it  commands  a  good  mar- 
ket, and  is  ground  or  sent  elsewhere. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Susan 
Pierce  was  solemnized  in  1874.  Mrs.  Price,  whose 
parents  are  dead,  is  a  native  of  Johnson  County. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Price  have  lived  in  the  same  place 
since  their  marriage,  and  have  made  it  a  true  home, 
of  whose  generous  hospitality  it  is  a  pleasure  to 
partake.  Eight  children  complete  their  household 
circle:  Oscar  D.,  P^mma,  AVilliam  H.,  Amanda, 
James,  Walter,  Joseph  and  Charlie.  Their  daugh- 
ter Effle  is  dead. 

Mr.  Price  is  among  the  prominent  business  men 
of  the  town  who  are  so  acti  vel\'  carrying  forward  its 
interests.  He  has  succeeded  chietl}'  b}-  his  own  efforts, 
b}'  close  application  to  his  work,  and  by  excellent 
business  methods,  and  his  name  stands  high  with 
all  with  whom  he  has  dealings.  He  keeps  himself 
informed  on  all  topics  of  general  concern,  and  in 
politics  his  sympathies  are  with  the  Republican 
party. 


m^m\ 


AMUEL  H.  REES,  druggist  at  Belknap,  is 
a  representative  young  business  man  of 
Johnson  County.  He  is  a  native  of  this 
State,  coming  of  its  sturdy  pioneer  stock, 
and  was  born  in  Jackson  County  March  11,  18G1. 
He  is  a  son  of  Dr.  Alonzo  P.  Rees,  the  well-known 
phj'sician,  who  is  now  a  resident  of  Grand  Chain, 
Pulaski  County. 

Dr.  Rees  was  born  in  Missouri,  where  his  father, 
James  L.  Rees,  carried  on  the  occupation  of  a 
farmer.  Desiring  a  change  of  location,  the  grand- 
father of  our  subject  loaded  his  household  effects 
into  a  wagon  and  journeyed  with  his  family  East- 
ward until  he  arrived  on  the  present  site  of  Car- 
bondale,  Jackson  County,  where  he  purch.ased  a 
tract  of  unimproved  land.  He  constructed  a 
primitive  log  cabin  for  a  dwelling  and  then  turned 
his  attention  to  clearing  his  land,  which  he  devel- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIO(;RAriIICAL  REVIEW. 


153 


oped  into  a  fairly  good  farm,  only  to  sell  it  and 
buy  another  fourteen  miles  distant.  The  latter 
place  he  transformed  into  a  valuable  farm  with 
line  improvements,  and  made  it  his  home  until  he 
passed  from  the  scenes  of  earth.  His  wife  is  still 
living  on  the  old  place,  wliich  is  3'et  in  the  family, 
she  being  sevent^y-two  years  old. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  quite  j'oung  when 
he  was  brought  to  Illinois,  and  he  grew  to  man's 
estate  on  the  old  homestead  in  Jackson  Count}-. 
Me  was  a  studious,  thoughtful  lad  and  learned  all 
that  could  be  taught  him  in  the  schools  of  the  day, 
which,  however, were  not  of  a  very  high  order.  He  re- 
mained at  home  with  his  parents,  working  harden 
the  farm,  until  he  was  twenty-four  years  old,  wlien 
he  started  out  for  himself.  He  first  worked  in  a 
sawmill  by  the  day,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-five 
had  sufficient  means  to  justify  his  marriage  with 
the  lady  of  his  choice.  Miss  Jane  Crews,  a  native 
of  Illinois.  After  taking  that  important  step  in 
life,  the  Doctor  rented  a  farm  in  'Williamson 
County  and  devoted  himself  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits. He  soon  bought  a  farm  in  Jackson  County 
which  was  improved.  He  continued  to  till  the 
soil  for  seven  years,  but  he  was  ambitious  to  enter 
some  profession  and  naturally  turned  his  attention 
to  the  study  of  medicine,  which  he  began  while 
farming.  He  devoted  himself;  heart,  and  soul  to 
the  acquirement  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
the  profession  that  he  intended  to  purslie  and  was 
enabled  to  establish  himself  in  practice.  He  sub- 
sequentl}'  further  fitted  himself  for  his  vocation 
by  taking  a  thorough  course  at  the  Nashville  Med- 
ical College,  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  whence  he  was 
graduated  with  honor. 

After  his  graduation,  the  Doctor  removed  to 
Pulaski  County  and  was  engaged  in  practice  there 
for  a  time.  From  there  he  came  to  Belknap  and 
was  one  of  the  leading  physicians  in  this  section 
for  a  number  of  years.  He  finally  returned  to 
Pulaski  County  and  has  been  located  at  Grand 
Chain  since.  He  has  control  of  a  large  and  lucra- 
tive practice  and  has  an  extensive  acquaintance 
in  surrounding  counties  and  is  regarded  as  a  sen- 
sible, intelligent  and  well-equipped  physician, 
whose  high  standing  is  due  to  personal  merit  and 
a  laudable  ambition    to  make  a  name  and  a  place 


for  himself  in  the  world.  He  and  his  estimable 
wife  have  been  happy  in  their  marriage,  which  h.as 
been  blessed  to  them  by  the  birth  of  seven  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Samuel  H.;  John  D.,  a  book- 
keeper at  Terrill,  Tenn.;  Mary  D.,  wife  of  S.  D. 
Peeler,  a  farmer  at  Belknap;  Martha  P.,  wife  of 
T.  E.  Williamson,  of  Grand  Chain,  a  traveling 
salesman;  Georgie  Ann,  wife  of  David  Copeland, 
a  farmer  of  Grand  Cliain;  and  Nellie  and  Fred,  at 
home  with  their  parents. 

Samuel  II.  Rees,  of  this  biograijhical  review, 
passed  his  boyhood  on  a  farm  and  earlj'  became 
familiar  with  its  labors.  He  attended  the  common 
schools  until  he  was  fourteen  years  old,  and  his 
further  education  has  been  acquired  outside  of 
schools.  He  assisted  his  father  in  the  management 
of  his  farm  until  he  attained  his  majority  and  then 
began  to  work  for  himself.  He  first  found  employ- 
ment in  a  sawmill  and  afterward  obtained  a  more 
congenial  situation  in  a  drug  store,  where  he  ap- 
plied himself  diligently  to  acquiring  a  complete 
knowledge  of  drugs  and  of  business  methods.  He 
stayed  in  that  drug  store  at  Belknap  two  years  and 
then  resumed  work  in  the  sawmill,  in  which  he  was 
engaged  two  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  again 
became  interested  in  the  drug  business  and  for 
four  or  five  j-ears  was  in  his  father's  drug  store. 
When  his  father  sold  out  he  went  to  Vienna  and 
was  engaged  in  tlie  same  business,  and  later  at  St. 
Louis  and  Murfreesboro,  and  thus  gained  an  ex- 
tensive and  valuable  experience  as  a  druggist.  In 
July,  1887,  he  came  to  Belknap  and  bought  a  small 
drug  store,  with  stock  and  fixtures,  for  $300,  and 
from  that  small  beginning  he  has  built  up  a  good 
business  and  has  a  well-appointed  drug  store  for 
the  size  of  the  town,  carrying  a  full  line  of  all  such 
drugs  as  are  in  usual  demand  in  this  section  and 
making  it  a  [joint  to  sell  none  but  the  purest  ob- 
tainable. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Rees  to  Miss  Ella  Hartman 
was  solemnized  in  1885.  Mrs.  Rees  is  a  native  of 
Johnson  County,  but  her  father  and  mother  are 
now  living  at  Chester,  in  Randolph  Count}'.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Rees'  attactive  home  is  brightened  by  the 
presence  of  three  children  born  to  them,  AValter  A., 
Guy  II.  and  Blanche. 

Our  subject  is  a  man  of  n\uch  value  in  the  com- 


151 


roirrijAiT  and  liKKJUAi'iiicAL  Ki;\ii:w. 


miinity,  as  lio  is  (lioittiigiil}-  alive  to  piililic  iutor- 
ests,  and  while  a  member  of  the  Village  Board 
of  Trustees  and  of  tiie  local  School  Hoard  ex- 
erted his  inlluence  for  its  material  advancement 
and  to  secure  the  best  possible  educational  advan- 
tages for  the  children  of  Belknap.  lie  and  his 
wife  are  devoted  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal C'hureh.  In  politics,  he  stands  with  the 
Democrats. 


yD.  DEANS,  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Hight  &  Deans,  editors  and  proprietors 
of  The  Reformer,  is  one  of  the  youngest 
members  of  the  editorial  profession  in  Southern 
Illinois,  but,  as  he  brings  to  his  work  a  fine  equip- 
ment of  hand  and  brain,  he  has  a  fair  prospect  of 
attaining  honors  in  the  journalistic  school.  John- 
son Countj-  claims  him  as  a  native,  and  he  springs 
from  its  pioneer  stock.  He  was  born  in  Cache 
Township,  January  8,  1871,  and  is  a  son  of  AV.  D. 
Deans,  Sr.,  who  was  at  that  time  a  prominent  citi- 
zen of  this  county,  but  is  now  a  resident  of  Kansas. 
The  father  of  our  subject  is  also  a  native  of 
Johnson  Count}',  and  is  a  son  of  John  Deans,  who 
was  a  pioneer  farmer  of  this  section,  and  spent  his 
last  years  here.  Mr.  Deans  was  well  educated  and 
in  earl}^  manhood  taught  school.  He  abandoned 
that  profession  to  engage  in  the  mercantile  and 
milling  business  at  Belknap,  and  continued  his 
residence  in  Cache  Precinct  until  1880.  In  that 
vear  he  went  to  Wabaunsee  County,  Kan.,  where 
he  bought  a  farm  and  devoted  himself  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits  until  1883,  when  he  again  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  mercantile  business,  locating 
in  the  town  of  Alma.  He  is  still  a  resident  of 
that  pl.ace,  but  has  retired  from  active  business. 
AVhile  living  in  Johnson  County  he  held  the  office 
of  County  Surve_vor,  and  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  County  Commissioners.  Since  his  re- 
moval to  Kansas  he  was  Survej'or  of  Wabaunsee 
County  for  a  jieriod  of  six  years.  He  is  a  man 
of   Sduiiil    judgment    and    a     wise    manager,   and 


whether  in  ollicial  or  in  piivate  life  always  Im- 
shown  himself  well  versed  in  business  matters. 
In  politics  he  is  and  ever  has  been  a  firm  Republi- 
can. His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Louisa  .1. 
I'eeler,  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  w:i< 
first  married  to  James  Axlcy. 

The  subject  of  this  brief  biographical  review  re- 
ceived Ills  early  education  in  the  district  schools 
of  his  native  county,  and  after  the  removal  of  the 
family  to  Kansas,  he  went  to  a  good  school  at 
Alma.  At  tlie  age  of  sixteen  he  entered  the  oflice 
of  the  Alma  EnUirprise  to  learn  the  art  of  printing, 
which  he  thoroughly  mastered,  and  has  since  been 
engaged  in  that  line.  In  the  fall  of  1892  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Hight  in  the  pro- 
prietorship and  publication  of  The  lieformer,  and 
is  meeting  with  encouraging  success  as  an  editor. 
His  experience  as  a  printer  has  not  been  without 
value  to  him  in  entering  upon  tiiis  new  field  of 
labor,  while  the  business  acumen  that  he  seems  to 
have  inherited  in  full  degree  from  his  father  is  a 
certain  factor  of  success  in  whatever  he  under- 
takes. He  is  a  young  man  of  good  habits,  of  a 
genial  nature,  and  is  popular  among  his  associates. 

October  2,  1892,  Mr.  Deans  took  upon  himself 
the  cares  and  responsibilities  of  married  life  bj- 
wedding  on  that  date  Miss  Maud  A.,  daughter  of 
J.  B.  and  Josie  (Gillespie)  Hess,  and  a  native  of 
Vienna,  who  will  take  upon  herself  a  full  share 
of  the  said  cares  and  responsibilities,  as  a  true  wife 
should.  Mrs.  Deans  is  a  member  of  the  Christian 
Church,  and  cheerfully  co-operates  with  her  pastor 
and  fellow-members  in  making  it  a  useful  religious 
organization  for  the   uplifting  of  the  community. 


^^ 


\\  ATIIEW  BREEDLOVE.  For  about  thirty 
years  this  gentleman  was  prominently 
identified  with  the  welfare  and  prosperity 
of  Pope  County,  to  which  he  came  in 
1849  with  his  young  wife.  He  was  born  in  Mid- 
dleton,  Tenn.,  June  2.'j,  1825,  and  was  the  son  of 
Thomas  and  Sarah  Breedlove,  who  were  both  n.a- 
tives  of  old  A'irgiiiia,  and  after  their  marri.age  re- 


PORTRAIT  AND  P.IOGRAPHICAL  RE^'1EW. 


155 


moved  to  Tennessee,  in  which  State  the  father  de- 
parted this  life.  Our  subject  grew  to  man's  estate 
in  the  place  of  his  birth,  and  resided  witli  his 
grandfather  until  he  was  old  enough  to  be  of  as- 
sistance in  supporting  his  mother.  He  early  learned 
the  tailor's  trade  and  also  the  miller's  and  worked  at 
various  occupations  until  reaching  the  age  of 
twenty-four,  at  vvliich  time  he  wedded  Miss  Mary 
Carr,  the  date  of  the  ceremony  being  November  1, 
1849.  The  lady  was  born  in  Watson,  Tenn.,  April 
25,  1825,  her  jiarents  being  natives  of  the  Old  Do- 
mmion  and  honored  settlers  of  Tennessee.  After 
removing  to  that  State  the  father  engaged  in  the 
occupation  of  farming,  which  he  followed  until 
his  death  in  1867.  He  was  an  honored  citizen  and 
reared  his  family  of  eight  children  in  the  fear  of 
C4od  and  the  love  of  their  fellow-men. 

At  once  after  his  marriage,  Mr.  Breedlove 
started  with  his  wife  to  Illinois,  making  the  jour- 
nej^  by  boat  and  landing  at  Golconda  November 
11,  1849,  coming  by  way  of  the  Cumberland  and 
Ohio  Rivers.  They  commenced  in  an  humble  wa}- 
upon  a  farm  of  eighty  acres,  which  our  subject 
took  from  the  Government  and  for  which  he  paid 
11.25  per  acre.  It  was  heavily  timbered,  and  for 
raanj'  years  it  took  all  of  his  time  and  strength  to 
clear  the  place  and  make  it  suitable  for  general 
farming.  He  built  a  log  house  and  there  the 
happy  couple  commenced  housekeeping  in  frugal 
style.  The  years  that  followed,  in  spite  of  the  pri- 
vations, were  among  the  most  pleasant  of  then- 
lives,  as  the}'  were  young,  full  of  hope,  and  had 
bright  visions  of  the  future  before  them.  Mr. 
Breedlove  was  industrious  and  saving,  and  event- 
ually added  more  land  to  his  farm,  owning  at  the 
time  of  his  death  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
.acres  on  section  31,  township  13,  range  6,  which 
his  widow  and  children  are  novv  engaged  in  carry- 
ing on. 

The  wife  of  our  subject  has  shown  that  she  is 
possessed  of  unusual  business  tact  and  ability,  and 
like  her  husband  had  many  dilliculties  to  overcome 
during  her  early  life.  Her  educational  privileges 
were  limited  to  the  old-fashioned  schoolhouse,  the 
furnishings  of  vvhich  were  of  the  most  primitive 
description.  When  slie  first  came  to  Illinois  the 
country  w.as  very  wild,  and  game  of  various  kinds. 


deer,  wolves,  wild  turkeys,  etc.,  were  numerous. 
■  With  fortitude  and  courage  she  assisted  her  hus- 
band in  all  his  enterprises,  cheering  him  onward, 
and  together  they  climbed  the  hill  leading  to  suc- 
cess. A  great  deal  is  said  of  the  heroic  and  hardy 
men  who  cleared  the  wilderness  and  did  so  much 
in  founding  the  superstructure  of  prosperitj'  on 
which  the  now  prosperous  and  well-cultivated 
counties  of  this  great  commonwealth  are  placed, 
but  truly  the  worthy  wives  wlio  shared  their  joys 
and  sorrows  are  entitled  to  more  recognition  than 
is  generally  accorded  them.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Breed- 
love  were  blessed  with  a  family  of  seven  children, 
four  of  whom  are  living.  They  are  John,  Martha, 
Ellen  and  AVilliam.  Mr.  Baker  voted  the  Repub- 
lican ticket  and  was  always  active  and  interested 
in  whatever  affected  his  country's  welfare.  He 
was  called  to  his  final  rest  October  25,  1880,  leav- 
ing a  large  circle  of  friends,  who  will  ever  hold  his 
memory  in  the  fondest  and  highest  esteem.  Mrs. 
Breedlove  is  a  member  of  the  Missionar}'  Baptist 
Church  at  Columbus,  which  her  children  also  at- 
tend. 


JOHN  II.  HODGE.  It  is  with  special  pleasure 
that  we  accord  a  place  in  the  biographical 
record  of  the  worthy  pioneers  and  respected 
^j^j.  citizens  of  Pope  County  to  our  subject,  who 
has  long  been  identified  with  the  prosperity  of 
this  vicinit3^  He  is  a  native  of  the  county,  hav- 
ing been  born  December  18,  18(51,  on  his  father's 
farm  in  township  13.  His  parents  were  William 
S.  and  Harriet  (Taylor)  Hodge,  the  former  a  na- 
tive of  Illinoi-s,  and  the  latter  of  Indiana.  Our 
subject's  paternal  grandfather,  George  Hodge,  was 
born  in  North  Carolina  and  removed  to  Illinois  at 
an  early  d.ay. 

AVilliam  S.  Hodge,  the  fatlier  of  our  subject,  fol- 
lowed agricultural  pursuits  in  township  13,  own- 
ing a  tract  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  located 
on  sections  29,  30  and  31.  He  was  a  valiant  sol- 
dier, having  served  throughout  tlie  Mexican  War 
and  having  loyally  defended  the  Union  in  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion.    In  the  war  with  Mexico  he 


i:u\ 


I'OlM'HAIT  AM)   l!I()(ilJ.VI'III("Al.  |{i;VIK\V. 


was  made  a  Corporal  and  was  one  of  the  number 
tliat  captured  Santa  Aiiim  :it  llie  battle  of  Cerro 
Gordo.  In  the  civil  odiillR-t  lie  was  Captain  of 
Conii)any  K,  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois 
Infantry,  enlisting  in  tlie  early  part  of  the  war 
and  remaining  in  service  until  the  close.  He  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Confederates  and  was  con- 
fined in  Libby  Prison  for  nine  months.  While  in 
action  he  sustained  a  severe  wound  in  the  leg,  from 
the  effects  of  whicli  lie  never  wholly  recovered. 
At  the  close  of  tlic  war  lie  returned  to  Illinois  and 
was  elected  County  Treasurer,  serving  in  that  po- 
sition for  two  terms  and  also  filling  the  position 
of  Sheriff  for  several  terms.  His  last  3'ears  were 
spent  on  his  farm,  wliere  his  death  occurred  Jan- 
uary 8,  1884.  He  possessed  the  honor  and  Iiigh 
esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens  and  neighbors  and 
was  a  thoroughly  representative  man. 

Mr.  Hodge  of  whom  we  write  remained  on  liis 
father's  farm  until  eighteen  years  of  age,  attend- 
ing the  county  schools  and  also  the  best  schools  af- 
forded by  the  town  of  (iolconda.  He  afterward 
attended  the  Northern  Illinois  Normal  State  Uni- 
versity for  one  term,  in  the  year  1889,  and  then 
returned  to  his  farm,  having  since  been  engaged 
in  teaching.  Though  he  purchased  his  father's 
old  farm  on  section  29  and  resides  there  with  liis 
family,  up  to  the  present  time  he  has  never  cared 
to  occupy  himself  with  agricultural  pursuits  very 
extensivel^v,  preferring  rather  the  more  intellectual 
field.  He  has  been  verj-  successful  as  a  teacher, 
his  (irst  term  being  at  a  place  called  Ridgway,  in 
Gallatin  County,  but  the  rest  of  his  time  having 
been  passed  in  this  county.  He  is  now  the  prin- 
cipal of  a  school  in  Columbus,  Brownfield  Town- 
ship. 

March  30,  188G,  Mr.  Ilodge  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  INIiss  Melissa  Steagall,  who  was  born  in 
Tennessee  September  29,  1862,  and  whose  parents 
are  also  natives  of  that  State.  The  latter  are 
prominent  and  respected  citizens  of  this  locality 
and  their  biographies  appear  on  another  page  of 
this  work.  The  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hodge  has 
been  blessed  with  one  son,  Albert  Clare.  The  parents 
are  both  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Churcli  and 
are  active  in  church  work.  Our  subject  holds 
membership  with  Golconda  Lodge  No.  131,  A.  F. 


<fe  A.  M.,  and  as  regards  politics  is  a  stanch  i;»  pub- 
lican,  as  was  his  father  before  him.  In  tliis 
county  and  district  where  he  was  l)()rn  and  has 
passed  all  his  years,  he  is  necessarily  better  known 
than  elsewhere,  and  by  tliose  friends  and  neigh- 
bors who  have  known  him  from  childhood  he  is 
held  in  high  regard  as  a  man  of  genuine  worth 
and  honorable  character.  Though  3'oung,  he  has 
already  acquired  a  good  reputation  for  business 
ability  and  has  shown  exceptional  fitness  for  the 
particular  line  of  work  which  he  has  chosen  as  his 
field. 


-I- 


-^^- 


^AMKS  CARD,  a  blacksmith  at  ^■ienna,  is 
worth}'  of  honor  as  an  adopted  citizen  of 
this  country,  who  served  her  with  tlie  fidelitv 
and  patriotism  of  a  native-born  son  of  the 
soil  when  the  great  Civil  War  threatened  disunion 
and  disaster.  He  is  of  Irish  birth,  born  in  County 
Down  on  the  18th  of  February,  1832.  His  fatiier, 
William  Card,  was  also  a  native  of  that  county, 
and  was  a  son  of  John  Card,  who  was  born  in 
Scotland,  and  at  some  period  of  his  life  crossed 
over  to  Ireland  and  spent  his  last  years  in  County 
Down. 

The  father  of  our  subject  learned  tlie  trade  of  a 
wagon  and  carriage  maker,  and  conducted  busi- 
ness in  that  line  at  Banbridge,  County  Down,  his 
entire  life  being  passed  in  that  county.  The  maiden 
name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject  was  Margaret 
Hutchison, a  native  of  Count}'  Down  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  Hutchison,  who  was  a  farmer  in 
that  county,  of  which  he  is  supposed  to  have  been 
a  life-long  resident.  Tlie  parents  of  our  subject 
were  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
were  strong  in  the  faith.  The  father  was  twice 
married.  He  had  six  children  by  the  first  mar- 
riage: John,  Mary  A.,  Jane,  Martha,  Eliza  and 
William.  By  the  second  marriage  there  were  four 
children  born:  James,  Ellen,  Sarah  and  Margaret. 
All  came  to  this  countiy  but  Mary,  Martha  antl 
Margaret,  who  never  left  their  native  land. 

Our  subject  was  educated  in  his  native  county, 
and  at   the  age  of  sixteen   the  stalwart,  sturdy. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


157 


self-reliant  lad  bade  farewell  to  the  land  of  his 
birth  to  cross  the  waters  and  find  a  new  home  in 
America.  He  accompanied  his  brother  William  on 
the  ever-memorable  journey',  and  April  4  they 
sailed  from  Belfast  in  a  ship  bound  for  New  York, 
where  the^"  landed  in  safety  after  a  long  voj'age 
of  fort^'-nine  days.  He  made  his  way  to  Essex 
County,  in  that  State,  and  served  an  apprentice- 
ship to  learn  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith.  In  1851 
he  went  to  Wisconsin,  going  b}'  team  to  Buffalo, 
and  thence  by  the  lakes  to  Sheboygan,  whence  he 
was  conveyed  by  team  to  Columbia,  where  he 
worked  at  his  trade  about  five  months.  Return- 
ing Eastward,  he  spent  six  months  at  his  trade  in 
Potter  County',  Pa.,  and  then  took  up  his  residence 
in  Cincinnati,  where  he  was  similarlj'  employed 
until  the  war  broke  out. 

Our  subject  was  among  the  first  to  respond  to 
the  call  for  troops  to  defend  the  Stars  and  Stripes, 
and  was  enrolled  as  a  member  of  Company  H, 
Fifth  Ohio  Infantry,  which  was  mustered  in  for 
a  period  of  three  months.  Before  the  term  of  en- 
listment had  expired  he  had  re-enlisted  for  three 
years,  and  right  well  did  he  fight  whenever  his 
regiment  had  an  encounter  with  the  enem3%  prov- 
ing himself  to  be  a  cool,  courageous  and  capable 
soldier.  He  displayed  especial  valor  in  the  liotly 
contested  battles  of  Winchester  and  Antietam, 
where  he  acted  as  color  guard.  At  the  former 
place  seven  of  the  nine  men  who  one  after  the 
other  bore  the  colors  of  the  regiment  were  killed 
or  severelj'  wounded,  and  our  subject  was  wounded 
in  the  left  hand  on  that  memorable  day,  March 
23,1862.  At  Antietam,  on  the  17th  of  the  fol- 
lowing vSeptember,  the  color-bearer  fell,  and  Mr. 
Card  immediately  picked  up  the  flag,  and  Iiad 
just  started  forward  with  it  when  a  well-directed 
bullet  struck  him  in  the  right  arm  below  the 
elbow,  and  passing  through  the  arm,  came  out 
above  the  elbow.  He  suffered  greatly  on  account 
of  these  wounds,  which  disabled  him  from  further 
service,  and  he  was  honorablj'  discharged  June 
15,  186.3. 

Mr.  Card  remained  in  Cincinnati  after  he  re- 
turned from  the  South  until  1866,  when  he  went 
to  Mt.  Carbon,  in  this  State,  and  for  more  than 
three  months  was    emploj-ed   in   the  shops  of  the 


Mt.  Carbon  Railway  &  Coal  Company.  His  next 
move  was  to  Cairo,  where  he  remained  until 
1869,  and  since  that  time  has  been  a  resident  of 
this  count3-.  He  did  journey  work  for  a  time, 
but  in  1878  opened  a  smithy  of  his  own  in  Vi- 
enna, and  has  built  up  a  thriving  trade,  which 
brings  him  a  comfortable  income.  His  industry, 
honest3',  and  many  excellent  traits  of  mind  and 
heart  have  gained  him  the  universal  esteem  of  his 
community.  He  is  ti'ue  to  his  citizenship,  and  as 
a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church  is  influential  in 
elevating  the  religious  status  of  the  community. 
Mr.  Card  was  married  in  1878  to  Mrs.  Lucy  Bu- 
sard,  who  was  born  in  Giles  County,  Tenu.  For 
an  account  of  her  parents,  Vincent  and  Elizabeth 
(Rose)  Carter,  see  sketch  of  .lohn  Carter.  Mrs. 
Card  was  very  young  when  her  family  came  to 
Illinois.  She  first  married  .John  Busard,  who  was 
an  Englishman  and  came  to  America  when  a  3'oung 
man.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Sixtieth  Illinois 
Infantry  during  the  war,  and  died  from  the  effects 
of  wounds  received  in  battle.  Mrs.  Card  is  an 
earnest  and  consistent  member  of  the  same  church 
with  which  her  husband  is  identified.  Their  home 
is  blessed  with  a  daughter.  Lulu. 


iHOMAS  MoGOWN,  part  proprietor  with  J. 
E.  Lane  of  the  People's  Roller  Mill  at 
Golconda,  enjoj^s  a  high  standing  among 
the  substantial  and  wide-awake  business  men  of 
his  native  county.  He  is  a  son  of  one  who  was  a 
brave  and  faithful  soldier  in  the  late  war,  sacri- 
ficing himself  on  the  altar  of  his  country,  and  our 
subject,  inspired  by  the  patriotic  example  of  his 
father,  also  went  into  the  arm^-  though  a  mere  boy, 
and  fighting  side  by  side  with  his  elders,  men  old 
in  service,  won  a  military  record  of  which  he  and 
his  friends  may  well  be  proud. 

Mr.  McGown  was  born  at  Golconda,  August  14, 
1850.  His  father  was  Thomas  McGown,  who  was 
a  native  of  Logan  County,  Ky.,  and  was  reared 
and  educated  in  the  State  of  his  birth.  He  was 
married  at  South  Union,  and  bringing  his  bride  to 


I 


158 


PORTRAIT  AND   Bl()(  iRAl'llICAI.   Ri;\  ll'.W. 


Illinois  with  :i  team,  lie  fulUnved  his  linde  as  a 
cai'ijenter  in  Saline  County  until  1849.  in  that 
year  he  came  to  Golconda  and  was  actively  en- 
gaged at  his  occupation  until  he  laid  aside  his 
work  to  enlist  in  18G1,  to  do  his  duty  as  a  citizen 
at  the  front  while  the  rebellion  threatened  dis- 
honor and  ruin  to  this  Government.  He  became 
a  member  of  the  Twenty-ninth  Illinois  Infantry, 
and  served  until  after  the  battle  of  Pittsburg  Land- 
ing, when  he  was  discharged  on  account  of  disa- 
bility arising  from  disease  contracted  by  exposure 
and  the  severe  hardships  of  army  life.  He  never 
recovered,  but  lingered  until  1868,  and  then  passed 
away.  His  widow,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
Mary  A.  INIay,  and  was  born  in  Kentucky,  now 
lives  with  her  daughter  in  Chicago. 

He  of  whom  these  lines  are  principally  written 
passed  his  boyhood  in  the  city  of  his  birth,  and 
was  educated  in  its  schools.  He  was  very  young 
when  he  commenced  to  assist  his  father  at  the  car- 
penter's trade.  In  1864,  at  the  age  of  thirteen, 
the  boy  left  his  tools  to  enlist  as  a  drummer  in 
Company  K,  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-Sixth  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  and  went  to  the  field  with  his  regi- 
ment. He  soon  dropped  the  drumsticks  to  shoulder 
a  rifle  in  the  ranks  and  displayed  no  mean  ability 
as  a  soldier.  His  term  of  enlistment  expired  in 
six  months,  and  he  was  honorably  discharged. 

Returning  home  after  his  experience  of  army 
life,  our  young  hero  quietly  resumed  his  trade  and 
carried  it  on  until  1873  in  this  vicinity,  when 
he  went  to  St.  Louis  to  pursue  the  same  calling 
there.  At  the  end  of  two  years'  residence  in  that 
city,  he  came  back  to  Golconda,  and,  in  company 
with  his  brother,  published  the  Herald  the  ensuing 
six  years.  Selling  his  interest  in  that  paper,  his 
next  venture  was  in  the  grocery  business,  which 
he  conducted  some  nine  ye.ars.  He  sold  out  then 
in  order  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  manufacture 
of  flour,  buying  of  J.  E.  Lane  a  half-interest  in 
the  People's  Roller  Mill,  and  he  has  been  asso- 
ciated with  that  gentleman  since  in  the  operation 
of  the  mill,  which  is  one  of  the  best  equipped  and 
managed  in  the  count}'.  Our  subject  stands  well 
with  his  fellow-citizens,  who  have  known  him  as 
l)oy  and  man,  and  have  ever  found  him  to  be 
frank,  straightforward   ami   fair   in    his  dealings. 


and  considerate  and  kindly  in  his  intercourse  with 
others.  In  politics,  he  is  a  decided  Republican. 
In  his  social  relations,  he  is  a  member  of  Golconda 
Lodge  No.  392,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  he  also  belongs  to 
Raum  Post  No.  282,  G.  A.  R. 

Mr.  McGown  was  married  in  March,  1876,  to 
Miss  Hannah  E.,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  William 
Vance  Eldredge,  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  the 
county,  and  an  ex-member  of  the  State  Legisla- 
ture, and  also  ex-County  Judge.  Mrs.  INIcGown 
is  a  most  estimable  lad^-,  who  understands  well 
how  to  make  her  home  cozy  and  attractive,  and 
she  is  a  devoted  Christian  and  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Five  children  have  been 
born  to  her  and  her  husband:  Amy,  Maud,  Hazel, 
Thomas  H.  and  William  P. 

Mrs.  McGown 's  father  was  born  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  October  28,  1831,  and  his  father, 
Anthony  H.  Eldredge,  was  a  native  of  the  same 
city.  The  latter  was  a  son  of  Phineas  Eldredge, 
who  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  de- 
scended from  an  old  Welsh  family.  Anthony  El- 
dredge followed  the  sea  several  j-ears  in  the  mer- 
chant service.  In  1840  he  located  in  New  Orleans, 
and  did  business  there  as  a  contractor  for  a  time, 
and  later  was  wharf-master  and  commission  dealer. 
In  1861  he' came  to  Illinois  to  spend  his  declining 
years,  and  died  in  Jersey  County  at  the  age  of 
ninety-four.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Susanna  Vance.  She  was  born  in  Philadelphia, 
and  died  in  Jersey  County  at  the  age  of  eightj-- 
five. 

The  Hon.  William  Eldredge  was  educated  in  the 
schools  of  New  Orleans,  and  was  a  resident  of  that 
city  until  1848,  when  he  came  to  Illinois  to  t.ake 
possession  of  land  his  father  had  previousl}'  bought. 
He  farmed  until  1852,  and  then  went  to  Dilke  in 
the  same  county,  where  he  engaged  in  mercantile 
business  three  j'ears.  His  next  move  was  to 
Brighton,  Macoupin  County,  and  he  practiced  law 
in  that  locality  two  or  three  years.  In  1858  he 
entered  the  ministry,  joining  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Conference,  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  four 
J'ears  later  was  advanced  to  the  position  of  Elder 
at  Mt.  Carmel.  In  1862  he  was  appointed  Chap- 
lain of  the  Fifty-sixth  Illinois  Regiment,  and  was 
with  it  in  :ill  its  campaigns  and  battles  until  his 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW, 


159 


discharge  in  February,  1865,  acting  well  his  part 

as  counselor  and  spiritual  guide  to  the  soldiers, 
and  cheering  and  encouraging  tliem  in  the  per- 
formance of  their  duty. 

Upon  his  return  from  the  scenes  of  war.  Mr.  El- 
dredge  accepted  the  position  of  Principal  of  the 
schools  of  Golconda.  In  1868  he  resumed  the 
practice  of  law,  and  has  continued  in  it  since.  He 
has  been  prominent  in  public  life,  serving  as 
Count}'  Clerk  and  Judge  of  Probate,  and  as  before 
mentioned,  represented  his  district  in  the  State 
Legislature.  He  has  been  twice  married.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  first  wife,  mother  of  Mrs. 
Eldredge,  was  Mary  Fuller.  She  departed  this 
life  in   1873. 


i3n^^i'^i^i 


Li^«)HOMAS  J.  RENTFRO,  who  is  numbered 
,//S^|  among  the  farmers  whose  industry  and  prac- 
V^^'  tical  knowledge  of  farming  have  so  largely 
contributed  to  the  growth  of  Johnson  Count}%  is 
comfortably  situated  on  his  farm  on  section  28, 
Grantsburg  Township.  He  was  born  on  the  6th  of 
March,  1839,  in  one  of  the  earl}^  pioneer  homes  in 
that  township,  a  son  of  William  S.  Rentfro,  who  was 
a  native  of  Tennessee.  His  father's  education  was 
conducted  in  subscription  schools,  which  he  con- 
not  attend  very  often,  however,  as  his  parents 
were  poor.  They  came  to  this  State  prior  to  1840, 
making  the  journey  bj'  water,  and  were  among 
the  first  settlers  of  Grantsburg  Township,  locating 
on  a  heavily  timbered  tract  of  land  on  section  28, 
building  a  rude  cabin  of  logs  for  a  dwelling.  In 
a  short  time  a  better  house  was  built  of  timber 
sawed  with  a  whipsaw.  The  trees  that  were  not 
used  for  lumber  or  fence-rails  were  burned  to  get 
them  out  of  the  wa}'.  The  family  led  a  primitive 
life,  subsisting  mostly  on  home  products,  varied 
by  game,  such  as  deer  and  wild  turkeys,  which  were 
plentiful,  and  even  bears  and  wolves  prowled  in 
the  forests,  and  a  panther  was  seen  occasional!}'. 
There  were  no  schools,  churches  or  mills  near,  and 
settlements  were  few  and  scatteriug.     The  orrancl- 


father  of  our  subject  built  the  first  horse-power 
mill  for  grinding  corn  in  his  neighborhood. 

William  Rentfro  lived  with  his  parents,  helping 
tlicm  in  their  pioneer  task  of  hewing  out  a  farm 
from  the  forests,  until  he  was  twenty-one,  and 
then  began  his  independent  career,  and  as  an 
initial  step  towards  the  making  of  a  home,  selec- 
ted a  wife  in  the  person  of  Miss  Ruth  Blanton,  who 
was  from  Tennessee,  where  her  parents  lived  and 
died.  She  was  a  true  helpmate  in  every  sense  of 
the  word,  and  walked  faitli fully  by  his  side  until 
her  untimely  death  parted  them  in  1866.  He  sur- 
vived her  until  1876,  continuing  on  the  old  place 
until  the  last,  and  thus  passed  awa}'  one  who  had 
witnessed  much  of  the  growth  of  the  county,  and 
iiad  aided  in  its  development  from  tiie  wilderness. 
His  last  resting-place  is  on  land  which  was  once 
his  own.  He  and  his  good  wife  reared  a  family  of 
nine  children,  namely:  Stephen  C,  a  resident  of 
Metropolis;  William  B.,  deceased;  Hannah  B., 
widow  of  B.  Pyland;  F.  A.,  a  resident  of  Grants- 
burg; Thomas  J.;  Sarah  Jane,  deceased;  Rufus 
J.,  a  resident  of  Texas;  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Robert 
Fitch,  who  lives  on  the  old  home  place;  and  R. 
Taben,  deceased. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  educated  in 
subscription  sciiools,  and  was  well  trained  to  farm 
work  on  the  old  farm,  where  he  remained,  assisting 
in  its  cultivation,  until  he  was  nearly  thirty  years 
old.  He  then  married  Miss  Nancy  A.  Howell,  a 
native  of  Johnson  Count}',  her  people  being  among 
its  early  settlers,  and  to  her  active  co-operation  he 
is  much  indebted  for  the  prosperit}'  that  he  enjoys. 
They  were  blessed  with  the  following  children: 
Rutha  Jane,  deceased;  William  S.,  a  resident  of 
Johnson  County;  Joshua  A.,  at  home  with  his 
parents;  Nellie  and  Donnie,  deceased;  Sidne}' B., 
Charlie,  Zell  and  Lura,  at  home  with  their  parents. 
The  children  are  being  given  good  educations 
in  the  public  schools,  which  they  attend  regularly. 

Wliile  still  living  with  his  father,  Mr.  Rentfro 
had  succeeded  in  getting  some  land  for  himself, 
and  at  the  time  of  his  marriage,  he  built  a  little 
log  cabin  upon  it,  in  which  he  and  his  bride  began 
life  together.  He  has  improved  the  place  greatly, 
has  the  land  in  a  good  state  of  tillage,  has  put  up 
necessar}'  buildings,  and  tiie    primitive    log   cabin 


Ifid 


I'Olil'U.MT  AM)    r.KHiKAl'lllCAI.  KFAIKW. 


has  given  \>\:u'v  U>  :i  l)oUei'  :ui(l  mure  commodious 
ilwcUing.  In  politics,  our  subject  is  a  Democrat, 
lie  is  faithful  in  the  performance  of  his  duties  as 
a  man  and  a  citizen,  is  a  kind  neighbor,  and  is  true 
in  his  relations  as  a  husband  and  father. 


LfelLLIAM  HEN 

^^^    County,  is  one 


?ILLIAM  HENRY  THOMAS,  a  resident  of 
County  Clerk  of  Johnson 
one  of  the  veterans  of  the  Civil 
War,  in  which  he  took  part  when  he  was  but  a 
mere  _vouth,  and  throughout  his  entire  career  he  has 
honored  the  citizenship  of  this  his  native  countj' 
both  in  public  and  in  private  life.  He  was  born 
October  28, 1845,  in  Simpson  Precinct,  of  which  his 
father,  Washington  G.  Thomas,  was  an  early 
settler. 

Washington  Thomas  was  born  in  Tennessee,  and 
was  a  son  of  Henry  Thomas,  who  was  also  a  native 
of  that  State,  coming  from  its  earliest  pioneer  fam- 
ilies. He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  in  time 
he  too  became  a  pioneer,  coming  to  Illinois  in  1832, 
making  the  jouruey  with  teams,  and  at  first  locat- 
ting  in  the  wilderness  in  what  is  now  Burnside 
Precinct.  A  few  years  later  he  removed  to  Simp- 
son Precinct,  where  he  bought  land,  which  in  time 
he  developed  into  a  good  farm.  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  War,  our  subject's  grandfather,  Henry 
Thomas,  was  still  living  on  the  old  homestead,  but 
his  patriotism  was  aroused  at  his  country's  peril, 
and  he  left  his  comforts  and  all  that  he  lield  dear 
to  give  his  services  to  the  Government.  He  went  to 
Peoria  and  joined  the  Fourteenth  Illinois  Cavalry. 
The  infirmities  of  age  were  upon  him,  however,  and 
he  was  soon  discharged  on  account  of  disabilit\'. 
He  returned  to  Johnson  County  and  died  here  in 
1885,  full  of  years. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  thirteen  years  old 
when  he  came  to  Illinois  with  his  parents.  He 
grew  to  a  stalwart  manhood  amid  pioneer  sur- 
roundings, and  in  due  time  took  unto  himself  a 
wife  in  tlie  person  of  Mary  Sim|)son,  a  nntivc  of 


Johnson  County  and  a  daughter  of  William  Siin|)- 
son,  one  of  its  pioneers.  Mr.  Thomas  took  up  a 
tract  of  Government  land  in  Simpson  Township, 
and  built  thereon  the  log  house  in  which  his  son, 
our  subject,  was  born.  He  improved  his  land,  and 
made  it  his  dwelling-place  until  the  time  of  the 
war,  when  he  sold  it,  and  bought  another  tract  of 
land  in  tlie  same  township,  which  he  still  m.akos 
his  home. 

He  of  whom  we  write  is  one  of  seven  children. 
He  was  given  excellent  advantages  for  obtaining 
a  sound  education,  of  which  he  laid  the  basis  in 
the  district  school,  and  he  subsequently  attended 
the  Southern  Illinois  College,  at  Carbondale.  The 
same  spirit  of  loyal  devotion  to  his  country  that 
had  animated  his  grandfather  found  read}'  echo  in 
the  heart  of  our  subject,  and,  though  he  was  scarcel}^ 
eighteen  years  of  age,  he  too  volunteered  to  assist 
his  fellow-countrymen  in  suppressing  the  rebellion, 
and  on  the  9th  of  December,  1863,  his  name  was 
enrolled  as  a  member  of  Company  G,  Fourteenth 
Illinois  Cavalry.  He  served  steadfastly  until  after 
the  close  of  the  war,  his  regiment  for  the  most  part 
being  on  duty  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Georgia, 
and  his  career  as  a  soldier  rellected  credit  on  his 
native  State.  He  was  honorably  discharged  in  Jul}-, 
1865. 

Returning  to  his  old  home  after  he  left  the  army, 
Mr.  Thomas  soon  began  to  utilize  his  education  b}' 
teaching,  and  was  engaged  in  that  profession  dur- 
ing the  winter  seasons  for  six  years,  occupying  him- 
self the  rest  of  the  year  in  farming.  After  mar- 
riage he  bought  a  farm  in  Simpson  Township,  which 
he  sold  tliree  years  later  in  order  that  he  might  de- 
vote himself  to  mercantile  pursuits,  which  he  fol- 
lowed at  Sanburn  four  years.  He  then  resumed  his 
former  occupation,  buying  a  farm  in  Bloomfield 
Township,  which  he  carried  on  successfully  until 
he  sold  it  in  1891,  at  the  same  time  buying  another 
in  the  same  township. 

Mr.  Thomas  is  well  fitted  both  by  native  ability 
and  education  for  public  otKce,  and  his  fellow-cit- 
izens have  often  called  him  to  fill  responsible  posi- 
tions. He  held  the  offices  of  Township  Clerk  and 
Township  Treasurer  and  Justice  of  the  Peace  in 
his  native  township;  and  in  Bloomfield  Township 
he  has  been  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  School   Di- 


PORTRAIT  AND  IJIOGRAITIICAL  REVIEW. 


161 


rector.  In  1890  he  was  elected  Clerk  of  Johnsou 
County,  and  in  this  position  has  won  a  high  repu- 
tation for  efticieuc_y,  and  is  accounted  one  of  our 
best  otticials.  Our  subject's  war  record  is  com- 
memorated by  his  connection  with  the  Grand  Array 
of  the  Republic  as  a  member  of  Vienna  Post  No. 
221.  Religiously,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  to  which  liis  wife  also  belongs. 
In  politics,  he  was  a  Republican  for  many  years, 
but  he  is  now  identified  with  the  People's  partJ^ 

Mr.  Thomas  was  married  in  1870  to  Miss  Martha 
Adaliue,  daughter  of  William  R.  and  Sidney 
Amanda  (Waters)  Whiteside,  and  a  native  of  Pope 
Count3^  They  have  a  pleasant  home  abounding 
in  comfort  and  cheer}'  hospitality,  and  seven  chil- 
dren have  blessed  their  union:  Charlie  E.,  Willard 
G.,  Orpha  B.,  Fred,  Louis  F.,  Lilian  May  and  Birdie. 


/p^EORGEB.  GILLESPIE,  attorney-at-law  at 
III  J— n  Vienna,  is  one  of  the  younger  members  of 
^^>4  the  legal  frateruitj'  practicing  in  .Johnson 
County  who  has  already  won  distinction  at  the 
Bar,  and  gives  large  promise  of  attaining  eminence 
in  his  profession.  Vienna  is  his  native  city,  and 
June  3,  1863,  the  date  of  his  birth.  lie  is  a  son  of 
Capt.  James  B.  Gillespie,  an  officer  in  the  late  war, 
and  now  a  valued  official  of  the  Government. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  George 
Gillespie,  who  went  from  North  Carolina  to  Ten- 
nessee. James  Gillespie  was  born  in  the  latter 
State,  and  lived  there  on  a  farm  until  he  was  ten 
years  old.  At  that  age  his  grandfather,  Thomas 
Gillespie,  brought  him  to  Joimson  Count}'',  the 
journey  being  made  overland  with  teams,  and  the 
necessary'  articles  were  taken  along  to  enable  the 
little  party  to  camp  by  the  way.  The  grandfather 
was  in  moderate  circumstances,  and  the  little 
grandson  was  given  the  chance  to  obtain  .as  good 
an  education  as  the  schools  of  the  time  afforded. 
Later  in  life  his  keen  powers  of  observation,  and 
shrewd  insight  into  men  and  affairs,  together  with 
extensive    reading,  gained  him  the  reputation  of 


being  one  of  our  best-informed  and  most  en- 
lightened men.  Upon  their  arrival  here  his  grand- 
father had  entered  some  Government  land  in  what 
is  now  Vienna  Township,  and  had  bought  other 
land,  and  the  familj'  took  possession  of  a  primi- 
tive log  cabin,  in  which  they  lived  amid  pioneer 
scenes,  literally  in  the  wilderness,  until  the  death 
of  the  grandfather,  which  occurred  when  Mr. 
Gillespie  was  fifteen  years  old.  He  was  then 
thrown  on  his  own  resources,  and  first  obtained 
work  as  a  clerk  in  the  general  merchandise  store 
of  John  Bain,  and  afterward  acted  in  the  same 
capacity  for  Chapman  &  Hess. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  in  the  employ  of 
the  latter  firm  when  the  Rebellion  broke  out,  and 
he  threw  aside  his  work  and  left  home  and  all 
that  was  dear  to  him  to  take  his  place  among  his 
country's  defenders,  who  were  willing  to  endure 
any  hardship  and  sacrifice,  even  life  itself,  to  pre- 
serve the  honor  and  integrity  of  the  Union.  He 
was  commissioned  First  Lieutenant  of  Company  I, 
One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry, 
and  was  in  the  service  nearly  four  years.  For  gal- 
lant conduct  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Cap- 
tain, and  stood  high  as  an  officer,  who  was  prompt 
in  obejdng  orders;  was  fearless  and  faithful  in  the 
performance  of  his  duty,  although  it  led  him  to 
face  death  in  the  heat  of  more  than  one  hotlj'  con- 
tested battle;  and  was  one  who  inspired  his  men 
with  respect  for  himself  and  devotion  to  the  cause 
for  which  the}'  fought.  At  the  battle  of  Gun- 
town  his  regiment  was  nearly  demolished,  and  he 
was  captured  b}-  the  enemy.  He  was  taken  to  Ma- 
con, Ga.,  and  dui'ing  his  sta}'  in  the  rebel  prison  at 
that  point  he  endured  all  manner  of  sufferings 
and  privations  incident  to  life  within  its  walls. 
He  had  to  live  on  insufficient  rations  of  coarse 
cornmeal,  with  an  occasional  supply  of  beef,  and 
oftentimes  both  meal  and  meat  would  be  unfit  to 
eat.  He  had  to  resort  to  all  sorts  of  expedients  to 
obtain  anything  that  he  wanted,  and  showed  great 
resource  and  ingenuity  at  times.  He  had  no 
writing  materials,  and  wishing  to  communicate 
with  his  wife,  who,  in  her  Northern  home  was 
waiting  anxiousl}'  for  tidings  of  him,  he  secured 
some  rough  brown  wrapping  paper,  and  with  a 
stick  traced  a  letter  upon  it,  using  urine  for  ink. 


162 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   RKMKW. 


When  dry,  the  writing  was  legible,  and  some  of 
the  epistles  so  strang'clj-  written  were  received  and 
are  still  extant. 

After  nine  months'  imprisonment,  C'apt.  Gilles- 
pie was  exchanged  and  subsequently  discharged, 
being  unfit  for  further  service,  and  returned  home 
almost  a  physical  wreck.  He  took  a  trip  to  Kan- 
sas, but  was  not  favorably  impressed  with  the 
country,  and  returning  to  Illinois,  established  him- 
self in  the  general  mercantile  business  at  Goreville, 
and  later  was  similarly  engaged  at  Carbondale, 
Jackson  Count}';  then  in  Moscow,  Union  County; 
and  subsequently  in  Vienna  and  at  Tunnel  Hill, 
where  he  went  in  1871.  From  the  latter  place  he 
removed  to  Elvira  Township,  and  gave  his  atten- 
tion to  farming  there  until  1881,  and  from  tiiat 
time  until  1886  continued  his  agricultural  pur- 
suits in  Burnside  Township.  In  the  year  last  men- 
tioned, he  resumed  the  mercantile  business,  taking 
up  his  residence  at  New  Burnside,  where  he  still 
makes  his  home.  He  has  disposed  of  his  business, 
and  is  at  the  present  time  Government  Deputy 
Revenue  Collector  for  this  district,  his  services  as 
an  army  oflicer  during  the  Civil  AYar  thus  receiv- 
ing merited  acknowledgment  in  a  responsible  posi- 
tion, for  which  he  is  well  fitted. 

Capt.  Gillespie  was  married  in  "\'ienna,  to  Miss 
Mary  Enloe.  Her  father  formerly  lived  in  Massac 
County,  and  was  an  early  settler  and  prominent 
man  of  southern  Illinois.  He  was  a  Representa- 
tive in  the  first  State  Legislature,  was  at  one  time 
Warden  of  the  State  Penitentiary,  when  it  was  at 
Alton,  was  a  leader  in  the  difficulty  between  the 
Flat  Heads  and  Regulators,  in  Massac  Count}',  was 
a  great  politician  and  a  fine  stump  speaker,  and  a 
great  man  in  iiis  day.  Eight  children  were  born 
of  the  union  of  James  B.  Gillespie  and  Mary 
Enloe:  George  B.;  Frank  S.,  agent  for  a  Chicago 
firm  in  the  lumber  business  at  Metropolis;  James 
B.,  with  Holladaj'  Bros.,  grain  mcrcliants  at  Cairo; 
William,  a  resident  of  Brooklyn,  Massac  County, 
and  inspector  on  the  railway;  Fannie  A.,  Robert 
and  Thomas,  who  are  at  home  with  their  parents; 
and  Henry  H.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  ten  months. 

George  B.  Gillespie  received  a  good  education 
in  the  village  sciiools  of  A'ienna,  supplemented  by 
one  term  at  the  High   School  at  Metropolis.     He 


worked  on  his  father's  farm  when  not  in  school, 
and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  entered  upon  a  short 
career  as  a  school  teacher  at  Pleasant  Grove.  In 
1884  he  went  into  the  office  of  County  Clerk  as 
Deput}',  when  F.  M.  Jones  was  Clerk  of  the 
county.  He  worked  under  him  for  eighteen 
months,  gaining  a  complete  insight  into  the  busi- 
ness of  the  office,  and  when  his  superior  officer 
died,  he  was  appointed  to  fill  his  place  until  the 
next  election,  when  James  W.  Gore  was  chosen  for 
the  position.  He  had  discharged  the  onerous  du- 
ties thus  incumbent  upon  him  in  a  very  creditable 
manner,  and  left  tlie  affairs  of  the  office  in  perfect 
order.  He  served  under  his  new  chief  some  five 
months.  He  had  in  the  meantime  given  some  at- 
tention to  reading  law,  having  never  abandoned 
the  habit  of  studying  whenever  his  duties  permit- 
ted, and  being  peculiarl}'  drawn  to  jurisprudence. 
When  he  left  the  Count}'  Clerk's  office  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  A.  K.  Vickers,  and  under 
his  competent  instruction  went  through  a  regu- 
lar course  of  reading  in  connection  with  the  work 
of  tiie  office.  His  partnership  with  Mr.  Vickers 
was  dissolved  when  the  latter  was  elected  to  the 
Legislature,  and  our  subject  entered  the  law  school 
at  Bloomington.  After  a  year's  hard  study,  he 
was  graduated  June  15,  1887,  at  the  head  of  his 
class,  carrying  away  the  honors  of  the  first  prize 
for  scholarship. 

Returning  to  Vienna  after  his  graduation,  our 
subject,  who  had  been  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  Maj', 
1887,  again  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Vick- 
ers, under  the  firm  name  of  Vickers  &  Gillespie, 
and  they  continued  together  until  January,  1890. 
Mr.  Gillespie  then  entered  into  partnership  with  L. 
O.  Whitnell,  and  the_v  are  a  strong  law  firm,enjo3'- 
ing  an  extensive  patronage.  He  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Etta  Oliver,  a  native  of  Johnson  County, 
November  19,  1890.  They  have  a  charming  home, 
cozj',  cheerful  and  attractive,  and  a  little  son, 
whom  they  have  named  Alfred,  completes  their 
household  circle. 

Our  subject  has  devoted  himself  strictly  to  his 
business,  and  has  not  pushed  himself  forward  in 
the  political  field,  preferring  the  practice  of  his 
chosen  profession  to  |niblic  honors,  Init  his  fellow- 
citizens  knowing  full  well    his  splendid   (pialifica- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


163 


tioiis,  elected  him  in  1892  to  the  important  office 
of  State's  Attorney.  He  is  a  clear  thinker,  a  logi- 
cal and  cogent  reasoner,  handles  his  cases  in  court 
with  skill  and  never  failing  self-possession,  and 
displaj-s  considerable  oratorical  power  in  his  pre- 
sentation of  his  client's  interests.  His  reputation 
as  a  good  speaker  caused  his  election  to  represent 
the  Republicans  in  the  joint  debate  August  1, 
1892,  between  the  various  political  parties,  includ- 
ing the  Prohibitionists  and  Populists,  in  which 
each  debater  gave  his  reason  for  his  faith.  Mr. 
Gillespie's  address  upon  "Why  I  am  a  Repub- 
lican" was  conceded  by  all,  irrespective  of  party, 
to  be  a  masterl}'  effort,  couched  in  terse,  strong 
language,  displaying  a  marvelous  knowledge  of 
politics  in  general,  containing  many  telling  points 
and  a  solid  arra}-  of  facts,  stated  candidly  and  im- 
passionately.  Mr.  Gillespie's  fellow-Republicans 
were  highly  pleased  with  his  address,  which  was 
copied  in  the  newspapers,  and  he  is  to  be  con- 
gratulated as  an  able  exponent  of  the  Republican 
doctrines. 


e^HiH^i 


l^RANCIS  B.  THACKER,  Circuit  Clerk  and 

f{s^  Recorder  of  Johnson  Count}',  is  a  native 
of  this  section  of  the  counlrj%  and  has 
risen  to  be  one  of  its  most  prominent  citizens  and 
valued  public  officials  solelj^  through  the  force  of 
natural  ability  and  personal  merit.  He  was  born 
in  Bloomfield  Township  August  7,  1841,  and  is  a 
son  of  J.  Samson  Tliacker,  who  was  born  in  Stew- 
art Count}',  Tenn.  He  in  turn  was  a  son  of  Na- 
than Thacker,  who  was  a  farmer  and  spent  his  last 
years  in  Tennessee.  After  his  death  his  widow 
courageously  set  out  to  6nd  a  new  home  in  the 
wilds  of  Illinois  for  herself  and  children,  who  ac- 
companied her  on  the  tiresome  journey  to  this 
county,  the  removal  being  made  with  teams.  The 
family  settled  among  the  pioneers  of  Johnson 
Count}-,  and  here  the  father  of  our  subject,  who 
was  but  eight  or  ten  years  old  at  the  time  of  the 
migration,  grew  up  on  a  farm,  and  earl\-  became  a 


farmer  on  his  own  account.  He  bought  a  tract  of 
Government  land  in  Bloomfield  Township  after  he 
attained  manhood,  and  in  the  bus}'  years  that  fol- 
lowed devoted  himself  untiringly  to  the  hard  task 
of  developing  the  farm  which  remained  his  home 
until  his  death.  He  was  greatly  helped  in  his 
work  by  the  active  and  practical  assistance  of  his 
wife,  who  survives  at  a  venerable  age.  She  was 
Sarah  Bain  in  her  maiden  days,  and  was  born  in 
North  Carolina  in  November,  1814.  She  is  the 
mother  of  five  children:  Francis  B.,  Samson  Pleas- 
ant, Martha  F.,  Charles  A.  and  Green  N. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  review  was 
reared  and  educated  in  this,  his  native  county.  He 
resided  with  his  mother  until  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war,  and  then  the  opening  years  of  his  man- 
hood were  devoted  to  the  cause  of  his  country. 
He  was  among  the  first  to  respond  to  the  call  of 
the  Government  for  troops,  and  was  but  twenty 
years  of  age  when  he  enlisted,  August  22,  1861,  in 
Company  D,  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  which 
was  commanded  by  John  A.  Logan.  He  did 
faithful  service  during  the  long  and  dreary  years 
that  followed,  displaying  endurance,  fortitude, 
manliness  and  true  courage  on  all  occasions  that 
called  for  these  soldierly  qualities,  and  he  did  his 
share  of  fighting  in  the  various  engagements  in 
which  his  regiment  took  part.  He  was  present  at 
the  siege  of  Corinth,  at  the  storming  and  capture 
of  Ft.  Donelson,  at  the  battles  of  Burnt  Bridge, 
Port  Gibson,  Jackson,  Champion  Hills,  and  the 
siege  and  capture  of  Vicksburg.  His  regiment 
joined  Sherman's  command  at  Big  Shanty,  Ga., 
and  helped  to  take  Atlanta,  won  a  gallant  record 
at  Jonesborough,  accompanied  the  victorious  army 
to  the  sea,  and  thence  on  to  Washington  by  the 
way  of  the  Carolinas  and  Richmond,  and  in  the 
Capitol  City  participated  in  the  Grand  Review  that 
marked  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  finally  hon- 
orably discharged  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  July  9,  1865. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  the  battlefields  of  the 
South,  Mr.  Thacker  bought  a  steam  sawmill  in  the 
western  part  of  the  county,  which  he  operated  two 
years.  He  then  bought  a  farm  in  Bloomfield 
Township,  and  has  devoted  himself  principally  to 
farming  ever  since,  although  he  has  at  two  differ- 
ent times   ensjaged    in    the  lumber  business.     His 


164 


rORTIlATT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


energies  have  by  no  means,  however,  been  con- 
fined to  the  performance  of  private  duties,  but 
have  in  part  been  directed  in  public  channels,  as 
he  has  held  two  of  the  most  important  couiity 
oflices.  In  1877  he  was  elected  County  Treasurer, 
was  re-elected  in  1879,  and  served  five  years,  and 
the  financial  affairs  of  the  county  nourished  under 
his  i)rudcnt  and  wise  administration.  In  1888  he 
was  elected  Circuit  Clerk  and  Recorder  for  John- 
son County  for  a  terra  of  four  years,  and  he  brings 
to  his  work  the  same  acumen,  business  dispatch 
and  unalloyed  integrity  that  have  always  charac- 
terized him,  whether  in  public  or  In  private  life. 
In  politics  he  is  a  true  Republican,  standing  by  his 
party  whether  defeat  or  victory  sits  on  its  ban- 
ners, lie  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  Geli. 
Grant.  Socially,  ho  is  a  member  of  Vienna  Lodge 
No.  150,  A.  F.  it  A.  M.;  of  Vienna  Lodge,  K.  P.; 
and  of  Vienna  Post  No.  221,  G.  A.  R. 

Mr.  Thaeker  was  married  in  1866  to  Miss  Nancy 
C,  a  daughter  of  Owen  Peterson,  and  a  native  of 
Cache  Township.  Their  pleasant  married  life  has 
brought  to  them  six  children,  named  as  follows: 
Fannie,  Harry,  Samuel,  Kate,  Nola  and  Charlie. 


♦^^1 


mMis 


1^^- 


^  OIIN  C.  MACKEV,  who  resides  on  his  farm 
on  section  31,  Bloomfield  Township,  Johu- 
^^^  son  County,  is  not  only  a  competent  farmer, 
^^f)  but  he  is  a  contractor  and  builder  of  high 
repute  and  conducts  an  extensive  business  in  that 
line.  Alabama  is  his  native  State,  and  he  was  born 
August  12,  1847.  His  father  was  James  L.  Mackey, 
who  was  born,  reared  and  married  in  South  Caro- 
lina, where  lie  had  been  brought  up  on  a  farm. 
His  parents  removed  to  Tennessee,  w-hcre  the 
grandfather  of  our  subject  continued  his  occui)a- 
tion  as  a  farmer,  .and  in  due  time  died. 

James  Mackey  obtained  a  fair  education  in  the 
schools  of  his  d.a^'.  He  married  Sarah  Jane  Duran, 
who  was  al.so  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  and  they 
subsequently  left  their  native  State,  and  at  differ- 
ent times  lived  in  Alal)ama,  ^Nlississipiii   and  Ten- 


nessee. From  the  latter  State  they  came  to  this 
in  the  fall  of  1861,  coming  hither  by  rail.  Mr. 
Mackey  had  but  little  means  at  that  time,  and 
first  settled  on  rented  land  in  Union  Count}'.  Af- 
ter awhile  he  bought  railroad  land,  which  he  sold 
after  living  on  it  for  a  time  and  improving  it,  and 
his  next  and  last  move  was  to  Texas,  where  he 
died,  his  wife  also  d3'ing  there  in  the  same  year. 
They  were  the  parents  of  seven  children:  Rebecca, 
who  is  married  and  lives  in  Texas;  William,  who 
is  a  dairy  farmer  in  Texas;  James  T.,  a  i-esident  of 
Dallas,  Tex.;  John  C;  Louis  C,  now  in  Dallas, 
Tex.;  Monroe,  also  in  Dallas;  and  Elizabeth,  the 
wife  of  John  Benson,  of  Dongola,  Union  County. 

John  C.  Mackey  is  the  fourth  child  of  the  fam- 
ily. Brought  up  on  a  farm,  he  early  became  ac- 
customed to  work.  lie  ap|)lied  himself  diligently 
to  his  books  and  made  the  most  of  his  opportuni- 
ties to  obtain  an  education  in  the  common  schools. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen,  the  sturdy  self-reliant 
youth  began  life  in  earnest,  with  good  habits, 
health,  strength  and  a  well-balanced  mind  for  cap- 
ital. He  had  a  decided  taste  for  mechanics,  was 
very  skillful  in  handling  tools,  and  he  naturally 
turned  his  attention  to  the  trade  of  a  carpenter, 
and  in  due  time  m.astered  every  detail  of  the  call- 
ing. He  then  spent  some  time  farming  on  some 
land  he  owned  in  Union  County,  which  he  finally 
sold, and  then  bought  his  present  farm  of  eighty- 
five  acres  in  Bloomfield  Township.  This  is  supplied 
with  ample  improvements,  its  fields  are  well  tilled, 
and  the  whole  place  shows  the  best  of  care.  Be- 
sides superintending  his  farm,  Mr.  Mackey  eon- 
ducts  an  extensive  business  at  Vienna  as  a  builder, 
has  erected  many  of  the  most  substantial  houses 
in  that  village  and  in  the  countj',  and  always  h.as 
all  the  contracts  he  cares  to  fill.  They  are  always 
carried  out  to  the  letter,  and  he  is  known  among 
his  many  friends  and  acquaintances  as  a  m.an  of 
scrupulous  integrity,  who  is  straightforward  and 
above  board  in  all  his  transactions.  He  is  a  pub- 
lic-spirited citizen,  who  uses  his  influence  for  the 
good  of  the  community',  and  as  a  member  of  the 
School  Board — a  position  he  also  held  while  a  res- 
ident of  Union  County — he  seeks  to  promote  the 
cause  of  education  in  this  local  it}-.  Politicall}',  he 
favors  the  Republican  jiarty. 


/ 


V 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   RKVIEW. 


167 


The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Nancy 
Jane  Keith,  a  native  of  Johnson  Count}-,  was  sol- 
emnized in  1869,  and  has  been  a  union  as  happy 
as  tliat  usuall\-  allotted  to  mortals.  It  has  brought 
to  them  eleven  children:  Almira  Belle,  who  died  in 
infancy;  Addison,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
years,  and  AV^illie  E.,  James  Franklin,  Mary  Elleu, 
Cora  E.,  Lillie  W.,  Oliver,  Annie,  John  and 
Ethel.  These  children  brighten  the  home  and 
gladden  the  hearts  of  their  parents,  who  are  giv- 
ing them  a  good  practical  training  in  life's  lessons, 
and  affording  them  the  best  educational  advan- 
tages within  their  means. 


y^EOHGE  E.  GIBSON  was  burn  in  Wilson 
I  —  County,  Tenn.,  in  1824,  and  is  a  son  of 
V_4i  Archibald  Gibson,  of  North  Carolina,  who 
settled  in  Tennessee  about  1814,  and  followed  farm- 
ing for  a  living.  Archibald  Gibson  was  married 
twice,  and  bj'  his  second  wife,  wlio  was  Frances 
Moseley,  nee  Eddings,  a  daughter  of  William  Edd- 
ings,  of  Tennessee,  he  had  one  son,  George  H,and 
two  daughters.  Archibald  Gibson  was  a  prosper- 
ous farmer  and  lived  and  died  on  his  own  farm. 
]Mrs.  Gibson  died  about  1835,  aged  sixtj-  years, 
ilr.  Gibson  lived  until  18.3.5.  and  died  in  his  ninety- 
second  3'ear. 

George  E.  Gilison  left  the  parental  roof  when 
thirteen  years  old  in  company  with  his  half-brother, 
Joseph  Gibson,  and  went  to  Missouri.  From  that 
time  until  he  was  twenlj'  years  old,  he  was  of  a  rov- 
ing disposition,  and  was  in  thirteen  different  States, 
Southern  and  Western,  but  was  in  none  north  of 
Missouri.  He  worked  on  a  farm  for  from  S6  to  ^8  per 
month,  and  afterward  was  engaged  with  stock- 
men most  of  the  time.  He  helped  to  drive  a  large 
drove  of  sheep  from  Tennessee  to  Alabama,  near 
Mobile,  occupying  two  months  on  the  way,  and  for 
some  time  after  he  was  fifteen  years  old  he  followed 
rafting  on  the  Mississippi  River.  He  then  became 
an  overseer  of  slaves  on  a  Tennessee  plantation,  re- 
ceiving as  high  as  ^25  per  month  as  wages. 


In  May,  1850,  Mr.  Gibson  married  Miss  Martha 
Ann  Barber,  of  Rutherford  County,  Tenn.,  daugh- 
ter of  Thomas  and  Mary  (Leath)  Barber.  He  was 
engaged  in  merchandising  in  Wilson  County ,Tenn., 
for  two  3-ears  and  then  removed  to  Calloway- 
County,  Ky.,  where  he  bought  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  improved  land.  On  this  farm  he  re- 
sided eleven  3-ears,  selling  out  in  1862  and  remov- 
ing to  his  present  home  in  Johnson  County.  The 
removal  was  made  b}-  means  of  horse  teams  and 
wagons,  and  he  brought  his  wife  and  five  children. 
The3-  had  buried  one  little  daughter  of  three  3-ears 
in  Kentuek3-.  When  Mr.  Gibson  made  this  removal 
he  had  some  means — a  family  mare,  a  good  team  of 
mules  and  $800  in  mone\'.  He  was  well  situated 
in  Kentucky  and  well  satisfied  there,  but  like  many 
others  w-ho  were  lo3'al  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  leave 
Kentuck3'  in  order  that  he  might  enjo}-  his  own 
opinions  and  practice  his  principles  in  peace.  Upon 
arriving  in  Illinois  he  bought  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixtv'  acres  of  land  for  $1,550,  going  in 
debt  to  the  extent  of  1750;  but  by  selling  his  mule 
team  and  a  good  crop  of  wheat  which  was  growing 
when  he  bought  the  farm,  he  soon  paid  off  the 
debt.  Since  then  he  has  bought  several  farms  and 
deeded  them  to  his  sons.  The  most  land  he  ever 
owned  at  one  time  w-as  three  hundred  acres,  and  he 
now  owns  two  hundred  acres  of  good  land,  which  is 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  worth  at  least 
14,000.  The  farm  is,  however,  not  for  sale,  as  Mr. 
Gibson  traveled  all  he  desired  when  3'oung.  His 
Kentuck3-  farm  was  about  three  miles  from  the 
Tennessee  line,  and  was  between  the  two  belligerent 
armies,  and  he  could  not  move  until  after  the  cap- 
ture of  Ft.  Donelson.  He  might  retire  at  night  with 
a  corn  crib  and  smoke  house  full  of  corn  and  meat, 
but  iu  the  morning  they  would  both  be  empty. 
Such  reasons  as  these,  as  well  as  the  otiier  reasons 
given,  determined  him  in  sacrificing  his  property, 
and  in  coming  to  the  free  air  and  soil  of  Illinois. 

When  Mr.  Gibson  married  his  first  wife  she  was 
sixteen  3-ears  old.  She  bore  him  seven  children 
and  died  in  1866,  at  the  age  of  thirty-three.  Mr. 
(iibson  lived  a  widower  seventeen  years,  and  in 
1883  married  Mrs.  II.  M.  Ridenhovver,  nee  Lovina 
Miller,  of  North  Carolina.     He  has  buried  one  lit- 


i(;,s 


I'oirnj.vrr  and  nioCKAiMiiCAL  hkvikw. 


tie  d.iuijliter  since  eomiiig  to  Illinois,  Martha  A., 
wlio  died  at  the  age  of  two  years.  The  children 
now  living  are  as  follows:  John  'P.;  Frances,  wife 
of  \V.  I'.  Mohler,  a  farmer  of  Niuinia,  and  who  has 
two  sons  and  six  daughters;  Louisiana,  wife  of  Al- 
len Miller,  a  farmer  of  AVilliamson  County,  and 
who  has  two  daughters;  William  Allen,  a  single 
man  at  home;  and  James  A.,  a  farmer  near  by,  who 
has  a  wife  and  one  son  and  one  daughter.  James 
A.  was  married  March  21,  1886,  to  Miss  Fleta  Kiden- 
hower.  and  their  children  are  George  Raymond, 
aged  five  years,  and  De  IJernice.  Mr.  Gibson  is  a 
member  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  Mrs.  Gibson  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

Mr.  Gibson  expresses  a  realizing  sense  of  the 
mercy  and  goodness  of  (iod,  shown  in  keeping  him 
in  all  his  wanderings  through  youth  and  maturer 
years  free  from  all  kinds  of  wickedness,  in  giv- 
ing him  two  good  companions  and  good  and  duti- 
ful children,  and  in  assisting  him  in  the  accumu- 
lation of  a  plentiful  share  of  this  world's  goods, 
lie  considers  that  his  mother's  advice  while  on  her 
death-bed,  and  especially  her  pure  life,  have  been 
the  guiding  stars  of  his  life,  keeping  him  free  from 
all  the  vices  of  youth,  such  as  driuking,  cursing, 
gambling  and  the  social  evil,  and  for  all  of  this 
good  fortune  he  feels  devoutl\'  thankful  to  the 
mere}'  and  guiding  care  of  a  Ik'ing  who  is  All-wise 
and  All-sood. 


— 5- 


=^>-^<-^^-5- 


eAPT.  OTTOMAN  BAUKR,  i)roprietor  of 
the  boaf'Monic  Bauer,"  which  plies  on  the 
Ohio  River,  is  a  resident  of  Golconda,  en- 
gaged in  the  coal  trade,  and  is  one  of  the  active, 
stirring  business  men  of  Pope  Count}'.  He  was 
born  in  Woodsfield,  Washington  County,  Ohio, 
December  25,  1852,  a  son  of  Leo|)old  Bauer. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  lioru  and  reared 
in  Germany  and  was  the  only  member  of  iiis  fa- 
ther's family  to  come  to  America.  In  his  youth 
he   learned   the   trade  of  a  iiiano-maker  and    was 


employed  in  that  business  in  the  Fatherland  until 
he  was  twenty-one,  when  he  enlisted  in  the  Ger- 
man army,  in  compliance  with  the  laws  of  the  j 
country,  and  served  as  a  soldier  four  years.  At  i 
the  close  of  his  military  life  he  came  to  the  i 
United  States  and,  locating  at  Woodsfield,  Ohio, 
he  pursued  his  trade  at  that  point  some  four  years. 
He  then  invested  his  money  in  a  sawmill  and  wa> 
employed  in  the  manufacture  of  lumber  three 
years.  He  was  a  musician  of  no  mean  skill,  and 
at  the  end  of  that  time  he  enlisted  in  an  Ohio 
regiment  and  served  as  leader  of  the  regimental 
band  one  year.  After  his  return  from  the  South, 
Mr.  Bauer  built  a  steamer  and  engaged  in  boating 
on  the  Upper  Ohio  River  for  three  years,  when  he 
sold  out  and  constructed  a  floating  sawmill.  Il 
was  the  first  one  of  the  kind  ever  built  on  the 
river  and  he  operated  it  at  different  points  for 
five  years.  After  disposing  of  his  mill  he  re- 
moved to  Missouri  and  invested  in  a  farm  near 
Charleston.  He  devoted  himself  to  agricultural 
pursuits  a  few  years,  but  finally  sold  his  farm  and 
has  since  resided  at  St.  Louis. 

Our  subject  commenced  when  young  to  assist 
his  father  in  the  mill,  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
bought  the  mill  of  his  father,  which  was  the  float- 
ing mill  previously  spoken  of,  and  operated  it  ai 
different  points  on  the  river  some  two  years,  lie 
then  sold  it  and  purchased  a  new  mill,  which  he  had 
under  his  management  until  1876,  when  he  dis- 
posed of  that  also,  and  buying  a  tow-boat  began  to 
do  business  with  it  on  the  Ohio  between  Evansvillo 
and  Cairo.  Since  that  time  he  has  built  and  owned 
several  boats,  and  the  one  that  he  operates  at  tlu 
present  time  is  named  "Monie  Bauer,"  in  honor  of 
his  daughter.  In  addition  to  boating  he  is  en- 
gaged in  the  coal  business,  in  which  he  has  an  ex- 
tensive trade, as  he  is  the  only  dealer  in  Golconda. 
He  is  endowed  with  the  same  enterprise  and  thrift 
that  characterized  his  father  in  his  business  career, 
and  he  has  accumulated  a  comfortable  property  and 
is  one  of  the  substantial  men  of  the  city.  In  iiis 
social  relations  he  is  a  member  of  Bayard  Lodge 
No.  1864,  K.  of  H.,  and  politically,  he  is  unswerv- 
ing in  his  fealty  to  the  Democratic  party. 

July  28,  1873,  is  the  date  of  the  marriage  of  our 
subject    to   Miss   Mary  M'alter,  who  was  born   in 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


169 


Pope  County,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Cliristian  and 
Mary  Walter,  natives  of  Germany.  Mrs.  Bauer  is 
a  most  estimable  woman,  and  the  Metiiodist  Epis- 
copal Church  finds  in  her  a  faithful  member.  Slie 
and  her  husband  have  five  children  living,  Jessie, 
Flora,  Oscar,  Monie  and  .Stanley. 


si^-i^i 


ILLIAM  M.  HEDRICK  is  not  only  a  pro- 
\f\lll  n''6ssive  tiller  of  the  soil,  but  he  also  con- 
ducts a  general  mercantile  establishment 
on  his  farm  of  sixty  acres  in  Pope  Count3',  111.  He 
was  liorn  in  Bradley  County,  East  Tenn.,  in  1830, 
I)ul  his  father,  John  Hedrick,  was  born  in  Lincoln 
County,  N.  C,  in  1789.  The  latter,  who  was  a 
farmer  and  mechanic  by  occupation,  a  man  of  in- 
telligence, and  one  whose  word  was  as  good  as  his 
bond,  died  at  the  age  of  sixt}-  years.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  North  Carolina  to  Miss  Aggie  Bailey,  a 
native  of  that  State,  and  a  descendant  of  a  Revo- 
lutionar}'  soldier,  who  lived  to  be  one  hundred 
years  of  age,  and  was  buried  in  Monroe  County, 
East  Tenn.  Soon  after  their  marriage,  and  when 
the  country  was  wild  and  hardl}-  inhabited  save 
for  Indians  and  the  prowling  wild  animals,  they 
removed  to  Tennessee,  and  there  they  reared  a 
famil}'  of  eight  children:  Daniel,  Andrew,  Absalom, 
Davault,  Polly,  John,  Elizabeth  and  William  M., 
all  of  whom  are  living  with  the  exception  of  two, 
anil  all  residents  of  Tennessee  except  Elizabeth 
and  AVilliam  J\I.  The  noble  mother  of  this  family 
died  in  Tennessee  in  1830,  in  middle  life,  and  the 
fatiier,  with  several  of  his  children,  afterward  re- 
moved to  Missouri,  where  he  purchased  a  tract  of 
land  near  Mammoth  Spring,  Ripley  County,  on 
which  farm  his  death  occurred,  and  where  he  now 
sleeps  his  last  sleep. 

William  M.  Hedrick,  when  not  employed  on  the 
home  farm,  attended  school  occasionally,  but  good 
schools  were  few  and  far  between,  consequently  he 
did  not  obtain  as  good  an  education  as  he  should 
have  done.  On  his  father's  death  he  was  reared  by 
his  brother  Andrew,  a  farmer  and  mechanic  of  Brad- 


ley County,  Tenn.,  who,  although  an  octogenarian, 
has  few  gray  hairs,  and  is  still  active  and  ener- 
getic, and  is  well-to-do  in  worldly  goods.  Will- 
iam M.  was  married  in  August,  1854,  to  Miss  Lu- 
clnda  Walls,  of  Tennessee,  their  marriage  taking 
place  in  Bradley  County,  where  they  lived  until 
1863.  From  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War  until 
he  came  to  Illinois,  Mr.  Hedrick  was  compelled  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  time  to  hide  in  the  woods 
to  prevent  beiug  drafted  into  the  Confederate 
army.  However,  in  1861,  he  was  guided  through 
the  Cumberland  Mountains  for  about  seventy-five 
miles  by  a  Mr.  Clifton,  and  after  a  week's  journey 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  Union  forces  at  Cum- 
berland Ford,  from  which  point  he  made  his  way 
to  Illinois  three  years  later.  Mr.  Hedrick  did  not 
volunteer  in  the  service,  as  he  was  ineligible  on 
account  of  poor  health,  but  he  remained  with  the 
Federals  the  most  of  the  time  during  the  three 
years.  At  one  time  he  stole  back  through  the 
mountains  the  same  way  he  had  come  to  see  his 
family  and  found  that  his  wife  had  died.  He  then 
came  by  Louisville  to  Pope  County,  HI.,  to  tlie 
home  of  his  sister  Elizabeth,  wife  of  James  L. 
Dixon.  On  the  26tli  of  September,  1865,  he  re- 
turned to  Tennessee  for  his  children,  and  upon 
reaching  Nashville  had  to  telegraph  Gen,  Thomas 
for  a  permit.  On  his  return  with  his  famil3%  as 
he  had  no  means,  he  first  farmed  on  rented  ground. 
Since  that  time  he  has  owned  three  farms,  besides 
the  one  on  which  he  now  resides,  and  onto  which 
he  moved  in  December,  1890.  He  soon  opened 
a  general  store  on  the  place,  and  there  a  post-office 
was  established,  of  which  he  was  made  Postmaster. 
In  1866,  Mr.  Hedrick  was  married  in  this  county 
to  Mrs.  Anna  Riley,  widow  of  William  Riley,  a 
soldier  of  the  Union  army.  Jlrs.  Hedrick 's  maiden 
name  was  Matthews,  and  she  was  born  m  Georgia. 
Our  subject's  children  were  as  follows:  William 
A.,  a  farmer  of  Union  County,  111.,  and  the  father 
of  two  sons  and  two  daughters;  Lucretia  T,  wife 
of  William  Wilson,  of  Ozark,  Johnson  County, 
III.;  James  K.,  who  died  of  brain  fever  in  1879,  at 
about  the  age  of  twenty-one  years;  and  an  infant 
also  deceased.  Mr.  Hedrick  was  first  a  Whig,  but 
has  long  been  a  Republican,  politically,  and  has 
held  the  position  of   Constable  for  sixteen    years. 


170 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOORAl'HICAL    REVIEW. 


lie  antl  liis  wife  me  members  of  tlie  Reitiilar  Bap- 
tist Cluircli,  and  arc  in  even'  way  wortliy  people. 
His  farm  is  devoted  to  general  farming,  and  he 
keeps  a  fair  stock  of  goods  in  his  store,  which 
brings  him  in  considoral>le  means  during  the  year. 
His  sister  Elizabeth  lost  her  husband  in  1872,  and 
with  her  children  has  made  hiT  home  with  Mr. 
lied  rick  for  some  years. 


r^IIOIMAS  F.  \KAT('ll.  Among  the  good 
citizens  of  Johnson  County  who  are  carry- 
ing forward  its  agricultural  interests  is 
Thomas  F.  Veatch,  who  has  a  farm  pleasantly 
situated  on  section  1,  Cache  Township.  He  is 
descended  from  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Johnson  Count}',  of  wliich  he  is  a  native,  born 
on  a  farm  within  its  precincts  on  the  20th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1844.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Green  B. 
Veatch,  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  those  adventure- 
some spirits  to  penetrate  the  wilds  of  southern 
Illinois  to  establish  a  home  in  its  forest  wilds.  He 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  who,  hoping  to  better 
his  condition,  had  left  his  native  State,  North  Caro- 
lina, with  a  wagon  loaded  with  a  few  necessities, 
and  had  boldly  pushed  onward  until  he  arrived  in 
what  is  now  Johnson  County,  which  was  then  a 
literal  wilderness,  infested  with  wolves,  panthers 
and  other  wild  animals,  and  inhabited  only  by  In- 
dians, with  but  few  exceptions.  He  constructed  as 
best  he  could  a  log  cabin,  and  entered  upon  his 
pioneer  life  under  circumstances  which  might  well 
cause  the  stoutest  heart  to  quail.  He  and  his  fam- 
ily had  to  live  on  parched  corn,  which  was 
pounded  to  make  meal.  After  a  while  a  mill  was 
put  up  and  operated  by  horse-power  for  grinding 
corn,  when  he  would  occasionally  carry  some  to  be 
ground,  having  to  wait  his  turn  with  others.  He 
worked  ddigently  to  clear  liis  farm,  cutting  down 
line  large  trees,  rolling  the  logs  together  and  burn- 
ing them  to  make  room  to  sow  his  crops.  He  lived 
upon  that  place  many  years,  but  others  coming  in. 


he  had  an  Ojiportunity  to  sell  it  at  a  good  price, 
and  after  disposing  of  it,  opened  up  another  farm 
near  by,  and  died  thereon  at  a  ripe  old  age 
after  having  contributed  materially  to  the  growth 
of  the  county,  which  he  had  found  heavily  tim- 
bered, and  without  churches  or  schools  or  other 
signs  of  civilization. 

Benjamin  F.  Veatch,  the  father  of  our  subject, 
was  born  in  the  pioneer  home  of  his  parents  in 
this  county,  and  was  reared  amid  its  primitive 
scenes  with  but  few  advantages  for  self-improve- 
ment, as  far  as  the  schools  of  that  day  were  con- 
cerned. They  were  taught  on  the  subscrij^tion 
plan  by  teachers  who  were  rarely  qualified  for 
their  profession,  reading  and  a  slight  knowleduc 
of  arilhemtic  being  generally  the  extent  of  their 
learning,  one  who  could  "cipher  in  the  'rule  of 
three'"  being  considered  exceptionalh'  Icarneil. 
At  the  age  of  twenty  young  Benjamin  left  the 
parental  home,  and  as  an  initial  step  toward  a 
home  of  his  own,  married  Elizabeth  Mount,  a  na- 
tive of  this  county.  The  newly  wedded  pair  com- 
bined their  forces  and  worked  with  willing  hands 
and  light  hearts  at  their  task.  The  young  hus- 
band first  rented  land  near  the  old  place,  and 
later  bought  some  land  in  the  neighborhood, 
built  a  log  cabin  for  shelter,  cleared  and  improvnl 
a  farm,  and  lived  upon  it  eighteen  years.  Dispon- 
ing of  it  for  a  goodly  sum  of  money,  he  bought 
another  farm  in  Vienna  Township,  Ave  miles  to 
the  south,  and  it  is  still  in  his  possession,  its  well- 
tilled  fields  yielding  him  a  comfortable  income. 
Mr.  Veatch's  first  wife  died  in  1853,  leaving  but 
one  child,  our  subject,  another  having  died  in 
infancy.  His  second  marriage  united  him  with 
Elizabeth  McKuen,  a  native  of  Johnson  County, 
and  to  them  were  born  seven  children:  James 
C.  and  Leroy  C,  who  live  in  Vienna  Townshii); 
Mary  Jane,  deceased;  Allen,  living  ou  the  farm; 
Martha  and  Rosa,  at  home  with  their  parents;  and 
AVilliam,  who  died  in  iufancj-. 

Thomas  Veatch  attended  the  local  schools  in  his 
boyhood,  and  obtained  such  an  education  as  they 
offered.  He  early  became  familiar  with  every 
branch  of  farm  work,  and  was  a  good  practical 
farmer  when  he  began  his  independent  career  as  a 
farmer  at  the  age  of  twenty-four.     He   had    prc\  i- 


I 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


171 


ously  a^isistod  his  fathei-,  but  lie  then  married  Miss 
Ilai-riet  Matins,  of  Johnson  County,  and  for  six 
years  rented  a  farm.  Industr\%  thrift  and  wise 
economy  enabled  him  to  accumulate  mone}',  and 
at  the  end  of  that  time  he  bought  a  place  of  his 
own,  comprising  eighty  acres  of  unimproved  land 
on  section  1,  Cache  Township,  and  he  has  made  of 
it  one  of  the  most  desirable  farms  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. Here  he  and  his  family  are  deservedly  en- 
joying the  comforts  of  a  substantial  home.  Of  the 
six  children  born  to  him  and  his  estimable  wife, 
l)ut  one  remains  in  the  household,  Fearl,  the  others 
having  been  early  called  to  the  home  b^'ond.  Mr. 
Yeatch  is  a  Christian  gentleman,  and  an  active 
working  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Politieallv,  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  in  all 
tilings  he  is  a  arood  citizen. 


<  c;-        •••  #^#  ••* 


;  OHN  LOGAN  MOUNT,  a  member  of  one  of 
the  oldest  families  in  Johnson  County,  and 
^1  I  one  of  its  native-born  sons,  is  a  bright,  en- 
^Bf'  thusiastic  young  teacher,  who  has  alieady 
won  an  enviable  reputation  in  bis  profession.  He 
was  born  in  Simpson  Township,  August  29,  1864, 
and  is  a  son  of  William  W.  Mount,  who  was  a 
noble  veteran  in  the  late  war,  serving  in  the  fam- 
ous Thirty-first  Illinois  Regiment,  commanded  b}' 
Gen. John  A.  Logan. 

William  Mount  was  also  a  native  of  Simpson 
Township,  born  into  one  of  its  early  pioneer 
homes.  His  father,  whose  name  was  the  same  as 
his  own,  was  born  near  Petersburgh,  Ind.,  and  came 
thence  to  Illinois  in  the  earl}'  days  of  the  settlement 
of  Johnson  County.  He  selected  a  tract  of  Gov- 
ernment land  in  what  is  now  Simpson  Township, 
and  erecting  a  log  house,  in  the  wilderness  for  a 
shelter,  at  once  commenced  to  reclaim  a  farm.  He 
later  erected  a  double  log  house  which  is  still 
standing,  and  subsequently  gave  the  farm  to  his 
son  Jasper.  He  then  went  to  live  on  an  adjoin- 
ing farm,  upon  which  he  erected  a  good  set  of 
frame  buildiiiiys,  and  resided  there  until  his  death. 


He  was  a  man  of  much  strength  of  character  and 
native  abilit3',and,  though  somewhat  eccentric,  his 
hospitality  and  kind-heartedness  were  proverbial, 
and  no  one  went  hungry  from  his  door  or  was 
permitted  to  suffer  if  he  could  afford  relief.  He 
had  decided  opinions  on  all  topics  with  which  he 
was  conversant,  and  especially  concerning  polities. 
His  sympathies  were  with  the  Whigs,  and  he  early 
espoused  the  cause  of  Abolition. 

The  father  of  our  subject  grew  to  a  vigorous, 
self-reliant  manhood  amid  the  primitive  scenes 
upon  wiiich  he  first  opened  his  eyes,  and  his  edu- 
cation was  conducted  in  the  pioneer  schools  of 
his  native  township,  which  were  held  in  a  log 
house.  The  rudely  made  furniture  was  of  the 
simplest  kind,  the  seats  being  rough  benches  fash- 
ioned from  small  logs  that  were. split  in  two,  and 
one  side  was  hewed  comparative!}'  smooth,  the 
seats  being  without  backs  or  desks  in  front.  He 
early  became  a  practical  farmer  with  tlie  exper- 
ience gathered  on  his  father's  farm,  and  at  the 
time  of  his  marriage  he  left  the  shelter  of  the 
parental  roof  to  make  a  new  home  on  a  tract  of 
land  that  his  father  gave  him.  He  devoted  him- 
self to  the  care  and  improvement  of  his  farm  un- 
til the  war  broke  out,  when  he  laid  aside  his  own 
interests  to  go  forth  to  do  battle  for  his  country, 
enlisting  in  1861  in  Company  D,  Thirty-first  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  which  was  under  command  of  Col. 
John  A.  Logan,  and  was  one  of  the  most  active 
regiments  in  the  army.  Mr.  Mount  was  in  the 
service  three  years,  and  iiis  record  as  a  soldier  of 
approved  bravery  and  fidelity  was  of  the  best. 
He  was  honorably  discharged  at  the  expiration  of 
his  term  of  enlistment,  in  1864,  and  returning 
home  took  up  the  work  that  he  had  laid  down, 
and  engaged  in  farming  until  his  life  closed 
on  the  16th  of  March,  1873.  The  maiden  name 
of  his  wife  was  Sarah  J.Grisson.  She  was  born  in 
Grantsburg  Township,  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Mary  Grisson,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Popeco, 
111.     She  is  the  mother  of  eight  children. 

John  Logan  Mount,  of  this  biographical  review, 
passed  his  early  life  on  his  father's  farm,  but  he 
chose  rather  to  enter  professional  paths  instead  of 
making  his  way  in  life  as  a  farmer,  and  after  lay- 
ing the  foundation   of   a    liberal   education  in  the 


172 


PORTRAIT  AND   BlOCRAPIllCAL    REVIEW. 


district  seiiool,  lie  fiillicr  prepared  himself  to  be  a 
teacher  in  tiie  Southern  Illinois  Normal  University, 
at  Carlxindale.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  began 
his  successful  career  as  a  teacher,  and  is  recognized 
as  one  of  our  most  talented  educators.  He  has  a 
clear,  well-balanced  mind,  is  progressive  in  his 
views,  and  is  quick  to  adopt  new  methods  of  teach- 
ing where  they  can  be  applied  to  advantage. 

Mr.  Mount  w.is  lirst  married  in  1887  to  Miss 
Carrie  M.,  daughter  of  Harrison  .and  Levnia  Rid- 
cnhower,  and  a  native  of  Johnson  County.  She 
died  April  15,  1.^88.  The  second  marriage  of  our 
subject  was  solemnized  in  1890,  when  Miss  Nannie 
M.  Ellis  became  his  wife.  She  was  born  in  Pope 
County,  and  is  a  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Ellis 
pioneers  of  Pope  Coiintj'.  One  son  has  hallowed 
the  union  of  our  subject  and  his  wife. 

Mr.  Mount  is  one  of  the  young  Republican 
leaders  in  this  vicinity,  and  in  1890  was  appointed 
Postmaster  at  the  Simpson  ollice.  He  possesses  tact, 
courtesy  and  other  pleasant  personal  qualities  that 
win  him  friends,  and  his  standing  is  high  among 
his  fellow-members  of  Delta  Lodge  No.  772, 1.  O. 
0.  F.,  and  Encampment  No.  52.  He  and  his  wife 
are  closelj'  identified  with  the  religious  interests 
of  the  community  as  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 


ELIJAH  JENNINGS.  Amongthe  intluential 
citizens  of  Pope  County,  no  one  has  been 
more  prominently  identified  with  her  wel- 
fare or  more  interested  in  her  success  and  prosper- 
ity for  many  j'cars  p.ast,  than  has  the  gentleman  of 
whom  we  write.  Many  years  ago  he  was  one  of  a 
comi)any  formed  in  this  county  for  protection 
against  thieves  and  robbers.  This  was  before  the 
days  of  organized  defense  against  lawlessness,  and 
the  earl3'  settlers  were  obliged  to  be  their  own  pro- 
tectors. Mr.  Jennings  was  one  of  a  party  that  cap- 
tured a  gang  of  robbers  who  had  made  themselves 
notorious  by  many  acts  of  violence  and  had  acted  in 
deliance  of  the  rights  of  others.     A  luiiiilior  of  the 


desperadoes  were  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  life, 
thus  ridding  the  count}'  of  some  of  the  most  dar- 
ing outlaws  that  ever  infested  southern  Illinois. 
Mr.  Jennings  is  engaged  in  farming  on  section  31, 
township  1.3,  range  6,  where  he  lias  resided  since 
1890. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  on  Christ- 
mas Day,  in  the  year  1822,  in  Allen  County,  Ky., 
his  parents  being  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  (Shadow- 
ens)  Jennings.  The  father  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  the  mother's  birthplace  being  in  Tennes- 
see. In  1836,  the}'  came  in  wagons  to  this  State. 
crossing  the  Ohio  River  at  Oolconda,  and  settling; 
first  in  Williamson  County,  where  they  lived  oiil\ 
a  short  time.  They  then  removed  to  this  county, 
where  they  were  numbered  among  the  first  settler-, 
and  later  located  in  Hardin  Countv,  where  l\\v\ 
were  called  from  this  life. 

Our  subject  remained  with  his  parents  until 
reaching  the  age  of  twenty-seven  j'ears.  He  ;i(- 
tendcd  the  subscription  schools  in  Williams<iii 
County  for  about  three  months  in  the  j-ear,  pay- 
ing at  the  rate  of  $1  jier  mouth,  as  in  those  d.nys 
there  were  no  free  or  public  schools.  In  his  boy- 
hood wild  game  was  very  plenty,  and  many  a  time 
has  he  seen  bears,  wolves  and  deer  as  well  as  smaller 
animals  in  the  locality.  He  first  purchased  a  tract 
of  forty  acres  in  this  county  near  the  old  Pom- 
Farm,  to  the  cultivation  of  which  he  devoted  him- 
self for  about  eight  years,  when  he  sold  the  phue 
and  became  the  owner  of  one  about  four  miles 
from  Golconda.  For  nearlj'  forty  years  he  livi^il 
on  that  farm,  which  he  brought  under  thorouuli 
cultivation  and  greatly  improved,  so  that  when  lie 
sold  it  in  1890  it  bore  little  resemblance  indeed  to 
the  wild  and  unimproved  farm  which  was  his  origi- 
nal purchase.  This  he  traded  in  1890  for  the  one 
where  he  now  makes  his  home,  which  comprises 
eighty  acres,  besides  which  he  owns  a  farm  of  forty 
acres  south  of  (^olconda.  He  is  numbered  amoiii; 
the  most  enterprising  and  progressive  agricultur- 
ists of  this  vicinity. 

An  important  event  took  place  in  the  life  of 
Mr.  Jennings  on  August  25,  1847,  at  which  time  he 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  Jane  Saurd. 
The  lady  was  born  in  Hardin  County,  111.,  July 
22,  1828.  Mild  <lep.Trl.e(l  this  life  October  27,    l.sss. 


I 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


173 


Our  subject  was  again  married,  MarcU  24,  1889, 
]\rrs.  Mary  C.  (Flannery)  Flick  then  becomino:  his 
wife.  She  was  born  in  Pope  Count}'  November  4, 
1845.  Her  father  was  a  nvitive  of  Kentiick}',  but  her 
mother  was  born  in  this  State.  Our  subject  had  a 
family  of  fifteen  children  by  his  first  wife,  seven 
living,  who  are  named  as  follows:  Emily  J.,  Min- 
erva Armeda,  U.  S.  and  Mary  J.  (twins),  Robert, 
K.  L.  and  Otto  C. 

For  over  fifty-two  years  Mr.  Jennings  h.as  been 
an  active  worker  in  tlie  church  and  Sunday-school 
of  tlie  Baptist  denomination.  For  one  year  he 
served  as  Constable,  and  for  a  number  of  j'ears  has 
been  School  Director  and  Road  Supervisor.  He 
affiliates  with  the  Democratic  party,  and  is  a  thor- 
oughly patriotic  citizen,  striving  in  every  way 
witliin  his  power  to  promote  all  measures  having 
for  their  object  the  elevation  of  mankind  and  the 
good  of  his  fellow-citizens. 


RCHIBALD  T.  MOZLEY,  who  owns  and 
operates  a  good  farm  in  Elvira  Township, 
i)  and  occuiiies  an  honorable  position  among 
the  farmers  of  Johnson  Count}-,  was  born 
in  Graves  County,  K}'.,  three  miles  from  the  town 
of  Mayfield,  December  17,  1839.  Ilis  father  was 
John  Norman  Mozle}',  and  he  was  born  either  in 
Maury  or  Marshall  Count}-,  Tenn.  He  in  turn 
was  a  son  of  John  Mozley,  who  was  a  resident  of 
both  Virginia  and  Georgia  before  he  finally  settled 
in  Tennessee,  at  an  early  day  in  the  history  of  its 
settlement.  He  came  to  Illinois  in  1842,  and  lo- 
cated six  miles  southeast  of  Vienna,  where  his  life 
was  brought  to  a  close  at  a  ripe  old  age.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Sarali  Norman,  and 
she  died  on  the  old  farm  in  this  county. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  married  in  Ten- 
nessee to  Agnes,  a  daughter  of  .John  and  Lucy 
Galloway,  and  a  native  of  North  Carolina.  He 
moved  to  the  adjoining  State  of  Kentucky,  and 
after  si>ending  a  short  time  in  Graves  County,  re- 


turned to  Tennessee.  In  a  few  years  he  again 
took  up  his  residence  in  Graves  County,  Ky., 
whence  he  came  to  Illinois  in  1842  with  his  wife 
and  three  children,  making  the  journey  with  an 
ox-team,  cooking  and  camping  by  the  way.  He 
located  on  a  tract  of  Government  land  six  miles 
southeast  of  Vienna,  in  what  is  now  Grantsburg 
Township.  His  first  work  was  to  erect  a  house  of 
round  logs,  with  a  puncheon  floor  and  a  stick  and 
mud  chimney.  In  1853  his  wife  died  and  he 
rented  his  land,  and,  removing  to  Elvira  Town- 
ship, entered  quite  a  large  tract  of  Government 
land,  including  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  acre 
farm  our  subject  owns  and  occupies.  Mr.  Mozley 
lived  in  Elvira  twelve  years,  and  then  took  up  his 
residence  in  Dongola,  Union  County,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  the  lumber  business  two  years.  After 
that  he  lived  in  Vienna  a  few  years,  prior  to  buy- 
ing a  farm  two  miles  from  the  village,  which  he 
occupied  some  years.  His  next  move  was  to  dis- 
pose of  that  property  and  invest  the  proceeds  in 
the  grocery  business.  Two  years  later  he  aban- 
doned that,  and  returned  to  Elvira  Township, 
spent  two  years  there,  and  since  then  has  made  his 
home  with  his  son  John  T.  in  Grantsburg  Town- 
ship. He  has  prospered  in  his  labors,  and  accumu- 
lated a  comfortable  property,  besides  contributing 
his  quota  to  the  development  of  the  agricultural 
interests  of  the  county.  His  first  wife,  mother  of 
our  subject,  died  in  March,  1853,  leaving  six 
children.  He  reared  one  child  by  a  second  mar- 
riage. 

He  of  whom  we  write  was  but  three  years  old 
when  he  came  to  Illinois  with  his  parents,  so  has 
no  remembrance  of  other  than  his  adopted  home. 
In  his  early  recollection  Johnson  County  was  very 
sparsely  settled,  while  deer,  wild  turkeys  and  other 
game  were  plentiful.  His  early  education  was  con- 
ducted in  the  pioneer  schools  of  the  time,  the  sec- 
ond school  that  he  attended  being  taught  in  a  rail 
pen.  That  was  only  used  temporarily,  however, 
while  a  log  cabin  was  being  built  for  the  pupils  to 
occupy.  It  was  furnished  with  slab  benches, 
which  were  supported  by  wooden  pins,  and  had  no 
backs  or  desks  in  front.  In  those  days  quill  pens, 
made  by  the  teacher,  were  the  only  ones  used. 

Our  subject  continued  an  iiimalo  of  iho  parental 


174 


■OKIKAII'  AM)    l!l()(;i!Al'lll(  Al.    1;K\1K\V. 


Iiome  until  lie  was  twenty  years  old,  mihI  then 
lived  with  an  elder  brother  one  year.  AI'tLr  in:u- 
riaue  he  resided  on  his  father's  homestead  nearly 
a  year,  ;uid  subsequently  loeated  on  the  place 
whieli  he  now  makes  his  home,  which  comprises  a 
(juarter  of  section  5,  Klvira  'I'ownship.  lie  has 
good  facilities  for  farming,  his  land  is  exceedingly 
fertile  and  is  well  tilled,  and  the  farm  is  kept  in 
an  excellent  condition. 

Mr.  Mozlcy  was  first  married  in  1861  to  Frances, 
a  daughter  of  Pinekney  and  Susan  Shelton,  and  a 
native  of  Tennessee.  Her  death  occurred  Novem- 
ber 13,  1866.  There  are  two  children  by  that 
marriage  :  .John  Marshall  and  Norman  A.  Jlr. 
Mozley  mariied  a  second  time, in  November,  18G7, 
Rosa  A.  George  becoming  his  wife.  She  was  born 
in  Union  County,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Authon}' 
and  Louisa  (Augustine)  George,  who  were  natives 
of  Germany  and  pioneers  of  Union  County.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Mozley  have  four  children:  George  W., 
Charlie  F.,  Mary  L.  and  Eugene  Garfield.  Our 
subject  and  his  estimable  wife  are  members  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  their  daily  lives  exemplify' 
their  earnest  religious  faith.  In  politics  he  has 
v(jted  with  the  Hepublicans  since  the  war. 


3*.n-*>^^''.^^.**F 


WrJLLIAM  i;.  15AIN,  a  >'oung  man  of  more 
than  ordinary  energy  and  business  capac- 
ity, who  is  popular  in  social  circles  and 
inlluential  in  local  politics,  is  one  of  the  leading 
merchants  of  Vienna,  the  city  of  his  birth,  where 
he  conducts  a  well-appointed  dry-goods  establish- 
ment, lie  was  born  January  8,  1861,  .-md  is  a 
son  of  the  late  John  liain,  who  was  for  many 
years  one  of  the  foremost  business  men  of  this 
city. 

.John  Bain  was  a  native  of  llopkinsville,  Ky., 
and  was  born  January  11,  1817.  His  father,  who 
bore  the  same  name  as  himself,  was  a  native  of 
North  Carolina,  whence  he  removed  to  Tennessee, 
and  from  there  to  Kentucky  in  the  early  years  of 
its  setllcnii'iit.      In    1.^21  he   again  emigi-atod,  and 


journeying  to  this  Slnlc  with  his  wife  and  eight 
children,  he  selected  for  his  future  home  a  tract 
of  (iovernmentland  in  the  forests,  six  miles  north- 
east of  the  present  site  of  Vienna.  He  thus  be- 
came one  of  the  advance  guard  of  those  brave 
and  sturdy  pioneers  who  faced  the  dangers  and 
hardships  of  life  on  the  frontier  with  intre[nd 
courage,  and  began  to  develop  the  rich  agricul- 
tural resources  of  this  region,  which  under  them 
and  their  successors  has  been  transformed  into  a 
valuable  farming  country,  lie  worked  diligently 
at  clearing  and  tilling  his  farm,  and  there  his 
well-spent  life  was  rounded  out  by  death  at  a  ven- 
erable age.  His  wife,  who  in  her  inaiden  days  war- 
Martha  Brooks,  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  native 
of  North  Carolina,  and  she  too  died  in  this  count\ . 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  four  years  old 
when  his  parents  brought  him  to  their  new  home 
in  the  wilds  of  southern  Illinois.  As  soon  as  he 
was  large  enough  to  be  of  any  use,  he  began  to 
help  his  father  on  the  farm,  and  remained  with 
him  until  he  attained  his  majority.  He  was  of 
an  enterprising  disposition,  with  a  decided  talent 
for  business,  and  his  tastes  for  mercantile  pursuits 
led  him  to  open  a  store  for  the  sale  of  merchan- 
dise a  mile  and  a-half  from  his  father's  home. 
There  were  no  railwa\'s  in  the  vicinity,  and  his 
goods  had  to  be  transported  with  ox-teams  from 
Metropolis.  A  few  years  later  he  removed  his 
business  to  Vienna,  as  a  more  advantageous  loca- 
tion, and  was  a  resident  of  this  city  until  his 
death,  December  28,  1886.  He  was  a  man  of 
marked  force  of  character,  clear-sighted,  far-seeing, 
prompt  to  act,  shrewd  and  wise  in  money  matters, 
and  one  of  the  most  successful  business  men  of 
Johnson  County,  exerting  a  marked  influence  in 
the  promotion  of  its  interests. 

The  wife  of  John  Bain,  to  whom  he  was  mar- 
ried September  2,  1841,  and  with  whom  he  lived 
in  true  wedded  happiness  fortv-five  years,  is 
quietly  passing  her  declining  years  in  the  old 
home  in  Vienna.  She  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
AVinnie  Ilarrell,  and  was  born  September  29,  1824, 
in  Johnson  County,  coming  of  one  of  its  earliest 
pioneer  families.  Her  father  was  Elias  Ilarrell, 
who  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  where  he 
was  reared  and    married.     After   Ihi'  liirMi  of  four 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


175 


cliildreu  he  aud  his  wife  concluded  to  seek  a  new 
home  for  theaiselves  and  offspring  in  the  wilds  of 
tiie  far  western  frontier,  and  set  out  with  a  team 
on  the  long  and  weary  journey  overland,  camping 
and  cooking  bj'  tlie  wayside  whenever  tired  of 
travel,  or  night  overtook  them.  Mr.  Harrell  was 
one  of  the  first  to  take  up  land  in  what  is  now 
Bloomflcld  Township,  and  he  erected  a  hewed-log 
jioiise  for  the  shelter  of  his  famil3',  that  immble 
dwelling  being  afterward  the  birthplace  of  his 
<laughter,  Mrs.  Bain.  He  and  his  wife  spent  their 
remaining  days  on  the  farm  that  he  reclaimed 
from  tiie  forests.  There  being  no  convenient 
markets  for  the  purchase  of  wliat  were  considered 
in  those  days  the  luxuries  of  life,  and  no  railwaj's 
leading  out  into  the  great  world  beyond,  thej-  had 
to  live  in  a  primitive  manner,  subsisting  chiefly' 
on  home  produce  and  wild  game,  such  as  deer  and 
wild  Lurke\'s,  which  were  ver\'  plentiful.  Tiie 
cliildren  were  dressed  in  homespun,  the  handi- 
work of  their  mothers,  who  had  to  spin  and  weave 
all  the  cloth  used  in  the  family.  Mrs.  Bain  is  an 
earnest  Christian  and  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  to  which  her  husband  also  be- 
longed. In  politics,  he  was  a  Republican  for 
many  years,  but  during  the  last  part  of  his  life 
was  a  Prohibitionist,  being  a  man  of  strong  tem- 
perance views. 

Our  subject  has  five  brothers  and  sisters  living, 
namely-:  Fanny,  James  Preston,  Sidnej'  Ann,  Me- 
(lora  and  James  C.  He  had  fine  educational  ad- 
vantages in  his  j'outh,  which  fitted  him  for  any 
walk  in  life  that  he  might  enter.  Obtaining  the 
preliminaries  of  his  education  in  the  citj-  schools 
of  Vienna,  he  was  afterward  a  student  at  the 
Southern  Illinois  University,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  the  Class  of  '83,  with  a  good  record 
for  scholarship.  When  a  mere  bo}'  he  had  learned 
the  details  of  business  by  clerking  in  his  father's 
store,  and  after  his  father's  death  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  Samuel  Jackson  and  his  son,  A. 
G.,  they  succeeding  the  firm  of  Bain  A-  Jackson. 
They  continued  the  business  together  under  the 
firm  name  of  Samuel  Jackson  ct  Co.  until  the 
store  and  stock  were  destroyed  b^'  fire  December 
26,  1891.  After  that  catastrophe  our  subject  was 
out  of  business    until    August    4,    1892,  on  which 


date  he  bought  his  iireseut  establishment  of  the 
Chapman  Store  Company.  He  has  a  neat  and 
attractively  arranged  store,  completely  stocked  with 
a  varied  and  extensive  assortment  of  dry  and 
fancy  goods,  boots,  shoes,  etc.,  and  from  the  start 
has  been  well  patronized  by  the  people  among  whom 
he  has  always  lived,  and  who  lake  a  personal 
interest  in  one  who  has  grown  up  in  their  midst  to 
aif  active  and  useful  manhood.  He  is  a  bright 
young  man,  of  read3'  wit  and  sound  common 
sense,  and  with  firm  convictions  on  all  subjects 
with  which  he  is  conversant.  In  politics,  he  is  an 
ardent  Republican,  and  his  counsels  are  valued  b}- 
liis  party  in  this  section,  which  has  sent  him  as  a 
delegate  to  different  district  and  State  conventions, 
and  to  the  National  Convention  at  Minneapolis  in 
1892  as  an  alternate.  He  has  many  friends  and 
is  one  of  the  leading  spirits  of  Vienna  Lodge  No. 
248,  K.  of  P. 

Mr.  Bain  was  married  January  15,  1890,  at  ilc- 
Pherson,  Kan.,  to  Miss  Lotta  C,  daughter  of  J. 
M.  Pancoast,  and  a  native  of  Lincoln,  Neb.  Their 
home  is  one  of  the  pleasant  social  centres  of 
Vienna,  and  is  brightened  by  the  little  child  that 
has  been  born  to  them,  and  whom  they  have 
named  June. 


]^-^[ 


]  ^Rt^F.  MARTIN  T.  VAXCLEVE,  Superinten- 
j  JjP  dent  of  the  schools  of  Johnson  County,  is  a 
I  ?^  young  man  of  sound  learning  and  fine 
I  \  character,  whose  culture,  tact  and  versatil- 
ity, together  with  a  good  degree  of  executive  abil- 
it3^  and  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  modern 
educational  methods,  rarely  equip  him  for  the  high 
and  responsible  position  that  he  occupies  as  the 
head  of  the  educational  institutions  in  his  native 
county. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Burnside  Township, 
May  11,  1860,  and  isason  of  the  late  Rev.  Wilson 
Vancleve,  who  was  for  many  j'ears  prominent  in 
religious  circles  in  southern  Illinois  as  a  minister 
of    the    Tiaptist  Church,   and  was  also  one  of    the 


176 


■olMlIAir  AM)    r.loORAPI-IlCAL  REVIEW. 


leading  agiicultiu-ists  of  tliis  vicinity.  He  was  horn 
near  Louisville,  Kj'.,  while  his  father,  wlio  was 
descended  from  one  of  liu'  old  Duteli  families 
tiiat  settled  in  this  countiy  in  Colonial  times,  was 
a  native  of  New  .Terse}'  or  Nortii  Carolina,  and 
spent  Ills  last  days  in  .lolinson  County,  this  State. 
When  the  father  of  our  subject  was  young,  his 
parents  removed  from  Kentucky  to  Ilenr^-  County, 
Tenn.,  and  there  he  grew  to  man's  estate.  He  was 
of  a  thouglitful,  studious  turn  of  mind,  and  first 
prepared  himself  for  the  medical  profession,  whicli 
he  practiced  for  a  time;  but  for  a  man  of  his  ear- 
ncstl}'  religious  nature,  the  ministry  had  great  at- 
tractions, and  from  curing  the  body,  he  turned  to 
healing  souls,  entering  the  pulpit  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  Returning  to  his  native  State,  he  lived 
in  Calloway  County  until  1853,  when  he  sought  a 
broader  field  for  Ikjs  labors  in  Illinois.  He  located 
in  Burnside  Township,  buying  a  tract  of  partly 
improved  land,  and  also  entering  land  from  the 
Government.  He  superintended  the  improvement 
of  his  land,  and  often  gave  friendly  assistance 
to  others  who  desired  to  obtain  Government  land. 
His  ministerial  duties  took  up  much  of  liis  time, 
as  he  engaged  in  preaching  in  the  surrounding 
countrj',  and  helped  to  organize  several  different 
churches  in  .Tohnson  and  adjoining  counties.  He 
was  a  ripe  scholar,  progressive,  studious  and  widely 
read,  was  cspeciall}'  well  versed  in  theology,  and 
next  to  that  historj'  and  astronomy  attracted  his 
attention.  In  his  death  in  1886,  at  his  home  in 
Burnside  Township,  Johnson  Countj^  lost  a  noble 
citizen,  who  had  been  potent  in  advancing  its  ma- 
terial interests  and  had  been  a  power  for  great 
good  in  elevating  its  moral  and  spiritual  status. 
His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Nancy  J.  Law- 
rence, and  who  was  born  in  Tennessee,  survives 
him,  and  still  resides  on  tlie  home  farm  in  Burnside 
Township.  Their  marriage  was  blessed  to  them  b}' 
thirteen  cliildren,  of  whom  nine  are  living.  Two 
of  them,  William  R.  and  Volney,  did  valiant  ser- 
vice in  the  late  war,  and  the  latter  gave  up  his 
life  for  his  country  while  in  the  army.  A  sketch 
of  the  former  appears  in  this  work. 

Prof.  Vancleve  obtained  the  preliminaries  of 
his  education  in  tiie  district  school,  and  then,  after 
having    had  tlie   advantages  of  a  course  of  study 


at  Central  Indiana  Normal  College,  at  Danville, 
Ind.,  he  entered  the  Southern  Illinois  College,  at 
Carbondale,  from  whicli  he  was  graduated  in  the 
Class  of  '90  with  a  fine  record  for  high  attainment 
as  a  scholar.  His  education  w.as  gained  mostly  by 
his  own  exertions,  his  college  expenses  being  paid 
with  nione^-  that  he  earned  by  teaching  in  the  win- 
ter season  of  each  year  from  tiie  time  he  was 
twenty  3-ears  old.  His  reputation  as  a  bright,  brain}', 
well-trained  teacher  won  him  the  election  in  1890 
to  his  present  post  as  .Superintendent  of  the  counts- 
schools  for  a  term  of  four  years.  He  is  faithful  in 
the  performance  of  the  functions  devolving  upon 
him  in  this  important  oflice,  and  his  fellow-citizens, 
who  have  known  him  from  childhood  up  and  have 
watched  his  career  with  pride,  are  all,  irrespective 
of  party,  pleased  with  his  administration,  and  feel 
assured  that  the  cause  of  education  is  safe  in  the 
hands  of  one  so  alert  and  etticient,  and  that  the 
schools  over  which  he  has  jurisdiction  will  main- 
tain a  high  standard  of  excellency  while  under  his 
supervision.  The  Professor  is  a  man  of  liberal 
mind  and  of  pleasing  personal  attributes,  which 
give  him  popularity  in  social  circles  and  make  him 
a  valued  member  of  the  following  organizations: 
Vienna  Lodge  No.  150,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  Vienna 
Chapter  No.  67,  R.  A.  M.;  and  Vienna  Lodge  No. 
248,  K.  P. 

Mr.  Vancleve  was  married  April  26,  1801,  to 
Miss  Florence,  a  daughter  of  Pleasant  Veatch,  and 
a  native  of  Bloomfield  Township.  They  are  very 
happily  situated  in  one  of  the  coziest  homes  of 
Vienna,  and  are  the  parents  of  a  daughter,  Freda 
L.,  who  is  the  charm  of  the  household. 


!«  I^ILLIAM  M.  GRISSOM,  who  is  descended 
\/sJ//  ^''oni  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Johnson 
W^  County,  was  born  in  one  of  the  first  pio- 
neer homes  opened  in  Grantsburg  Township,  De- 
cember 9,  1830,  and  is  now  one  of  its  industrious, 
well-to-do  farmers.  His  father  was  Warren  (iris- 
som,  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  a  son  of  John 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


177 


Grissom.  When  Warren  was  six  years  of  age  the 
family  removed  to  Tennessee,  and  when  he  was 
twelve  }-ears  old,  in  1818,  the}-  came  to  Illinois, 
traveling  in  a  one-horse  cart,  and  were  among  the 
first  to  settle  within  the  precincts  of  Johnson 
Count}-,  the  grandfather  selecting  the  land  on 
what  is  now  section  8,  Grantsburg  Township,  and, 
taking  possession  of  a  little  cabin  that  stood 
thereon,  coraraenced  the  struggle  to  build  up  a 
home  amid  pioneer  environments.  The  grand- 
mother of  our  subject  died  on  the  place,  and  was 
buried  in  Grissom  graveyard,  and  the  grandfather 
returned  to  Tennessee  to  pass  his  remaining  days. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  brought  up  to  the 
life  of  a  farmer,  and  remained  on  the  old  farm  un- 
til he  was  eighteen  years  old.  He  then  went  to  live 
with  the  Simpsons,  and  while  with  them  had  an 
opportunity  to  attend  school  a  year,  whereby  he 
obtained  a  fair  education.  He  remained  in  that 
neighborhood  seven  years,  working  on  a  farm 
when  he  was  able  to  do  so.  He  had  acquired  the 
trade  of  shoemaker  by  himself,  and  worked  at  that 
when  he  had  nothing  else  to  do.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-two  he  went  to  Golconda,  and  for  the  ensu- 
ing five  years  was  employed  in  a  tobacco  warehouse 
and  general  merchandise  store,  learning  good  busi- 
ness methods  and  gaining  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  mercantile  affairs. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-four,  Mr.  Grissom  married 
Miss  Miranda  Finney,  a  native  of  Ohio,  where  her 
parents  died  when  she  was  a  small  child,  and  at 
the  age  of  six  an  aunt  brought  her  to  Golconda. 
When  he  left  the  position  that  he  had  held  so  long 
in  the  tobacco  and  mercantile  business,  Mr.  Gris- 
som turned  his  attention  to  farming,  buying  an 
old  settled  farm  on  section  4,  Grantsburg  Town- 
ship. There  were  eighty  acres  of  land,  and  a 
large  hewed  log  house  stood  ready  for  occupancy 
when  Mr.  Grissom  took  possession  of  the  farm, 
upon  which  he  made  substantial  improvements 
during  the  fourteen  years  that  he  lived  there. 
Selling  it  at  the  expiration  of  that  time,  he  re- 
sided in  different  places  in  the  settlement  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  then  bought  sixty-five  acres 
of  land  adjoining  the  old  place.  His  first  wife  died 
in  1849,  and  he  was  afterward  married  to  Sarah 
Williams,  from   Georgia,  who  also  preceded    him 


in  death.  His  demise  occurred  in  18G7,  and  his 
mortal  remains  were  buried  in  Pope  County. 
Seven  children  were  born  of  his  first  marriage: 
William  M.;  Xaomi,  who  died  on  the  old  farm 
when  a  year  old ;  Elizabeth,  who  died  on  the  old 
farm  at  the  age  of  one  year;  Pleasant  G.,  who 
died  when  three  years  old;  Nancy, deceased;  Mary 
A.,  who  is  married  and  lives  near  Brooklyn,  Massac 
County:  and  Tliomas  L.,  who  died  in  Massac 
Count}-.  By  tlie  second  marriage  there  were  three 
children:  Warren  .1.  and  Delilah  .Jane,  deceased; 
and  a  child  that  died  in  infancy. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  notice  was  the 
first  child  born  to  his  father.  He  remained  at 
home  until  he  was  thirteen  years  old,  helping  his 
father  on  the  farm,  and  at  that  age  went  to  live 
with  Pleasant  Rose,  near  the  oM  place.  He  re- 
mained with  him  eight  years,  attending  school  as 
he  had  a  chance,  and  he  was  then  employed  on 
different  farms  for  four  years.  He  was  prudent 
and  economical,  and  by  the  end  of  that  time  had 
money  enough  saved  to  buy  a  farm,  and  he  pur- 
chased the  place  where  he  now  lives  on  section  7, 
Grantsburg  Township,  paying  #350  for  the  eighty 
acres  of  unimproved  land.  About  a  year  after 
purchasing  it  he  built  a  cabin,  having  cleared  land 
to  make  room  for  it,  burning  the  timber  that  he 
did  not  use  for  lumber  or  rails.  He  had  thus  a 
home  prepared  for  his  chosen  bride,  and  in  1859 
he  was  wedded  to  Miss  Eliza  Farles,  a  native  of 
.Johnson  County,  and  they  began  life  together  in 
the  cabin.  By  persistent  and  intelligent  labor, 
Mr.  Grissom  has  transformed  the  place  into  one  of 
the  finest  and  most  desirable  farms  of  the  town- 
ship, putting  it  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation 
and  making  substantial  improvements.  He  has 
also  increased  its  acreage  more  than  two-fold,  buy- 
ing another  eighty  the  next  winter  after  his  first 
purchase  and  adding  forty  acres  subsequently,  so 
that  he  has  a  good-sized  farm  of  two  hundred 
acres,  all  neatly  fenced  into  convenient  fields.  In 
1861  his  humble  cabin  gave  way  to  a  more  com- 
modious frame  house,  and  barns  and  other  out- 
buildings of  a  good  cla-ss  have  been  erected. 

The  first  wife  of  our  subject,  who  wasa  valuable 
aid  to  him  in  bringing  about  his  present  prosperity, 
departed    this    life    in    1880,  and  her  last  resting- 


I'ORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL    IJKMKW. 


place  is  in  tlic  Concord  jjniveyiird.  Our  subject 
was  married  a.  second  time,  iiis  present  estimable 
wife  being  formerly'  Miss  Eliza  Spenoe,  from  Jlas- 
sac  County.  I5y  his  lirst  marriage,  Mr.  Grissom  bad 
the  following ciiildren:  Sidney  A., deceased;  James 
K.,  .lane,  Tlioni.as  L.,  Kittio  and  Ida,  all  of  whom 
died  in  iiifanc}-;  Mary  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Frank 
l'"aeries;  William  M.,  who  teache.s  school  in  Johnson 
County;  and  Barney,  at  home. 

Mr.  Orissom  is  a  man  of  strong  character,  pos- 
sessing in  a  full  degree  those  manly  traits  that 
win  conHdence  and  esteem,  and  these  are  accorded 
to  him  in  full  measure  by  the  people  among  whom 
he  has  always  lived,  and  who  know  him  to  be  a 
good  neighbor  and  a  steadfast  friend.  His  suc- 
cess in  life  is  due  to  his  competency  as  a  farmer 
and  to  his  perseverance  in  overcoming  the  diffi- 
culties that  lie  in  his  pathway.  The  Republican 
part^-  has  in  him  a  consistent  supporter  of  its 
policy.  Religiously,  he  is  of  the  Presb^'terian 
faith  am]  a  stanch  church  member. 


C^T 


'l^,  A\aD  Y.  BRIDGES  was  born  in  Johnson 
County  May  11,  1838,  and  now  occupies 
an  important  place  among  those  who  are 
actively  forwarding  its  interests  as  one  of 
its  most  industrious,  thoroughly  practical  and  in- 
dependent farmers,  his  farm  on  section  2,  Cache 
Township,  comparing  favorabl}'  with  the  best  in 
the  vicinitj'  in  point  of  equipment  and  cultiva- 
tion. Our  subject  is  a  grandson  of  one  of  the  ear- 
liest pioneers  of  the  countj*,  who  ventured  into 
the  wilderness  to  found  a  home,  and  settled  in 
what  is  now  Elvira  Township.  He  had  to  begin 
life  here  in  povert}^  and  had  to  endure  many 
hardships  and  privations  ere  he  was  fairly  started. 
There  were  no  railways,  mills  or  other  conven- 
iences of  modern  civilization,  and  but  few  settle- 
ments in  the  country,  which  was  then  but  little  ad- 
vanced from  its  primitive  wildness.  The  father 
of  our  subject  I)uilt  a  hcwn-lug  house,   which  still 


stands,  putting  in  some  lumber  which  he  had  made 
with  a  whip-saw.  AVhile  clearing  his  farm  he  had 
log  rollings,  and  a  good  deal  of  good  timber  was 
burned  to  get  rid  of  it.  Money  was  a  scarce  arti- 
cle with  the  pioneers,  and  as  Mr.  Bridges  needed 
some  knives  and  forks,  he  went  down  the  river  to 
cut  vvood  to  obtain  the  means  to  buj'  some.  His  dili- 
gence and  perseverance  were  amply  rewarded,  and 
in  due  time  he  became  belter  off  iliaii  any  <if  his 
fellow-pioneers. 

The  fatlicr  of  our  subject,  John  Bridges,  was 
boni  in  a  log  house  and  was  brought  up  amid 
pioneer  surroundings,  whereby  be  was  strength- 
ened and  hardened  for  the  struggle  with  Nature's 
forces  that  la3'  before  him  when  he  should  take  up 
his  life  work  as  a  farmer  on  his  own  account.  The 
rudely  furnished,  roughly  built  log  schoolhousc 
of  his  da}'  afforded  but  few  educational  advan- 
tages, and  he  learned  more  by  the  use  of  his  ej-es 
and  brain  outside  of  the  school  than  in.  He  w.as 
a  good  worker,  an  excellent  manager,  and  sound 
in  judgment,  and  he  accumulated  a  comfortable 
propertj'^,  becoming  one  of  the  substantial  citizens 
of  the  township,  whose  growth  was  forwarded  by 
his  labors.  Of  the  eight  children  born  to  him  and 
his  wife  four  are  living:  Lucretie,  wife  of  T. 
Ragsdall,  of  Union  County;  Abbie,  wife  of  James 
Gordon,  of  Cache  Township;  Melinda,  wife  of 
William  Ragsdall;  and  David  Y. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  David,  was  born 
while  this  count}'  was  in  its  infancy,  so  to  speak, 
and  grew  with  its  growth.  The  log  school- 
house  of  olden  times  had  not  been  abolished  in 
his  boyhood,  and  moreover,  in  order  to  get  to  the 
one  that  he  attended,  he  had  to  walk  five  miles, 
though  that  may  not  have  been  considered  a  hard- 
ship by  the  healthy,  active  boy  used  to  out-of- 
door  life.  The  primitive  structure  in  which  he 
gleaned  his  knowledge  of  the  common  br.'xnches  of 
stud}'  was  made  of  logs  and  poles,  with  a  log  cut 
out  one  side  to  admit  the  light,  while  a  hewed 
piece  of  timber,  fastened  like  a  shelf  on  one  side 
of  the  school-room,  served  as  a  writing-desk.  The 
earth  served  as  a  Hoor  to  the  building,  which  was 
heated  by  a  rude  fireplace,  the  chimnej' being  made 
of  mud  and  sticks. 

At  the  .age  of   elc\ou    our  subject  was    uiifortu- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


179 


nately  deprived  of  his  paternal  care  and  guidance 
by  tlie  death  of  his  father,  at  the  time  when  the 
headstrong  boy  needed  wise  and  kindly  control. 
In  a  few  years  he  left  home  with  no  thought  of 
what  he  should  do  or  anj'  settled  purpose  in  life, 
and  wandered  about  somewhat  aimlessly,  visiting 
East  Tennessee  and  iMissouri.  But  while  he  saw 
sometiiing  of  the  country  and  added  to  his  ex- 
perience, he  accomplished  nothing,  and  after  three 
years  of  such  life,  he  decided  to  settle  down  and 
make  something  of  himself.  It  was  a  woman's 
good  influence  that  brought  about  this  manly  de- 
termination. In  Missouri  he  met  Miss  L.  L.  King, 
and  the  admiration  that  he  felt  for  her  soon 
ripened  into  warmer  feeling,  and  he  eventually 
won  her  hand  in  marriage.  After  that  important 
step  he  bought  a  farm  in  Laclede  County,  that 
State,  and  began  life  in  earnest. 

Our  subject  had  harvested  two  good  crops  when 
the  war  broke  out.  He  was  in  a  community 
of  non-Union  sj-mpathizers,  and  whatever  were 
his  sentiments,  at  the  call  to  arms  lie  could  not  do 
otherwise  than  enlist  in  the  Confederate  army. 
He  served  nearly  twelve  months,  and  then  re- 
turned home  with  impaired  health  only  to  find  his 
affairs  in  a  ruinous  condition,  as  all  his  possessions 
but  his  land  had  been  confiscated.  His  wife  was 
struggling  bravely  as  possible  under  adverse  cir- 
cumstances, having  rented  the  land,  and  was  doing 
the  best  that  could  be  done.  They  concluded  to 
abandon  that  farm,  and  coming  to  Illinois,  Mr. 
Bridges  bought  a  place  in  Johnson  County  with 
the  money  he  had  m.nnaged  to  save,  but  he  soon 
traded  it  for  another,  and  subsequenth'  exchanged 
the  latter  for  the  farm  upon  which  he  lives  on  sec- 
tion 2,  Cache  Township.  Thirty-flve  acres  under 
cultivation  and  a  hewed  log  house  constituted  its 
chief  improvements.  Mr.  Bridges  has  since  wrought 
a  great  change,  beginning  here  with  but  little 
means,  but  working  steadily  and  with  good  cour- 
age and  accomplishing  his  self-appointed  task  with 
the  utmost  success.  He  has  his  one  hundred  and 
sixt}-  acres  of  fine  farming  land  under  admirable 
tillage,  and  has  erected  a  substantial  set  of  build- 
ings. He  built  a  commodious  frame  resi<lence, 
which  was  one  of  the  best  in  the  county  in  regard 
to  architecture  and  appointments,  but  this  beauti- 


ful home  was  destroyed  by  fire.  Since  then  he 
has  replaced  it  by  a  less  elegant  but  comfortable 
dwelling,  in  which  the  family  lives  very  cozil3' 
and  happily. 

!Mr.  Bridges  is  sound  in  political  convictions  and 
is  a  firm  adlierent  of  the  Democratic  party.  He  is 
interested  in  schools,  desiring  to  have  his  children 
well  educated,  and  he  cares  for  all  things  that  will 
in  any  way  advance  tlie  township  and  county. 
He  and  his  wife  have  had  four  children,  of  whom 
two  are  dead,  John  and  David.  Their  daughter 
Laura  is  the  wife  of  Alexander  Rennals,  of  Texas; 
and  their  son  Charles  is  married  and  is  engaged  in 
farming  the  homestead. 


^>-*<^=^- 


OSEPH  BJ:>'rON  lOJYKENDALL,  of 
Vienna  Township,  Johnson  County,  was 
^^  born  on  a  farm  ten  miles  northeast  of  Vienna 
V^^  January  9,  1842.  His  father,  Hon.  Andrew 
Jackson  Ku3'kendall,  was  born  in  what  is  now 
Hardin  Count}',  111.,  March  3,  1815,  and  was  the 
son  of  Joseph  Kujkendall,  a  native  of  North  Car- 
olina. He  was  a  descendant  of  one  of  three  broth- 
ers, natives  of  Holland,  who  came  to  America  in 
early  Colonial  days.  The  great-grandfather  of 
our  subject,  who  was  named  .Jos&ph,  removed  from 
North  Carolina  to  Kentucky  in  an  early  daj',  and 
spent  his  last  j'ears  in  that  State.  The  grandfa- 
ther of  our  subject  went  to  Kentuck}'  with  his  par- 
ents and  resided  there  until  1815,  when  he  emi- 
grated to  the  Territory  of  Illinois,  and  it  was 
while  the  family  was  en  route  to  Johnson  Countv 
that  the  father  of  our  subject  was  born. 

Tiie  famil}-  located  near  the  present  site  of  San- 
burn,  in  Johnson  County.  At  that  time  the  greater 
portion  of  the  Territoiy  was  practically  uninhab- 
ited except  by  the  Indians.  Deer,  bear  and  other 
wild  game  were  abundant.  Grandfather  Ku3'ken- 
dall  improved  a  farm  and  resided  upon  it  until  his 
death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife,  the  grand- 
mother of  our  subject,  was  Maiy  Taylor.  She  was 
a  sister  of  Col.  Richard  Taylor,  or  "Uncle   Dick," 


IMO 


I'dinuArr  and  iii<)<.i;.\i'iii(  ai.  1!K\ii:\v. 


iis  lio  was  familiarly  called,  of  Chicago.  Hon.  A. 
,J.  Kiiykendall  iiad  but  limited  opportunities  for 
securing  an  education  in  his  younger  days,  his 
education  being  principally  obtained  after  he 
reached  manhood.  After  his  marriage  he  taught 
a  school  of  small  scholars  for  five  months,  and 
soon  afterward  taught  a  term  of  twelve  months. 
At  that  time  the  schools  were  taught  in  a  log  cabin 
on  the  subscription  plan. 

While  teaching,  Mr.  Kuykcndall  employed  his 
spare  time  in  studying  law,  and  was  soon  admitted 
to  the  Bar.  lie  began  i)ractice  at  Vienna,  and  very 
early  became  interested  in  public  affairs,  being 
frequently  called  upon  to  fill  offices  of  trust. 
In  1813  he  was  first  elected  to  the  State  Legisla- 
ture, and  he  was  re-elected  many  times  to  both  the 
House  and  Senate,  being  a  member  of  one  House 
or  the  other  for  about  thirty  jears.  He  started 
out  in  his  public  career  as  a  Democrat,  and  was  a 
"Senator  in  the  Legislature  at  the  time  the  war 
came  on,  having  been  elected  by  that  part}'. 
AVhen  an  extra  session  was  called  by  the  Governor 
to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  times,  he  called  a 
meeting  of  his  constituents  and  told  them  in  sub- 
stance that  he  loved  hiscountr3'and  that  he  should 
vote  to  raise  men  and  means  to  bring  the  war  to  a 
successful  termination,  in  order  that  the  Union 
might  be  saved.  This  brought  forth  a  shower  of 
protests,  but  he  stood  firm  to  his  purpose,  sup- 
ported the  country  with  true  loyalty,  and  from 
that  time  on  was  a  Republican  in  politics  and  a 
stanch  supporter  of  Republican  piinciples.  In 
1864  he  was  elected  to  Congress  by  the  Republican 
party.  In  August,  1861,  he  was  commissioned 
Major  of  the  Thirty-first  Illinois  Volunteers  and 
served  for  one  year,  when  he  resigned  and  re- 
turned home.  Soon  afterward  he  located  on  a 
farm,  and  for  many  years  was  engaged  in  general 
farming  and  stock-raising,  tiiougli  nuich  of  his 
time  was  taken  up  by  his  official  duties.  His  death 
took  place  in  Vienna,  111.,  May  11,  1891. 

August  16,  1836,  Mr.  Kuykendall  married  Cyn- 
thia Simpson,  who  was  born  May  7,  1818,  in  Illi- 
nois. Her  father,  William  Simpson,  was  born  near 
Detroit,  Mich.  His  father,  also  named  William 
Simpsf)n.  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  Terri- 
kirv    of    Illinois,   localing   about   ten   miles  from 


\'ienna,  at  the  junction  of  llif  mads  leading  from 
Kaskaskia  to  Golconda  ami  from  Metropolis  to 
Shawneetown.  The  nearest  neighbor  he  had  at 
the  time  of  his  settlement  there  w.as  twenty-five 
miles  away.  Erecting  a  double  log  house,  he 
opened  a  tavern,  which  was  popularly  known  as 
Simpson's  Tavern.  He  also  bought  live  stock, 
which  he  drove  to  the  Detroit  market.  He  spent 
his  last  days  in  Johnson  County,  111.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Polly  Jones.  The  grandfa- 
ther of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  young  when 
his  parents  brought  him  to  Illinois.  After  his  mar- 
riage he  removed  to  Mississippi,  where  he  lived  for 
one  year,  when  he  returned  to  Johnson  County 
and  purchased  a  tract  of  land  covered  with  timber 
adjoining  his  father's  farm  at  Simpson  Hill,  upon 
which  he  resided  until  his  death.  The  maiden  name 
of  the  grandmother  of  our  subject  was  Keziah 
Parmley;  she  was  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Parmley, 
and  was  born  in  Kentucky.  The  mother  of  our 
subject  has  spent  her  entire  life  in  her  native 
county,  and  still  resides  in  Vienna.  She  reared 
six  of  her  fifteen  children,  viz:  Mary  .7.,  Kate  L., 
Joseph  B.,  Eliza  E.,  Sarah  A.  and  Edith. 

Joseph  B.  attended  school  quite  steadilj"  during 
his  younger  years,  and  did  not  engage  in  any  ac- 
tive business  until  after  leaving  the  army.  He 
enlisted  in  Company  D,  Thirty-first  Illinois  Vol- 
unteers, in  August,  1861,  went  South  with  the 
regiment,  and  joined  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 
Among  the  more  important  battles  in  which  he 
was  engaged  may  be  mentioned  those  of  Belmont, 
Jackson  and  the  siege  and  capture  of  Vicksburg. 
In  1864  he  joined  Sherman's  command  at  Kenesaw 
Mountain.  He  was  honorably  discharged  in  Au- 
gust, 1864,  at  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  service. 

Returning  to  Vienna,  for  upwards  of  two  3-ears 
Mr.  Kuykendall  was  engaged  in  the  mercantile 
business.  He  then  embarked  in  milling,  which  has 
since  engaged  his  attention.  He  is  the  proprietor 
of  the  Vienna  Rolling  Mills,  wliicii  are  furnished 
with  all  the  best  modern  machinery  and  have  a 
ca[)acity  of  one  hundred  barrels  per  day.  In  KS(!;5 
he  married  Eliza  Gorham,  who  was  born  in  Mil- 
waukee, Wis.,  and  is  a  dauglitcr  of  S.  A.  and 
Nancy  J.  (Reed)  (idilmiii.  To  this  union  tiierc 
have  been  born  four  chiidicn,  viz:  Carrie,  Andrew 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RP:VIEW. 


181 


J.,  Frauk  and  Gu}'.  Mr.  Kuj-kcndall  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  in  1864.  He  is  President  of  the  Vil- 
lage Board.  In  their  religious  convictions  he  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  Jlethodist  Episcopal 
Church. 


^^•■^•t^l^j^ 


(WILLIAM  J.  HERRKG,  Jr.  No  man  in 
township  12.  range  7,  Pope  Count}',  is 
'')^^  more  worthj'  of  representation  in  this 
biographical  record,  than  is  our  subject,  who  has 
for  so  man}'  years  been  prominently  connected 
with  her  welfare,  and  is  one  of  the  pioneers  who 
laid  the  foundation  for  the  present  and  future 
prosperity  of  this  region.  He  owns  a  well-im- 
proved farm  of  two  hundred  acres  on  section  9, 
and  is  also  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  acres  in  Hardin  County.  Though  he  raises  a 
few  horses,  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs,  he  is  largely  in- 
terested in  growing  corn,  wheat  and  oats.  He  is, 
and  always  has  been,  very  industrious  and  careful, 
and  being  a  good  manager  is  thus  worth}-  in  every 
respect  of  the  success  which  he  has  now  reached. 

Mr.  Herring  was  born  in  Wales,  in  1839,  his  fa- 
ther, William  J.,  Sr.,  who  was  born  in  1816,  hav- 
ing been  a  prominent  farmer  of  Grand  Pierre 
Precinct  of  that  country.  The  grandfather  of  our 
subject,  whose  Christian  name  was  Joseph,  reared 
a  family  of  ten  children,  eight  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, and  died  in  his  native  land  at  an  advanced 
age.  William  J.,  Sr.,  was  the  fourth  son,  and  has  a 
brother  living  in  Brookh'n,  N.  Y.,  one  in  Cali- 
fornia, and  one  in  St.  Louis  at  the  present  time. 
He  married  Hannah  Lawrence,  also  of  Wales,  and 
emigrated  to  America  in  18.50,  sailing  from  Cardiff, 
and  being  a  long  time  on  the  ocean.  On  their  ar- 
rival in  New  York  City  the}-  remained  there  but  a 
short  time,  thence  going  to  Luzerne  County,  Pa., 
where  they  remained,  however,  only  a  year.  In 
the  fall  of  18.51  they  came  to  Illinois,  traveling  a 
portion  of  the  way  by  water  and  crossing  the  Alle- 
ghany Mountains  in  a  section  of  a  boat  drawn  by 


a  stationary  engine  at  the  summit.  On  reaching 
this  State,  they  remained  for  a  short  time  at  Eliza- 
bethtown  and  then  removed  to  Pope  County. 

Landing  in  this  country  with  some  means,  our 
subject's  parents  purchased  and  improved  a  farm, 
entering  eighty  acres  at  the  land  office  at  11.25 
per  acre.  To  his  original  farm,  Mr.  Herring  has 
since  added  sixty-five  acres,  making  his  farm  in  all 
one  of  one  hundred  and  forty-five  acres.  Our 
subject  was  from  his  boyhood  reared  to  farm  life, 
and  has  proved  himself  to  be  eminently  fitted  for 
this  occupation,  which  he  has  followed  since  his 
early  years.  He  received  the  advantages  of  a  good 
district  school  education,  and  taught  school  for 
some  seven  terms.  In  his  twenty-eighth  year  he 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Elizabeth  C.  Mc- 
Murphy,  who  was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  their 
union  being  celebrated  March  10,  1867.  3Irs.  Her- 
ring is  a  daughter  of  John  T.  and  Vollie  (Bradley) 
McMurphy,  natives  of  Illinois  and  Indiana  re- 
spectively. The  former  removed  to  this  State  in 
1818,  and  returned  to  Indiana  for  his  bride.  He 
had  served  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  and  died  on 
his  farm  in  Hardin  County  in  1862,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-six  years,  leaving  a  widow,  two  sons  and  three 
daughters,  of  whom  the  wife  of  our  subject  is  the 
youngest.  The  mother  is  still  living  with  a  daugh- 
ter, though  she  has  now  reached  the  age  of  seventy- 
seven  years. 

The  following  children  have  been  born  to  Jlr. 
and  Mrs.  Herring:  Lillian  A.,  who  is  twenty-two 
years  of  age  and  is  a  successful  school  teacher  of 
this  locality,  now  teaching  her  third  term;  W.  C, 
aged  twenty  years,  now  at  school  and  fitting  him- 
self for  a  teacher;  Lucy  A.,  aged  seventeen,  also 
in  school  and  a  promising  student;  Mary  E.;  John 
R.,  Tivis  L.  and  Olive  L.,  aged  fifteen,  twelve  and 
eight  years,  i-espectively,  who  are  attending  school; 
and  Otto  Ralph,  a  bright  little  child  of  three  years 
and  the  pride  of  the  household.  Hannah  P.  died 
in  1870,  aged  two  years  and  three  months,  and 
Grover  died  June  22,  1889,  the  same  age  to  a  day 
as  his  little  sister,  who  had  departed  this  life  so 
many  years  previously. 

Mr.  Herring  is  politically  a  Democrat,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Cumberland  Church. 
He  is  highly  esteemed  in  this  locality  as  a  man  of 


182 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


intcf^rity  and  justice,  and  one  who  is  tlionniglily 
consciontiout'  in  all  his  business  dealings  with  his 
fellow-men.  A  brother  of  Mrs.  Herring,  David 
Mi'Muri)hy,  was  a  loyal  soldier  during  the  late  war, 
enlisting  as  a  private  in  the  Sixth  Illinois  Cav- 
alry. 


'S?  AMES  M.  SMITH,  a  prominent  and  intluon- 
tial  citizen  of  Elvira  Township,  .lulnison 
^^-^  I  County,  was  born  in  this  township  January 
(^/y  22,  1833.  His  father,  William  Smith,  was 
bt)rn  in  Tennessee,  and  his  father,  Millinglon 
Smith,  was  a  pioneer  settler  of  Johnson  County, 
111.,  who  after  removing  to  this  county,  spent  the 
rest  of  his  days  here.  At  the  time  of  his  removal 
to  Johnson  Count}',  William  Smith  was  but  a  boy, 
and  Illinois  was  at  that  time  very  sparsely  settled. 
In  several  portions  of  the  State  there  were  no  in- 
habitants but  Indians.  He  secured  a  tract  of  Gov- 
ernment land  in  what  is  now  Elvira  Township, 
and  upon  that  land  erected  the  log  cabin  in  which 
James  M.  Smith  was  born,  lie  cleared  up  his  farm 
in  the  wilderness,  and  resided  upon  it  until  his 
death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife,  the  mother 
of  James  M.  Smith.,  was  Amy  Elkius;  she  was  a  na- 
tive of  Georgia  and  a  daughter  of  John  Elkins, 
wlio  is  mentioned  in  the  personal  sketch  of  Joshua 
Elkins,  elsewhere  in  this  work.  She  died  on  the 
farm,  having  reared  seven  children. 

James  M.  Smith  was  reared  in  his  native  town- 
ship at  a  time  when  pioneer  life  was  the  order  of 
the  day.  There  was  no  railroad  connecting  inte- 
rior points,  and  commerce  between  distant  places 
had  to  be  carried  on  by  means  of  the  rivers  and 
teams,  sometimes  oxen,  sometimes  horses.  The 
woods  were  then  full  of  game,  such  as  deer,  bear 
and  smaller  animals,  which,  when  hunted,  pro- 
vided excellent  food  for  the  table  in  the  absence 
of  the  more  domesticated  kinds  of  animals.  The 
mother  of  Mr.  Smith  clothod  her  family,  as  did 
her  neighbors,  with  cloth  woven  by  her  own  hands. 
Farming  methods  were  ecpially   primitive.     Oxen 


were  for  the  most  part  used,  and  the  wooden  mold- 
board  plow.  All  grain  was  cut  with  the  reaping- 
hook,  and  later  with  the  cradle,  so  called  from  its 
rocking  motion  as  it  swung  back  and  forth  across 
the  swath. 

Mr.  Smith  resided  at  home  with  his  parents  un- 
til his  marriage,  and  then  settled  on  a  portion  of 
the  old  homestead,  consisting  of  forty  acres  that 
his  fathei-  gave  him.  Since  then  he  lias  purchased 
other  lands  until  now  he  owns  six  hundred  and 
ninetj'-six  acres,  all  in  one  body,  and  his  improve- 
ments rank  with  the  best  in  the  county.  He  was 
married  in  1862  to  Miss  Sarah  Gore,  a  native  of 
\'ienna  Township  and  a  daughter  of  Walter  and 
Polly  (IJain)  Gore.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  have  five 
children:  Sarah  J., Sherman,  Jefferson,  Addison  and 
Hosea.  Mr.  Smith  isa  Republican  in  politics.  From 
adverse  circumstances  in  his  youth  he  has  by  indus- 
try and  energy  accumulated  a  handsome  property 
and  become  a  well-informed  and  self-educated  man. 


=-^ 


'if  A  M  E  S  II.  W  A  L  L  A  C  E,  Sheriff  of  Pope 
County,  is  an  invaluable  civic  officer, 
prompt,  fearless  and  able  in  the  discharge 
of  the  grave  and  responsible  duties  of  his 
position,  and  potent  in  preserving  law  and  order. 
He  is  a  native  of  the  count}-,  and  was  born  in  Gol- 
conda  Precinct,  M.ay  8,  1854,  a  son  of  George  C. 
and  Mary  E.  (Davis)  AVallace,  of  whom  see  sketch 
on  another  page  of  this  volume. 

Our  subject  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  early  be- 
came proficient  in  all  kinds  of  farm  work,  assist- 
ing his  father  in  caring  for  the  old  homestead.  His 
education  was  not  neglected,  and  a  part  of  each 
3"ear  was  devoted  to  school  until  he  was  eighteen 
years  old.  He  remained  an  inmate  of  the  parental 
household  until  his  marriage,  and  then  commenced 
farming  on  his  own  account.  He  bought  a  tract 
of  land  in  Golconda  Precinct,  and'  actively  en- 
gaged in  tilling  the  soil  and  making  improvements 
until  the  suffrage  of  his  fellow-citizens  called  him 
from    private   life   to   im[iortant   pul)lic   duties  as 


resiolncl    or   h.  w.  wellman  ,sec.i3.  tp.  13.  r.g.  popelco.  ill. 


residence:  OF  THEOPHILUS    5C0TT,    SEC  ,  32.  TP.  15  .  R.  6 .  PO  PE  CO.  I  LL 


RESIDENCE-  OF  JOHN     M.  CHRISM  AtJ,    SEC.  2S.  TR  13  .  R  .  .5.    POPE   CO.   ILL. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


185 


County  Slierlflf,  to  which  office  he  was  elected  in 
1890.  He  removed  to  Golconda  to  assume  the 
functions'of  the  shrievalty,  and  has  since  been  a 
resident  of  the  city.  He  is  identified  with  its  so- 
cial interests  as  a  member  of  Golconda  Lodge  No. 
392,  I.  O.  O.  F.  He  was  formerly  associated  with 
liic  Republicans  in  politics,  but  when  the  People's 
party  was  organized  he  found  himself  in  sympathj' 
with  its  principles,  and  withdrew  from  the  old 
party  to  cast  in  his  fortune  with  the  new.  He  is  a 
man  of  good  calibre,  holds  decided  opinions  of  his 
own  on  current  topics  with  which  he  is  familiar, 
stands  high  in  the  estimation  of  the  people  among 
wliom  he  has  alwaj's  lived,  and  his  niitive  countj'^ 
has  in  him  a  citizen  of  sterling  merit,  who  has  its 
best  interests  at  heart. 

Mr.  Wallace  was  married  March  10,  1881,  to 
Miss  Louise  Vinyard,  a  native  of  Hardin  County, 
and  a  daughter  of  Philip  and  Lucinda  (Howard) 
Vinyard.  Two  children  have  been  born  of  their 
pleasant  wedded  life,  whom  they  have  named 
George  Philip  and  Myrtle  May. 


1^^  AMUEL  L.  MORSE,  Municipal  .Judge  of 
^^^  (Jolconda,  and  a  well-known  citizen  of 
'ILo3y'  1*0P*^  County,  with  wliose  agricultural  in- 
terests he  is  identified  as  the  owner  of  a 
valuable  farm,  belongs  to  one  of  the  oldest  families 
of  southern  Illinois,  and  he  is  also  numbered 
among  the  veterans  that  represented  the  State  at 
the  front  during  the  war.  Mr.  Morse  was  born  in 
what  IS  now  Polk  Precinct,  Pope  County,  Febru- 
ary 18,  1837.  His  father,  Samuel  Morse,  was  a 
native  of  South  Carolina,  and  was  a  son  of  John 
IMorse,  who  was  likewise  a  native  of  tiiat  State  and 
was  the  only  one  of  a  large  family  that  ever  came 
to  Illinois  so  far  as  known.  He  went  from  South 
Carolina  to  Tennessee  in  1815,  and  in  1817  came 
to  Illinois,  which  was  then  a  Territory.  He  was 
.accompanied  by  his  wife  and  three  children,  the 
journey  being  made  with  a  team.  They  took  all 
their  earthly  possessions  and   at   noon  and  night 


camped  by  the  wayside  to  rest  and  cook  their  meals. 
John  Morse  selected  a  tract  of  Government  land 
in  what  is  Polk  Precinct,  Pope  County,  for  his 
new  home  and  soon  became  prominent  among  his 
fellow-pioneers.  He  assisted  in  selecting  the  route 
and  in  laying  out  the  State  road  between  Golconda 
and  Marion,  and  was  active  in  other  public  im- 
provements. He  cleared  a  farm  from  the  wilder- 
ness and  continued  his  residence  in  Pope  County 
until  after  the  Mexican  War,  when  he  was  once 
more  seized  with  the  desire  for  migration  and  be- 
took himself  to  far-away  Texas,  removing  thither 
with  teams.  But  he  was  not  pleased  with  the 
country  after  he  arrived  there,  and  without  even 
unloading  his  goods,  retraced  his  steps  to  Illinois 
and  quietly  passed  his  remaining  days  here.  He 
was  a  self-made  man,  as  he  had  no  opportunities 
for  attending  school  when  young,  and  when  he 
came  to  Illinois  could  neither  read  nor  write.  But 
his  wife  had  been  more  fortunate  than  he  in  secur- 
ing an  education  and  he  acquired  proflcienc}'  in 
both  reading  and  writing  under  her  instruction. 
He  was  a  man  of  earnest  piety  and  was  well  known 
in  pioneer  times  as  a  "Hard-Shell"  Baptist  [ireacher. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Amelia  Buckuer. 
She  was  born  in  South  Carolina  and  died  in  Pope 
County,  and  was  the  mother  of  eight  sons,  all  of 
whom  inherited  the  sturdy  physique  characteristic 
of  the  family;  they  were  six  feet  or  over  in  height 
and  none  of  them  weighed  less  than  one  hundred 
and  seventy-flve  pounds.  Their  fatlier  had  been  a 
man  of  powerful  form,  six  feet  in  height  and  two 
hundred  and  sixty  pounds  in  weight. 

Samuel  Morse,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
seven  years  old  when  his  parents  brought  him  to 
Illinois,  which  was  then  in  all  its  original  wildness, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  attempts  to  cultivate 
tlie  land  and  some  scattered  settlements  here  and 
there.  Almost  the  entire Teiritory  was  owned  bj'  the 
Government,  and  Indians  iield  full  sway  in  north- 
ern and  central  Illinois.  Mr.  Morse  grew  to  a  stal- 
wart manhood  amid  the  invigorating  infiuences  of 
pioneer  life,  and  when  he  entered  upon  his  indepen- 
dent career  as  a  farmer  he  secured  a  tract  of  Gov- 
ernment land  in  what  is  now  Union  Precinct  and 
bought  other  land  adjoining,  in  what  is  now  Polk 
Precinct,  where  he   built  up  a  home,  in  which  he 


18(5 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


resided  until  liis  doatli.  lie  married  Lucinda  Slmtnc- 
barger,  a  native  of  Virginia  and  a  daughter  of 
Abram  and  Mary  (Anderson)  Sliultlebarger,  who 
came  from  that  State  to  this  in  1818  and  were 
among  the  early  pioneers  of  this  section.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  is  now  living  at  a  venerable 
age,  making  lier  home  with  her  sons,  of  whom  she 
has  reared  eight.  The  father  of  our  subject  was 
a  Democrat  until  the  war  broke  out,  when  he 
identilied  himself  with  the  Republicans.  He  bore 
an  honorable  part  in  public  affairs  and  was  Asso- 
ciate Judge  of  the  county  at  the  time  the  court 
house  was  built. 

Samuel  L.  Morse,  of  this  sketch,  attended  the 
pioneer  schools  of  Pope  County  in  his  boyhood, 
the  first  one  to  which  he  went  being  held  in  a 
cabin  built  of  small  round  logs,  and  the  chim- 
ney was  made  of  stone  and  wood  plastered  with 
earth.  The  seats,  which  were  made  without  backs 
or  desks  in  front,  were  made  by  splitting  logs  and 
hewing  one  side  smooth,  and  a  plank  placed  against 
the  side  of  the  wall  on  sticks  inserted  in  holes 
bored  in  the  logs  served  as  a  writing-desk  for  the 
older  pupils.  A  section  of  log  was  cut  out  to 
admit  the  light,  and  oiled  paper  in  lieu  of  glass 
was  placed  over  the  aperture. 

Our  subject  began  to  assist  on  the  farm  as  soon 
as  laro'e  enough  to  be  of  use,  and  he  remained  with 
his  parents  until  he  was  nineteen  years  old.  At 
that  age  he  went  to  Adams  County  to  learn  the 
details  of  the  manufacture  of  plows  and  other 
agricultural  implements,  and  was  thus  employed 
until  1862.  In  that  year  he  volunteered  to  act  as 
a  soldier  for  the  Government,  enlisting  in  Com- 
pany F,  Seventy-eighth  Illinois  Infantr}'.  He 
served  with  his  regiment  until  March,  1863,  when 
he  was  detailed  as  a  pioneer  in  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland.  The  duty  of  the  pioneer  corps  was 
to  go  in  advance  of  the  troops  to  construct  roads, 
bridges,  etc.  Our  subject  continued  with  the  corps 
to  which  he  had  been  transferred,  and  in  July, 
1864,  it  was  formed  into  the  First  United  States 
Veteran  Engineers  and  served  as  such  until  Octo- 
ber, 1865,  when  it  was  honorably  discharged. 

Upon  retiring  from  the  army  Mr.  Morse  re- 
turned to  Adams  County,  and  in  1875  came  thence 
to   Pope  County.     He  bought  a  tract  of  land  in 


Union  Precinct  and  has  since  devoted  much  time 
to  agricultural  [lursuits.  He  has  added  to  his 
original  purchase  and  now  has  two  hundred  and 
twent3'  acres  of  land,  including  that  upon  which 
his  grandfather  lived  the  first  two  3'ears  of  his 
residence  in  Pope  County.  This  land  has  been  in 
cultivation  upwards  of  ninety  years. 

In  1887  Mr.  Mor.«e  removed  to  Golconda,  and 
for  three  years  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Singer 
Sewing  JIachine  Company.  At  the  present  time 
he  is  engaged  in  buying  railway  ties.  He  is, 
besides  attending  to  his  i)rivate  business,  filling 
one  of  the  important  civic  otfices  of  Golconda, 
that  of  MunicipalJudge,  to  which  he  was  elected 
in  June,  1892,  and  by  his  intelligent  and  capable 
manner  of  discharging  the  functions  devolving 
upon  him  he  is  a  valuable  factor  in  preserving 
law  and  order  in  the  city.  For  six  years  he  was 
County  Commissioner  and  he  has  always  used  his 
iutlueuce  both  as  a  private  citizen  and  as  a  public 
official  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  the  county-. 
Mr.  Morse  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  the 
immortal  Lincoln,  and  the  Republican  party  has 
always  had  in  him  a  firm  supporter. 

Mr.  Morse  was  married  September  4,  1859,  to 
Sarah,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Eliza  (Anderson) 
Smith  and  a  native  of  Kentucky.  Their  home 
is  replete  with  comfort  and  is  attractive  as  the 
centre  of  a  generous  hospitality.  They  have  three 
children  living,  Josephine,  S.  Walter  and  Lucy. 


^iSS);*fc.@i__ 


RS.  SARA  A.  (DUNCAN)  POOR,  widow 
of  Jasper  Newton  Poor,  is  a  resident  of 
Vienna,  and  well  known  in  social  circles 
as  an  amiable,  attractive  woman,  living  in 
the  most  beautiful  home  in  the  village,  planned  and 
built  by  herself  and  husband  a  short  time  before 
his  death.  She  is  a  native  of  Williamson  County, 
where  her  parents  are  still  living  on  the  old  faim. 
Her  father  is  one  of  the  substantial  farmers  of  his 
county,  and  he  has  also  engaged  in  business  as  a 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW". 


187 


general  merchant  and  dealer  in  tobacco.  He  and 
his  wife  had  a  family  of  six  children,  as  follows: 
Warren  Webster,  a  lawyer  at  Marion;  George 
Washington,  proprietor  of  a  general  merchandise 
store  at  Lake  Creek;  James  Thomas,  who  died  in 
infancy;  Perrin  Wilson,  a  merchant  at  Lake  Creek; 
Charles  L.,  at  home  with  iiis  parents;  and  Sara  A. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  very  well  edu- 
cated in  her  girlhood,  and  her  advantages  at  home 
were  such  as  to  cultivate  the  best  traits  of  her 
character  and  develop  in  her  a  true  womanhood, 
wliich  fitted  her  for  the  responsibilities  of  wedded 
life,  when  she  was  united  in  marriage  with  Jasper 
Newton  Poor,  September  3,  1882.  They  were  con- 
genial in  their  dispositions,  and  worked  together 
hand  in  hand  in  the  building  of  a  dwelling  that 
is  at  once  the  finest  and  coziest  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  Vienna,  its  appointments  luxurious,  taste- 
ful and  comfortable.  Here  Mrs.  Poor  lives  with 
and  for  her  children,  Mamie  Newton  and  Grace 
Duncan,  steadily  and  chcerfullj'  pursuing  the  even 
tenor  of  iier  way,  and  not  permitting  the  lives  of 
lier  loved  ones  to  be  shadowed  by  her  sadness  at 
the  loss  of  one  who  was  a  true  friend  as  well  as  a 
devoted  husband. 

Jasper  N.  Poor  was  a  Johnson  Count3-  boy,  born 
November  5,  1865,  a  son  of  Sampson  D.  Poor,  a 
well-known  pioneer  of  this  county,  now  residing 
in  the  city  of  Metropolis,  in  Massac  County.  Samp- 
son Poor  is  a  native  of  Tennessee,  andcame  totliis 
State  when  quite  young  witli  his  father,  traveling 
hither  with  a  team,  their  household  effects  being 
loaded  into  a  wagon.  The  grandparents  of  our  sub- 
ject's husband  had  but  little  means  with  which  to 
enter  upon  the  new  life  in  a  comparative  wilderness, 
that  was  thinly  inhabited,  and  where  a  great  deal 
of  iiard  labor  was  required  in  clearing  a  farm  be- 
fore they  could  realize  a  competence.  They  were, 
however,  well  able  to  cope  with  the  ditliculties  in- 
cident to  pioneer  life,  and  before  they  passed  away 
had  made  a  comfortable  home  and  had  done  their 
full  share"^in  developing  the  county. 

The  father-in-law  of  our  subject  lived  in  John- 
son County  for  many  years,  was  married  here  to 
Sarah  Jane  Mount,  the  daughter  of  a  pioneer  family 
of  the  county  of  which  she  is  a  native,  and  after 
marriage    he    bought    an    unimproved    farm  here. 


He  and  his  wife  began  life  together  in  a  cabin,  and 
he  devoted  his  energies  to  clearing  his  land,  and 
in  time  made  a  fine  farm  of  it.  He  and  his  help- 
mate also  had  to  encounter  the  hardships  of  front- 
ier life,  and  only  through  sacrifice  and  persistent 
industry  carried  out  their  plans,  and  in  time  had 
one  of  the  best  farms  in  the  neighborhood.  They 
continued  to  occupy  it  until  1886,  when  they  re- 
moved to  Metropolis,  where  they  are  spending 
their  declining  years  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
fruits  of  their  early  labors.  They  were  the  parents 
of  ten  children,  as  here  recorded:  Sarah  Jane,  wife 
of  W.  J.  Fern,  of  Tunnel  Hill  Township;  Jasper 
Newton,  oursubject's  husband;  Sydney  Isabel,  wife 
of  Lewis  H.  Frizzell,  of  Vienna;  George  Washing- 
ton, who  died  in  1887;  Mary,  wife  of  Pleasant  Bur- 
ris,  of  New  Grantsburg;  Elizabeth  Alice,  wife  of 
L.  G.  Simmons,  of  Metropolis;  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin, who  died  in  1868;  Dora  Ann  and  Cora  Ann, 
who  died  in  1873;  and  India  M.,  who  died  in 
1877. 

Jasper  N.  Poor  was  the  second  child  born  to  his 
parents.  He  was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  be- 
sides doing  what  work  was  required  of  him 
as  of  all  farmers'  boys  when  not  in  school,  he 
tended  a  general  merchandise  store,  of  which 
his  father  was  proprietor.  He  had  a  natural  tal- 
ent for  business,  and  this  early  experience,  sec- 
onded by  sound  instructions  in  the  principles  of 
business  and  finance  at  the  Evansville  Business 
College,  of  which  he  was  a  graduate,  gave  him 
superior  advantages  and  made  him  one  of  the 
leaders  in  commercial  enterprises  in  his  native 
county.  He  lived  with  his  parents  until  he  was 
twenty-four  years  old,  and  then  came  to  Vienna  to 
engage  in  the  mercantile  business, associating  him- 
self with  C.  Colin  for  the  ensuing  four  years.  At  the 
end  of  that  time,  in  1884,  he  entered  upon  his 
career  as  a  banker,  establishing  the  Bank  of 
Vienna,  which,  in  the  few  short  years  that  it  was 
under  his  control,  rose  to  lie  one  of  the  first 
moneyed  institutions  in  this  part  of  southern  Illi- 
nois. He  acquired  an  enviable  reputation  as  a 
financier,  whose  keen  insight  into  money  matters 
seldom  found  him  at  fault  in  making  investments, 
while  he  combined  a  progressive  policy  with  cau- 
tious   methods    in   tlic  manaLrement  of   his  bank. 


188 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


He  was  the  soul  of  honor  and  integrity,  and  hon- 
est purpose  characterized  all  his  dealings.  He  met 
his  obligations  promptly,  and  his  patrons,  many  of 
whom  had  known  him  from  childhood,  trusted 
liim  implicitly,  and  their  confidence  was  never 
betrayed.  He  was  absorbed  in  his  business  and 
avoided  civic  life,  although  he  was  thoroughly 
public-spirited  and  was  prominent  and  intluential 
in  furthering  the  progress  of  the  village  and  county. 
While  he  was  yet  in  the  full  Hush  and  vigor  of  a 
noble  manhood,  when  life  was  at  its  brightest  and 
all  things  seemed  well  with  him,  and  a  happy  home 
and  loving  wife  and  children  and  many  friends 
added  to  the  charm  of  living,  death  came  to  him, 
and  January  25,  1890,  his  hands  and  brain  were 
stilled  from  their  labors,  and  his  eyes  closed  in  the 
sleep  thai  knows  no  waking  this  side  of  eternity. 


BlIOMAS  J.  TALMER  is  one  of  the  enter- 
prising and  influential  farmers  of  Pope 
^^  County,  his  home  estate  being  located  on 
section  18,  township  12,  range  6.  He  uses  the 
most  approved  modern  methods  in  carrying  on 
his  farm,  which  is  a  model  of  thrift  and  neatness, 
and  on  account  of  its  great  fertility  is  considered 
a  most  valu.able  property.  On  the  place  is  a  fine 
apple  orchard  of  sixteen  acres,  which  is  just  be- 
ginning to  bear,  and  comprises  many  of  the  best 
varieties  of  this  useful  fruit  grown  in  this  portion 
of  the  Slate.  There  are  good  farm  buildings  and 
a  pleasant  home  residence  on  the  farm,  which  is 
kept  up  in  a  creditable  manner. 

The  subject  of  this  life  record  is  a  native  of 
Mississippi,  having  been  born  in  Panola  County, 
July  30,  1855.  His  father,  William  G.,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Tennessee,  and  his  mother,  who  bore  the 
maiden  name  of  Elizabeth  J.  Barnes,  was  born  in 
the  same  State.  The  fatiier  was  a  cabinet-maker  by 
trade,  and  followed  tiiat  occupation,  together  with 
farming,  in  Mississippi  for  a  number  of  years. 
Coming  to  Illinois  in  18()5,  just  after  the  war,  he 
located   in  Pope  County  and  rented  land.     He  de- 


parted this  life  in  1885,  leaving  a  wife  and  six 
children  to  mourn  his  loss.  For  twenty  years  he 
was  numbered  among  the  worthy  citizens  of  this 
vicinity,  and  was  alwaj's  held  in  the  highest  es- 
teem. Until  reaching  his  majority,  Thomas  J. 
Palmer,  of  whom  we  write,  remained  with  his  par- 
ents, with  dutiful  love  and  labor  endeavoring  as 
far  as  possible  to  lighten  the  load  of  care  and  re- 
sponsibility resting  upon  his  father's  shoulders. 
He  was  unfortunately  not  enabled  to  attend  school 
very  much,  but  being  naturally  of  an  active  mind, 
and  having  a  retentive  memory,  he  availed  him- 
self of  such  chances  of  improving  himself  as  were 
within  his  reach,  and  in  spite  of  adverse  circum- 
stances ultimatelj'  became  a  well-informed  man 
on  various  subjects  of  general  usefulness.  In  ad- 
dition to  becoming  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
all  the  details  of  an  agriculturist,  he  learned  the 
carpenter's  trade. 

On  November  6,  1879,  Mr.  Palmer  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Harriet  E.  Maynor,  who 
was  born  in  Pope  County  July  1,  1859,  on  the 
same  homestead  where  she  now  resides.  This 
worthy  couple  have  five  living  children:  Ezra 
Otto,  Jasper  Newton,  Thomas  J.,  Annie  and  Suda. 
The  parents  are  members  of  the  United  Baptist 
Church,  and  are  active  in  all  good  works,  whether 
as  directly  connected  with  that  denomination  or 
in  general  benevolences.  Mr.  Palmer  is  socially  a 
member  of  Eddyville  Lodge  No.  615, 1.  O.  O.  F., 
and  in  regard  to  politics,  has  always  cast  liis  ballot 
in  favor  of  the  Democratic  party. 


-=l^-f^P=- 


ENN  V.  TROVILLION,  County  Clerk  of 
Pope  County,  is  not  only  one  of  our  most 
valued  civic  otiicials,  but  he  is  one  of  our 
most  progressive  and  successful  business 
men.  He  is  a  native  of  the  county,  born  in  Co- 
lumbus Precinct  April  7,  1855.  His  father,  Ed- 
ward E.  Trovillion,  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Wilson 
County,  Ivy.  The  grandfather  of  our  subject, 
James  Y.  Trcvillian,  was  a  A'irginian  Ij}-  birth  and 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


189 


was  a  son  of  Edward  Trevel3-aa,a  native  of  France, 
who  came  to  America  in  Colonial  times  and  located 
in  Virginia. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject  removed  from 
the  Old  Dominion  to  Tennessee,  and  for  some 
years  lived  in  Wilson  County,  that  State.  In 
1847  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  locating  in  Colum- 
bus Precinct,  Pope  Countj^,  he  spent  his  remaining 
days  there.  His  wife,  who  was  also  born  in  Vir- 
ginia and  whose  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  Mat- 
tox,  likewise  died  in  this  county. 

Edw.ard  E.  Trovillion  passed  his  boj'hood  in  his 
native  State  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  enlisted  for 
service  in  the  Mexican  AVar.  After  its  close  he 
came  to  Pope  County,  secured  a  tract  of  land  in 
what  is  now  Columbus  Precinct,  and  built  the  log 
house  in  which  our  subject  was  born.  Mr.  Trovill- 
ion at  once  commenced  to  clear  his  land  and  was 
thus  engaged  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  CivilAVar. 
Again  he  volunteered  to  serve  his  country,  enlist- 
ing in  Company  G,  Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry',  his 
former  experience  as  a  soldier  making  him  a  valu- 
able addition  to  the  regiment,  and  he  was  commis- 
sioned First  Lieutenant.  He  displaj-ed  high  qual- 
ities as  an  officer  during  his  term  of  service,  but  he 
was  obliged  to  leave  the  army,  privations  and  ex- 
posure undermining  his  health,  and  he  resigned 
only  to  return  home  to  die,  as  his  health  contin- 
ued to  fail,  and  death  ensued  March  10,  1865. 
Thus  his  brave  and  patriotic  spirit  was  sacrificed 
on  the  altar  of  his  country  as  truly  as  if  he  had 
died  on  the  battle-field.  His  had  been  a  blameless 
life  and  he  stood  high  in  the  estimation  of  his  fel- 
low-citizens. He  was  a  preacher  in  the  Baptist 
Church  and  was  influential  in  its  upbuilding.  In 
politics,  he  was  distinguished  as  being  one  of  the 
first  Republicans  in  the  countj',  and  was  one  of  the 
few  to  vote  for  Lincoln  in  1860. 

The  mother  of  our  subject  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Nancy  Carr  and  was  boru  in  Wilson 
Count}',  Teun.  By  the  death  of  her  husband  she 
was  left  with  the  care  of  seven  children,  and  nobl^" 
did  she  shoulder  her  burden.  But  few  acres  of  her 
land  were  cleared,  but  she  superintended  its  further 
development  and  managed  the  farm  with  marked 
ability.  She  kept  her  children  together  until  they 
were  able  to  care  for  themselves,  and  still  occupies 


the  old  farm,  surrounded  with  every  evidence  of 
comfort  and  plenty,  the  fruits  of  her  early  toil. 
Her  father  was  John  Carr,  a  native  of  Virginia 
and  a  son  of  Thomas  Carr,  who  was  also,  il  is 
supposed,  a  native  of  the  Old  Dominion  and  was 
probably  descended  from  one  Thomas  Carr,  an 
Englishman  who  came  to  America  in  1680  and 
settled  on  a  grant  of  land  in  Virginia  that  he  had 
secured  from  the  king.  The  grandfather  of  our 
subject  was  reared  and  married  in  Virginia  but 
subsequently  went  from  there  to  Wilson  County, 
Tenn.,  where  he  obtained  a  large  tract  of  land, 
which  he  cultivated  by  slave  labor.  He  lived  to 
an  advanced  age  and  died  during  the  Civil  War. 

Our  subject  had  to  begin  the  battle  of  life  early, 
but  he  was  fortified  by  a  good  home  training  that 
inculcated  industrious  habits  as  well  as  honorable 
principles.  As  soon  as  large  enough  he  began  to 
assist  on  the  farm,  but  his  education  was  by  no 
means  neglected,  as  he  attended  the  district  school 
a  part  of  each  year.  He  was  ambitious  to  secure  a 
higher  education,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty  entered 
the  High  School  at  Galatiaand  was  a  close  student 
within  its  walls  two  years.  In  the  meantime  he 
made  his  home  with  a  physician  and  earned  his 
board  by  doing  chores  and  otherwise  making  him- 
self useful.  After  leaving  college  he  taught  school 
in  Saline  County,  and  was  so  engaged  two  years. 
In  January,  1878,  he  entered  the  emplo}'  of  Maj. 
Pierce  as  clerk  at  a  salary  of  125  a  month,  pa3-ing 
$15  of  it  for  board.  He  clerked  nearly  two  years 
and  gained  a  business  experience  that  has  been  in- 
valuable to  him,  besides  receiving  many  benefits 
at  the  hands  of  Maj.  Pierce,  for  which  he  will  never 
cease  to  be  grateful.  AVhen  he  left  the  Major's 
employ  it  was  to  form  a  partnership  with  Thomas 
Baker  in  the  dry-goods  business. 

Three  months  later  Mr.  Trovillion  received  the 
appointment  of  Deputy  County  Clerk  and  sold  his 
interest  in  the  mercantile  business.  He  continued 
as  Deputy  Clerk  until  1882,  when  he  was  honored 
by  election  to  the  office  of  Count}'  Clerk,  to  which 
he  was  re-elected  in  1886  and  again  in  1890,  and 
is  now  serving  his  third  term,  to  the  universal  sat- 
isfaction of  all  concerned,  irrespective  of  party. 
His  genial  personality  has  gained  him  popularity 
among  his  associates,  and  he  is  one  of  the  leading 


190 


PORTRAIT  AND    i;i(  x:  ItAlMIICA  I,    I.'KVIKW. 


members,  of  llie  following  social  organizatious: 
Golcoiula  Lodge  No.  131,  A.  F.  .1-  A.  M.,  and  Gol- 
oonda  CliapUT  No.  1(12,  K.  A.  IM. 

"Slv.  Troviilion  is  a  fine  Ivpo  of  oui-  si'lf-niadc 
men,  and  while  yet  in  the  prime  of  life  has  won 
for  himself  a  name  in  business  circles  as  one  of  the 
substantial  citizens  of  the  county.  He  started  in 
life  with  no  caiiital,  prudently  saved  his  earnings, 
invested  them  judiciously  and  has  acquired  a 
handsome  property.  He  has  dealt  quite  exten- 
sively in  real  estate  and  has  paid  some  attention  to 
farming  and  stock-raising  witii  good  profit.  At 
the  present  time  he  owns  three  hundred  and  eigh- 
teen acres  of  land  in  Livingston  County,  Ky., 
wliicli  he  devotes  to  raising  corn  in  large  quan- 
tities. In  1892  he  became  associated  with  Charles 
C.  Steyer  as  owner  of  the  Golconda  Roller  Flour- 
ing Mills.  These  mills  are  furnished  with  all 
modern  machinery  for  the  manufacture  of  flour 
and  have  a  capacity  of  one  hundred  barrels  a  day, 
turning  out  a  fine  grade  of  flour,  which  is  alw.ays 
in  demand  in  the  markets. 

INIr.  Troviilion  was  married  in  September,  1880, 
to  Miss  Maggie  Murjjhy,  a  native  of  New  Orleans. 
She  died  August  18,  1889,  leaving  three  children: 
Madge,  Hob  and  Ralph,  the  latter  two  twins. 


*.^^| 


Lh:®.h 


l,i^ 


fiHOMAS  J.  IMURRAY,  Judge  of  the  Probate 
f^^^  Court,  Johnson  County,  has  already  at- 
i^p/  tained  prominence  in  his  profession,  al- 
though a  comparatively  j'oung  man.  A  native  of 
Saline  County,  this  State,  coming  of  one  of  its  old- 
est pioneer  families,  he  was  born  January  1,  18.58. 
His  father,  James  Murray,  was  born  in  Tennessee, 
December  22,  1806.  The  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, also  James  Murray,  was  a  native  of  Scotland, 
who,  after  coining  to  America,  resided  for  a  while 
in  North  Carolina  and  in  Tennessee,  and  from  the 
latter  State  came  to  the  Territory  of  Illinois  in 
1812,  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Saline 
County.  He  was  also  one  of  the  pioneer  educators 
of    the  Torrilory,  having  himself  1)0(mi   wc^U  edu- 


cated. He  became  interested  in  agriculture,  se- 
cured a  tract  of  (Jovernment  land  and  improved  a 
farm,  which  was  his  home  until  his  death  at  a  ripe 
nge.  lie  was  the  father  of  seven  children:  Abuer, 
Mark,  Anise,  Peggy,  Sally,  James  and  William. 
The  latter  is  the  only  one  living,  and  is  eighty-two 
years  of  age.  The  others  lived  to  an  average  of 
about  seventy  years. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  six  years  old  when 
he  came  to  Illinois  with  his  parents.  lie  was 
reared  and  educated  in  Saline  County,  and  became 
one  of  its  successful  teachers,  devoting  himself  to 
his  profession  in  the  winter  seasons,  and  the  re- 
mainder of  the  year  engaging  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits. He  secured  a  tract  of  Government  land,  on 
which  he  located  at  the  time  of  his  first  marriage, 
which  united  him  with  Elizabeth  Newman,  by 
whom  he  had  nine  children,  of  whom  there  are 
five  living:  Abner,  James  W.,  Mark;  Nancy  L., 
now  Mrs.  Samuel  Elder;  and  Sarah,  widow  of 
Pleasant  Stradley.  After  her  death  he  married 
the  mother  of  our  subject.  He  improved  a  fine 
farm,  and  resided  npon  it  until  1876,  when  he 
came  to  Johnson  County  and  bought  a  farm  in 
Simpson  Township,  and  there  his  death  occurred 
August  29,  1882.  The  maiden  name  of  hissecond 
wife  was  Susan  J.  Fletcher.  She  was  born  in  Saline 
County,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Wesle3'  Fletcher, 
and  widow  of  Renjamin  Rush.  She  died  in  1872, 
having  been  the  mother  of  these  children:  Thomas 
J.,  George  W.,  Riley  E.,  Amanda  C,  Frances  E.  and 
Eddie  L.  In  1876  he  was  again  married,  this  time 
to  Miss  Mariah  P)rill,  of  Johnson  County,  who  is 
still  living. 

Judge  Murra_v  received  his  early  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  his  native  count3-.  The  first 
school  that  he  attended  was  taught  in  a  typical 
pioneer  schoolhouse,  that  was  furnished  in  the 
most  primitive  manner,  the  seats  being  made  of 
small  logs  split  and  hewn  smooth  on  one  side,  with 
wooden  pins  for  legs.  A  board  resting  on  pins 
against  the  side  of  the  house  served  as  a  desk  for 
the  large  scholars  to  write  on.  The  chimne3'  was 
made  of  earth  and  sticks,  and  a  rude  fireplace 
heated  the  schoolroom.  Our  subject  also  went  to 
the  public  schools  in  this  county,  after  coming 
here.     He  determined  to  enter  the  legal  profession, 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


191 


studied  law  with  the  Hon.  P.  T.  Cli.npraan,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1886.  lie  has  risen 
rapidly  to  the  front,  earning  first  a  sound  reputa- 
tion as  a  keen,  clear-headed  lawj'er,  well  grounded 
in  law,  and  in  1890  winning  the  honor  of  election 
to  his  present  responsible  position  as  Probate  .ludge 
for  a  period  of  four  j'ears.  He  is  admirably  fitted 
for  the  office,  performing  the  functions  devolving 
iil)on  him  with  dignity,  discretion  and  unwaver- 
ing probity,  and  his  decisions  are  marked  by  a 
careful  study  of  the  merits  of  the  case,  and  a  pro- 
found understanding  of  the  laws  bearing  upon  it. 
The  Judge  was  formerly  a  Republican,  but  finding 
himself  in  full  sympathy  with  the  aims  of  the  Peo- 
ple's party,  he  has  identified  himself  with  it,  and 
is  one  of  its  ablest  supporters  in  this  vicinity. 

In  1884  Judge  Murray  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Bliss  Rhoda  E.,  daughter  of  Joseph  E.  and 
Enda  A.  Modglin,  who  is  a  native  of  Johnson 
County.  She  possesses  many  fine  traits  of  charac- 
ter, and  the  Baptist  Church  finds  in  her  an  earnest 
member.  She  presides  well  over  her  home,  and 
unites  with  her  husband  in  making  it  the  seat  of  a 
genial,  open-handed  hospitality.  Their  little  son 
Roy  C(>m[)letes  their  household. 


'^  AMES  V.  TIALCOM,  whose  war  record  as 
a  ti'ue  soldier  with  the  dearest  interests  of 
his  countr}'  at  heart,  reflects  credit  on  the 
State  that  sent  him  to  the  front,  is  one  of 
the  foremost  farmers  of  Johnson  County,  and  the 
fortunate  proprietor  of  two  choice  farms,  one  in 
Grantsburg  Township  and  one  in  Cache  Township, 
besides  valuable  residence  property'  in  the  suburbs 
of  Vienna,  where  he  makes  his  home. 

Our  subject  is  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  a 
son  of  Stephen  Halcom,  a  patriotic  veteran  of  the 
late  war,  who  sacrificed  his  health  for  his  country's 
good  while  helping  to  fight  its  battles.  Stephen 
Ilalcom  was  l)orn  in  Jackson  County,  Tenn.,  and 
there  grew    u|i    without   educational    advantages. 


He  became  a  farmer  and  rented  land  to  carry  on 
his  operations.  Hearing  favorable  reports  of  tiie 
cheapness  of  the  land,  and  of  its  great  fertility,  in 
southern  Illinois,  he  embarked  with  his  few  pos- 
sessions on  board  a  steamboat,  his  family  accom- 
panying him,  and  in  due  season  landed  at  Gol- 
conda.  That  was  in  the  year  18.55,  and  upon  his 
arrival  in  Pope  County  he  rented  a  farm,  and  for 
a  number  of  years  conducted  a  very  good  business 
as  a  renter.  Ho  laid  by  money  enough  to  buj-  a 
farm  of  his  own,  although  it  had  been  but  little 
improved,  and  its  forty  acres  had  been  little  cul- 
tivated. He  moved  into  the  small  log  cabin  that 
stood  on  the  place,  and  entered  with  a  good  will 
into  the  hard  task  that  lay  before  him  of  develop- 
ing his  land.  He  worked  steadily  at  his  task,  but 
finally'  laid  down  his' work  to  volunteer  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  Government,  enlisting  December  1, 
1863,  in  Company  M,  Thirteenth  Illinois  Cavalry. 
He  remained  in  the  service  until  after  the  rebell- 
ion closed,  but  he  was  disabled  l)v  all  that  he  had 
endured,  and  on  that  account  was  honorably  dis- 
charged in  June,  1865.  Tlie  most  important  battle 
in  which  he  took  i)art  was  that  at  Eittle  Rock, 
Ark.,  though  he  was  an  actor  in  several  skirmishes 
with  the  enemy.  His  life  as  a  soldier  so  impaired 
his  health  that  he  has  never  regained  his  old- 
time  vigor.  A  year  after  his  return  from  the 
scenes  of  war  he  sold  his  farm,  and  is  now  living 
with  his  son  .James  F. 

Mr.  Halcom  was  married  while  living  in  his  na- 
tive Stale  to  Miss  Nancy  Curnel,  who  was  also 
born  in  Jackson  County,  Tenn.,  and  her  death  oc- 
curred in  Tennessee  in  1852.  He  married  for  his 
second  wife  Sarah  Baldwin,  a  native  of  Henry 
County,  Tenn.  He  had  a  family  of  four  children, 
as  follows:  Sarah,  deceased;  James  F.;  William 
Clayton,  a  farmer  in  Grantsburg  Township;  and 
Maria,  deceased. 

The  subject  of  tliis  sketch  was  born  in  Mont- 
gomery Count}',  Tenn.,  in  1844,  and  was  the  sec- 
ond child  of  his  father's  first  marriage.  His 
mother  died  when  he  was  but  eight  years  old,  and 
to  be  thus  early  dejjrived  of  her  kindly  and  wise 
guidance  was  a  great  loss  to  him.  As  soon  as 
large  enough  he  had  to  make  himself  useful  on  the 
farm,  and   remained  at  home  engaged    in  agricul- 


192 


I'olJI'UArr  AM)    I'.loCltAI'lllCAL   !;k\ik\v. 


lur.'il  pursiiils  until  lie  w:is  niiioteeu  years  old, 
when  lie  followed  his  father's  patriotic  example 
and  hecame  ?.  member  of  the  same  regiment  tiiat 
he  joined,  the  Thirteenth  Illinois  Cavalry.  Young 
as  he  was,  he  left  a  wife  behind  to  mourn  his  de- 
parture, but  while  he  was  away  lighting  for  liis 
countiy  she  died.  In  one  of  the  numerous  skir- 
mishes with  the  enemy  in  which  he  bore  a  gallant 
part,  the  encounter  taking  place  eight  miles  from 
Pine  llluff,  Ark.,  he  was  captured,  and  suffered 
imprisonment  ten  montlis  and  nineteen  days  at 
Tyler,  Tex.  In  journeying  thither  he  was  marched 
hundreds  of  miles  over  the  burning  sands  in  the 
month  of  July  and  August,  when  every  step  with 
blistered  feet  was  agonj'.  He  had  two  attacks  of 
sickness,  but  miraculously  recovered  in  spite  of 
the  hard  prison  fare,  which  comprised  one  quart 
of  coarse,  unbolted  corn  meal,  in  which  husks  still 
remained,  and  a  half  pound  of  beef,  the  latter  not 
always  forthcoming,  the  half-starved  prisoners 
sometimes  being  three  or  four  days  without.  Our 
subject  in  his  desperation  planned  an  escape, 
but  was  hunted  down  by  bloodhounds  and  taken 
back  to  his  loathsome  quarters.  May  27,1865,  he 
was  exchanged  and  returned  to  his  regiment,  and 
was  finallj^  discharged  from  the  army  in  Septem- 
ber following.  The  strong  youth  returned  home 
an  enfeebled  man  as  the  result  of  what  he  had 
passed  through,  and,  saddest  of  all,  the  young  wife 
whom  he  had  left  to  watch  for  his  coming  had 
died  while  he  was  languishing  in  prison,  hundreds 
of  miles  away. 

As  soon  as  he  had  in  a  measure  recovered  his 
health,  ]\Ir.  Ilalcom  resumed  farming,  renting  land 
for  some  twelve  years  in  Johnson  County  for  that 
purpose.  Industry,  wise  economy  and  practical 
ability  as  a  farmer  gave  him  a  good  start,  and  at 
the  end  of  that  time  he  bought  forty  acres  of  wild 
land  in  Grantsburg  Township,  and  building  a  log 
cabin  upon  it  for  a  dwelling,  took  possession  of  it, 
and  at  once  began  to  clear  and  till  his  land.  Sell- 
ing that  place,  he  bought  a  tract  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  acres  of  unimproved  land  in  the 
same  township,  erected  a  good  barn  and  other 
necessary  buildings,  and  dwelt  upon  it  one  year. 
He  disposed  of  that  place,  and  the  ensuing  ten 
years  rented  land  (ov  fanning    in    riiioii    Count}-. 


At  the  end  of  Hint  time  he  lioiiglit  a  farm  in  the 
same  count}',  which  he  sold  two  years  later,  and 
put  his  monej'  in  a  farm  in  tJrantsburg  Township- 
this  county.  A  year  later  he  sold  that  and  moved 
to  a  farm  of  eighty  acres  that  he  bmight  in  Bloom- 
field  Township.  He  occupied  it  two  years,  sold  it. 
and  purchasing  a  desirable  piece  of  residential 
property,  pleasantly  located  in  the  suburbs  of 
Vienna,  has  lived  here  since.  lie  is  still,  however, 
identified  with  the  agricultural  interests  of  the 
county,  owing  two  farms,  as  before  mentioned, 
and  is  classed  among  our  successful  farmers  and 
business  men.  In  politics,  he  votes  with  the  Re- 
publicans, and  in  all  things  we  know  him  to  be  a 
most  loyal  and  exemplary  citizen.  His  wife  and 
familj'  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  he  contributes  liberally  to  its  sup- 
port. 

Mr.  Ilalcom  had  one  child  li\-  his  lirsl  marriage, 
Sarah  Nancy,  who  is  dead.  The  maiden  name  of 
our  subject's  present  wife  was  Mary  A.  Comer. 
Seven  children  were  born  to  them:  James  Mon- 
roe, a  farmer  in  Grantsburg  Township;  Mary 
Madeline,  deceased;  Stephen  Nathaniel,  at  home: 
William  Edgar,  deceased;  and  Lula  Belle,  Moses 
and  Le  Roy  Francis,  all  at  home  with  their  par- 
ents. 


^>-^^<m 


ylLLIAM  Y.  DAVIS,  who  is  living  on  the 
old  family  homestead  in  Cache  Precinct, 
^^^  where  his  birth  occurred  January  2,  1851, 
is  one  of  the  practical  farmers  of  Johnson  County. 
His  father,  whose  name  was  the  same  as  his  own, 
was  born  in  Johnson  Count}',  N.  C.,and  was  about 
a  year  old  when  his  parents  removed  to  Alabama, 
the  journey  to  their  destination  being  made  with 
a  horse  and  cart.  The  father  did  not  live  long 
after  settling  in  his  new  home,  and  the  mother 
married  again.  When  William  was  fourteen  years 
old  the  family  went  to  Middle  Tennessee,  and 
after  a  residence  there  of  two  years,  came  to  Illi- 
nois, and  located  four  miles  west  of  Marion, 
in  Williamson  Count}'.     At    tlie    age   of    twenty- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


193 


eigbt  Mr.  Davis  m.irried,  and  he  and  his  bride 
came  to  .Johnson  County,  and  were  among  the  first 
to  settle  iu  Cache  Township,  where  he  purchased  a 
tract  of  timlier  land.  He  at  once  built  a  log  cabin, 
sawing  the  lumber  with  which  it  was  finished  with 
a  whip  saw,  and  riving  and  shaving  the  shingles 
for  the  roof  by  hand.  That  humble  dwelling  was 
the  birthplace  of  our  subject. 

The  father  devoted  his  energies  to  clearing  his 
land  and  putting  it  under  cultivation,  and  in  time 
he  had  improved  a  valuable  farm,  which  was  his 
home  until  he  closed  his  ej-es  in  death  September 
14,  1892,  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-nine 
j'ears.  His  memory  will  always  be  cherished  as 
that  of  one  of  our  honored  pioneers  who  braved 
the  hardships  of  frontier  life  and  helped  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  this  county's  present  prosperity. 
His  faithful  companion  had  passed  away  shortly 
before  he  did,  d3'ing  August  7,  1892.  She  bore 
the  maiden  name  of  Martha  Smith  Gore,  and  was 
one  of  the  earliest  born  natives  of  the  county,  her 
birthplace  being  four  miles  west  of  Vienna,  and 
she  was  a  daughter  of  .John  Gore,  one  of  the  early 
pioneers  of  this  part  of  Illinois.  She  was  the 
mother  of  these  ten  children:  William  B.,  Eliza, 
Mary  J.,  Alexander,  Martha,  Caroline,  Elandor, 
William  Y.,  Elizabeth  and  Isora. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  attended  the  pioneer 
schools  of  this  county  which  were  still  in  vogue  in 
his  boyhood.  He  was  but  three  years  old  when 
his  education  commenced,  and  the  first  schools 
that  he  went  to  were  taught  in  a  log  house  that 
had  furniture  of  the  most  primitive  kind;  the 
seats,  which  were  without  backs,  or  desks  in  front, 
were  made  by  splitting  small  trees,  hewing  one 
side  smooth,  and  inserting  wooden  pins  for  legs. 
Our  subject's  experience  in  farming  commenced 
when  he  was  verj^  young,  as  soon,  in  fact,  as  he 
w.as  large  enough  to  handle  farming  implements. 
He  resided  with  his  parents  until  his  marriage,  and 
then  built  his  present  residence,  which  stands  about 
three  hundred  yards  from  his  father's  dwelling. 
He  is  a  capable,  careful,  wide-awake  farmer,  and  is 
conducting  his  farming  operations  with  a  good  de- 
gree of  success. 

In  July,  1877,  Mr.  Davis  was  happily  married  to 
Miss  Allhier  Hawk,  a  native  of  the  county,  and  a 


daughter  of  Calvin  and  Julia  Hawk.  They  have 
five  children,  whom  they  have  named  Frank, 
Roxanna,  Lora  May,  Charles  Ray  and  William 
Yearly. 

Our  subject's  political  views  are  of  the  Republi- 
can order,  and  he  stands  stanchly  by  his  party. 
He  is  in  every  respect  a  good  citizen ;  his  neigh- 
bors* find  him  kind  and  obliging  in  his  intercourse 
with  them,  and  fair  in  his  dealings,  while  in  his 
family  relations  he  is  a  devoted  husband  and 
father.  He  is  a  member  in  high  standing  of  Mari- 
on Lodge  No.  457,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  and  of  Vesta 
Lodge  No.  340,  I.  O.  O.  F. 


^^m^^^m^m 


ON.  WILLIAM  S.  MORRIS,  of   Golconda, 

))  has  won  an  enduring  reputation  in  various 

walks  of    life.     Entering  the  army  a  mere 

^j  boy,  his  career,  marked  113'  valor,  endurance 
and  fidelity  to  his  country,  reflected  credit  on  his 
regiment,  the  famous  Thirty-first  Illinois,  com- 
manded by  John  A.  Logan.  As  a  lawyer  he  has 
attained  high  rank,  and  as  a  legislator  and  politi- 
cian he  has  rendered  his  count}'  and  State  honor- 
able service. 

Our  subject  was  born  December  4,  1842,  four 
miles  from  the  present  site  of  Omaha,  Gallatin 
County,  of  which  his  father,  Overton  B.  Morris, 
was  a  pioneer.  The  latter  was  born  at  Lynchburgh, 
Va.,  and  the  family  histoiy  records  that  he  was 
descended  from  one  of  three  brothers  who  came 
from  England  to  America  far  back  in  Colonial 
days  and  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  Old 
Dominion.  The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Will- 
iam Morris,  who  was  a  planter  and  tobacco  man- 
ufacturer, was  also  born  in  the  vicinit}'  of  Lynch- 
burgh. During  some  period  of  his  life  he  removed 
from  Virginia  to  Tennessee,  and  settling  in  Obion 
County,  gave  his  attention  to  teaching  and  died 
there  about  1854.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Martha  White  and  she  was  likewise  a  Virgin- 
ian by  birth. 

Overtf)n  Morris  left  the  home  of  his  youtli  when 


194 


I'Oin'UAI  r  AM)    P.IOCUAl'lllCAI.    l!i;\  ll'AV. 


a  young  man,  and  first  settled  in  Tennessee,  and 
subsequently  moved  Northward  as  far  as  Ken  tuck}', 
finally  finding  his  way  to  Illinois  in  1836.  He 
took  up  his  residence  in  Gallalin  County,  becoming 
active!}'  identified  with  its  |)ionecrs,  married,  and 
with  the  aid  of  his  helpful,  devoted  wife,  entered 
with  a  good  will  ui)on  the  task  of  building  up  a 
home.  lie  secured  a  tract  of  Government  land 
and  he  and  his  bride  commenced  houskeeping  in 
a  log  cabin,  which  was  afterward  the  birthplace  of 
their  son,  our  subject.  Beside  working  industri- 
ousl}'  at  farming  and  at  raising  tobacco,  which  was 
the  chief  croj)  in  those  days,  and  manufacturing 
the  plant  into  chewing  tobacco  and  cigars,  he 
taught  school,  being  an  educated  man,  and  was  one 
of  the  early  teachers  of  the  county.  He  lived  in 
Gallatin  Count}'  some  years,  and  later  was  a  resident 
at  various  times  of  Saline,  Williamson,  Franklin  and 
Hardin  Counties,  his  death  occurring  at  Elizabeth- 
town,  in  the  latter  county,  in  1888,  at  the  vener- 
able age  of  seventy-nine  years.  His  wife,  who  died 
in  1860,  was  Elizabeth  K.  Eubanks  in  her  maiden 
days.  She  was  born  in  White  County,  and  was  a 
daughter  of  the  Hon.  William  and  Nancy  (Holly) 
Eubanks.  It  is  supposed  that  her  father  was  a  na- 
tive of  Virginia.  He  was  a  prominent  pioneer 
farmer  of  White  County,  where  he  spent  his  last 
years.  He  was  active  in  public  life,  and  was  a 
member  uf  the  Third  General  Assembly  of  the 
State. 

The  subject  of  this  biograph}'  had  but  few  edu- 
cational advantages  in  his  youth,  attending  school 
but  little,  and  he  is  mainly  self-educnted.  He  was 
but  eighteen  years  old  when  the  war  broke  out 
and  was  living  with  his  father.  With  all  the  ardor 
of  youth,  seconded  by  devoted  patriotism,  he 
longed  to  take  his  place  in  the  ranks  and  march  to 
the  defense  of  his  country,  and  his  dearest  wish  was 
soon  gratified,  for  the  18th  of  August,  1861,  found 
his  name  enrolled  as  a  member  of  Company  C, 
Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  commanded  by  Col. 
John  A.  Logan. 

From  the  Adjutant-General's  rei)ort  we  extract 
the  following  information  concerning  the  gallant 
Thirty-first,  that  won  so  many  laurels:  "The  regi- 
ment was  mustered  into  the  service  at  Cairo,  Sep- 
tember   18,   1861.     With    less    than   two   mouths" 


drill  this  regiment  took  part  in  the  battle  of  liel- 
mont,  Mo.,  November  7, 1861,  cutting  its  way  into 
the  enemy's  camp,  and  witii  equal  valor,  but  less 
hazard,  cut  its  way  out  again.  It  participated  in 
the  battles  of  Ft.  Henry  and  Ft.  Donelsou,  and  in 
the  latter  engagement  lost  two  hundred  and  sixty 
men  in  killed  and  wounded.  The  regiment  was 
with  (Jrant  in  the  first  cami)aign  against  Vicksburg 
and  later  in  the  battle  of  Thompson  Hill,  near  Port 
Gibson;  in  the  battles  of  Raymond  (Miss.)  and 
Champion  Hill  and  in  the  siege  and  cajiture  of 
Vicksburg.  The  Thirty-first  was  the  first  regiment 
to  enter  Vicksburg  on  the  morning  of  the  ever- 
memorable  .luly  4,  1863. 

"On  the  5th  of  January,  1 864,  the  greater  part  of 
the  regiment,  our  subject  included,  re-enlisted,  and 
after  taking  part  in  Sherman's  campaign  against 
Meridian  the  men  were  granted  a  furlough.  When 
it  expired  they  joined  the  regiment  at  Clifton,  on 
the  Tennessee  River,  and  joining  Sherman's  army 
at  Ackworth  Station  participated  in  the  battles  en 
route  to  Atlanta,  in  the  siege  and  capture  of  that 
city,  in  the  battles  at  Lovejoy's  Station  and  Jones- 
boro,  and  were  with  Sherman  on  the  march  to  the 
sea.  From  Savannah  they  went  by  steamship  to 
Beaufort,  S.  C,  and  were  in  several  battles  and 
skirmishes  in  North  and  South  Carolina  and  were 
with  that  part  of  the  army  to  which  Gen.  .Johnston 
surrendered.  After  that  the  regiment  marched  by 
way  of  Richmond  to  AVashington,  and  there  par- 
ticipated in  the  Grand  Review  on  the  24th  of  May. 
From  Washington  the  Thirty-first  went  to  Louis- 
ville and  remained  there  until  July  19,  1865, 
when  it  was  mustered  out  of  service,  and  at  Spring- 
field, III.,  was  finally  discharged,  on  the  3 1st  of  that 
month.  At  the  time  of  mustering  out,  all  of  the 
twenty-five  officers,  except  the  Chaplain,  had  risen 
from  the  ranks."  Such  is  the  simple  report  of 
victories  achieved  and  honors  won  by  the  gallant 
Thirty-first  under  the  inspiration  of  its  noble 
leader. 

After  his  return  from  the  scenes  of  war,  our 
subject  joined  his  father  at  Frankfort  and  engaged 
with  him  in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco.  He  was 
soon  elected  to  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace 
and  this  led  him  to  the  study  of  law.  He  became  a 
student  in  the  law  school  taught  by  Judge  Andrew 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


195 


J.  Diiflf,  of  Benton,  and  in  1870  he  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar,  having  laid  deep  and  well  the  founda- 
tion of  his  future  success  bj^  close  application  to 
his  books.  His  first  experience  as  a  lawyer  was  at 
Elizabethtown,  where  he  had  an  ollice  until  1880. 
Since  then  he  has  practiced  at  Golconda  and  has 
easily  made  his  way  to  the  front  among  the  most 
astute  and  able  men  of  tiie  profession  in  the  county. 
His  mental  calibre,  decision  of  character  and  per- 
sonal merit  have  made  him  influential  as  a  polit- 
ical leader  and  have  won  him  public  honors.  He 
cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  Gen.  Grant  in 
1868,  and  affiliated  with  the  Republicans  until  the 
passage  of  the  McKinle}'  Bill  in  1890,  when  he 
joined  his  fortunes  with  the  Democratic  party. 
He  has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  many  campaigns 
since  the  war,  and  has  stumped  the  county  and 
district  man3-  a  time.  He  was  first  elected  to  the 
State  Legislature  in  1872,  and  again  in  1876, 
while  in  1882  he  was  sent  to  the  State  Senate  by 
his  admiring  fellow-citizens.  While  there  he  voted 
for  Cullom  and  Logan  for  United  States  Senators, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  one  hundred  and  three 
supporters  who  stood  so  faithfully  bj'  the  latter 
in  that  memorable  contest  for  the  Senatorship. 

Mr.  Morris  was  wedded  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Gar- 
land in  186G,  and  their's  was  a  true  marriage, 
whose  tranquil  happiness  ended  only  in  the  death 
of  the  beloved  wife,  -January  3,  1889.  She  was  a 
native  of  Lawrence  County, In d.,  bom  in  the  town 
of  Rusiiville,  June  14,  1848,  and  was  a  daughter 
of  Grillin  and  Ann  (Richardson)  Garland.  She 
left  four  children,  to  whom  she  had  been  a  tender 
mother:  AVilliam  B.,  Mary  A.  L.,  George  G.  and 
David  IT. 


r~ 


^HADDEUS  Q.  PROCTOR  is  the  proprietor 
/jjK-v  of  a  well-equipped  mercantile  establishment 
at  Buncombe,  and  conducts  a  prolital)le 
Inisiness  at  that  point.  Tennessee  is  his  native 
State,  and  he  was  born  .June  3,  lS.j().     His  father. 


James  Proctor,  was  born  in  the  same  State,  was 
reared  on  a  farm,  and  made  it  his  home  until  the 
fall  of  1860,  when  he  came  to  Illinois.  He  bought 
and  settled  on  land  in  Union  County,  ten  miles 
northeast  of  Anna,  and  engaged  in  farming  there 
for  some  ten  years.  In  1870  he  came  to  Johnson 
County,  purchased  land  near  Goreville,  and  there 
spent  his  remaining  days,  dying  in  1882,  and  leav- 
ing behind  him  a  worthy  life  record.  His  wife 
was  also  a  native  of  Tennessee,  her  name  before 
marriage  being  Frances  J.  Henh',  and  she  was  a 
daughter  of  Pleasant  Henl}'.  She  died  in  1881. 
Four  children  were  reared  b}'  the  parents  of  our 
subject:  IMartha,  .Joel,  Mary  and  Tiiaddeus. 

Thaddeus  Q.  Proctor  was  but  four  years  old 
when  he  was  brought  to  Illinois  b}^  his  parents,  and 
his  life  has  since  been  spent  mostly  in  this  State. 
He  was  well  educated  in  the  public  schools,  and  had 
had  some  experience  in  teaching  himself,  having 
had  charge  of  a  school  in  this  county  one  term 
and  of  another  in  Missouri  a  like  length  of  time. 
He  resided  beneath  the  parental  roof  until  he  was 
twenty-one,  and  then  commenced  to  work  on  a 
farm  by  the  month,  and  was  thus  employed  until 
1886.  He  was  frugal  and  industrious,  and  by  that 
time  had  money  enough  to  enter  the  mercantile 
business,  forming  a  partnership  with  his  brother 
J.  H.  at  Regent,  111.,  and  continuing  with  him  un- 
til 1889,  when  he  sold  his  interest  in  the  concern 
to  his  brother.  He  then  went  into  partnership 
with  W.  J.  Suit  to  carry  on  a  general  mercantile 
business  at  Buncombe.  In  October,  1891,  he  bought 
his  partner's  interest  in  the  establishment,  and  has 
since  been  in  business  alone.  He  carries  a  large 
stock  of  general  merchandise,  and  by  promptness, 
close  attention  to  business,  and  fairness  in  dealing, 
he  has  built  up  an  extensive  trade.  He  has  a 
kindh',  obliging  disposition,  is  conscientious  and 
straightforward,  and  is  found  on  the  side  of  right 
in  all  that  concerns  the  religious  and  social  ad- 
vancement of  the  communit}'.  His  political  views 
are  strictly  Republican.  The  Cumlierland  Pres- 
bj'terian  Church  had  in  his  father  a  member  who 
was  ever  active  in  its  service. 

In  1889  our  subject  took  an  important  step  in 
life  by  his  marriage  with  Miss  Sally  Suit,  a  native 
of  Missouri,  and   a    daughter   of   Albert  Suit,  who 


196 


pou'rijAiT  AM)  liiociJAriiicAi,  i;i;\ii:\v. 


was  l)()in  in  IviMitiu'k.v,  llu'  inoUier  being  a  native 
of  Missoiu-i.  Coziness,  comfort  and  a  cheerful  hos- 
pitality abide  in  the  lionie  that  they  have  estab- 
lished, and  a  little  dauiilitor  n;\ni(d  Tteitic  adds 
to  their  happiness. 


ENKY  W.  McCOY,  M.  D.,  who  conducts  a 
lucrative  practice  in  Golconda,  the  city  of 
bis  birth,  is  recognized  as  a  phj'sician  whose 
learning  and  professional  standing  entitle 
him  to  a  place  among  the  foremost  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  medical  fraternity  in  his  native 
county.  He  was  born  in  one  of  the  early  homes 
of  Golconda,  and  is  a  descendant  of  one  of  the 
first  families  to  penetrate  the  wilds  of  Illinois  in 
territorial  days.  His  father,  Joab  W.  McCoy, 
was  born  in  Virginia  in  November,  1807,  and  was 
a  son  of  Ezekiel  McCoy,  who,  as  far  as  known, 
was  a  native  of  tlie  same  State.  He  resided  in  the 
Old  Dominion  until  1807,  and  then  boldly  set  out 
from  his  old  home  for  the  Western  frontier,  where 
he  thought  to  start  life  anew  under  more  favorable 
conditions.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  family, 
and  the  journey  was  made  with  teams.  At  that 
time  HIinois  was  a  part  of  the  Territory  of  Indiana, 
and  was  practicallj'  uninhabited  except  b}'  Indians. 
I^zekiel  McCoy  selected  a  tract  of  Government 
land  as  the  site  of  his  new  home,  said  land  being 
located  in  what  is  now  Hardin  County',  and  not 
far  from  Shawneetown,  and  when  it  came  into  tlie 
market  he  secured  his  title  to  it.  He  busied  him- 
self in  hewing  out  a  farm,  and  was  a  most  useful 
pioneer.  His  community  lost  one  of  its  most  wor- 
thy citizens  at  liis  death,  November  20,  1840,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-three  years.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Nancy  Davis,  died  March  27, 
1854,  aged  seventy-eight  years  and  ten  months. 
They  reared  nine  children,  named  .as  follows:  Ma- 
tilda, Ellen,  lictty,  Mary,  Nancy,  Joab  AY.,  .Tames, 
Thomas  and  William. 

The  father  of  our  subject   was   born  while  his 
parents   were  en    route    to   Illinois,   and    he    was 


reared  under  primitive  pioneer  inQuences  in  this 
State.  He  early  evinced  an  enterprising  business 
si)irit,  and  commenced  when  a  young  man  to  deal 
in  horses  and  mules,  which  he  took  down  the  river 
for  sale,  and  was  thus  profitably  engaged  until 
1837,  when  he  came  to  (Tolconda  to  establish  him- 
self in  the  mercantile  business,  in  which  he  was 
interested  until  his  death,  which  occurred  about 
October,  1883.  His  memory  is  hold  in  honor  as  a 
pioneer  merchant  of  Golconda,  and  as  one  whose 
citizenship  was  valuable  in  promoting  the  growth 
of  the  town.  His  wife,  to  whom  he  w.as  mari-ied 
in  1837,  survives  him,  at  a  venerable  age.  She 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Eliza  A.  Richey,and  was 
born  in  Tennessee  February  27,  1819.  Her  father, 
Dr.  William  K.  Richey,  was  a  native  of  Virginia, 
whence  he  removed  to  Tennessee,  and  from  there 
to  Illinois,  and  was  a  pioneer  physician  of  Pope 
County,  where  he  practiced  his  profession  until 
his  demise.  He  married  Eleanor  Mathews,  who 
was  born  in  Virginia,  and  died  in  Pope  County 
December  28,  1843,  aged  fift^'-nine  j-ears.  The 
following  are  the  names  of  the  eight  children  of 
the  parents  of  our  subject:  Thomas  W.,  Mary  I.. 
Henry  W.,  Charles  R.,  Alonzo,  Dora,  Kate,  and 
Eliza,  the  fifth  child,  who  died  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch  had  the 
advantages  of  a  good  home  training  in  his  boy- 
hood and  every  opportunit}-  to  secure  &  liberal 
education.  After  leaving  the  public  schools 
of  Golconda,  he  entered  McKendree  College, 
where  he  laid  a  substantial  foundation  for  his 
medical  studies,  which  he  commenced  at  the  .age 
of  eighteen  years.  He  subsequent!}'  became  a 
student  at  Jefferson  Medical  College,  Philadelphia, 
one  of  the  leading  institutions  of  the  kind  in  this 
coiintr}',  and  was  graduated  therefrom  in  the 
Class  of  '64.  He  had  the  further  advantage  of 
practical  experience  in  his  profession  at  the  hospi- 
tal in  Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  eighteen 
months.  Returning  then  to  his  native  village,  he 
has  been  in  active  practice  here  ever  since,  and  the 
bright  promises  of  a  career  of  honor  and  useful- 
ness in  his  i)rofession  have  been  amply  fulfilled. 
The  people  who  have  known  him  from  birth,  and 
those  w-ith  whom  he  grew   up,   have   walclied   his 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


197 


course  with  pride,  and  value  his  services  as  a  wise 
and  careful  ph}sician,  who  gives  eacii  patient  the 
benefit  of  his  utmost  skill  and  learning,  and  has 
l)een  uuiforml}'  successful  in  coping  with  disease 
in  the  various  forms  that  have  been  presented  to 
him  for  treatment. 

The  Doctor's  high  reputation  won  him  the  ap- 
pointment of  physician  and  surgeon  of  the  South- 
ern Illinois  Penitentiary  at  Chester,  in  December, 
1883,  but  he  declined  the  position,  preferring  to 
continue  his  private  practice.  He  is  a  member  in 
high  standing  of  the  Southern  Illinois  Medical  So- 
ciet}-.  He  is  also  prominent  in  social  circles  as  a 
member  of  Golconda  Lodge  No.  292,  I.  O.  O.  F.; 
and  of  Lodge  No.  1864,  K.  H.  His  politics  are  of 
the  Republican  order. 

Dr.  McCoy  was  married  September  1),  1869,  to 
Miss  Christie  E.  Sin,  a  native  of  this  couut\',  born 
two  and  a-half  miles  from  Golconda,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Captain  Alexander  Sin.  Her  husband  finds 
in  her  a  congenial  companion  and  a  devoted  wife, 
her  children  a  tender  motiier,  and  the  Presbj'te- 
rian  Church  an  earnest  and  active  member.  Five 
children  have  blessed  her  marriage  with  our  sub- 
ject: Theodore  S.,  Bertie,  Mabel  H.,  Daisy  V.  and 
Owen  S. 


-^^m 


?RANK  HELM,  a  native-born  son  of  John- 
(^  son  County  and  business  manager  of  the 
mercantile  establishment  of  Gunu  Bros,  at 
New  Grantsburg,  has  a  well-sustained  reputation 
for  promptness,  forethought  and  business  acumen, 
as  well  as  for  strict  integrity  in  conducting  the  in- 
terests entrusted  to  his  care. 

Our  subject  was  born  on  the  farm  on  which  his 
father  first  settled  after  coming  here,  November 
20,  1850,  the  date  of  his  birth.  He  is  a  son  of 
Moses  W.  Helm,  who  was  born  in  Virginia  and  was 
a  son  of  James  Helm.  The  latter  moved  to  Tenn- 
essee in  the  earl3'  years  of  the  settlement  of  that 
State,  and  carried  on  his  occupation  as  a  farmer 
on  its  soil,  he  and  his  wife  spending  their  remain- 


ing days  there.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  but  a 
boy  when  his  parents  took  up  their  residence  in 
middle  Tennessee,  and  he  grew  to  manhood  on  a 
farm  in  that  section.  He  was  fairly  well  educated 
for  the  time,  and  while  a  resident  of  Tennessee 
filled  some  offices  of  public  trust.  He  was  married 
in  that  State  to  Rebecca  Fisher,  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  whence  her  parents  went  to  Tennessee, 
where  her  mother  died.  Her  father's  death  oc- 
curred in  this  county. 

In  1819  Mr.  Helm  came  to  Illinois  with  his  wife 
and  eight  children  in  an  ox  wagon.  He  bought 
eighty  acres  of  timber  land  from  the  Government, 
near  what  is  now  Ganntown,in  Grantsburg  Town- 
ship. As  his  land  was  heavily  wooded,  he  rented 
some  other  land  for  a  while,  until  he  could  clear 
sufficient  space  for  a  building  spot  and  garden.  Af- 
ter he  had  erected  a  log  house  on  his  own  terri- 
tory he  and  his  family  commenced  their  pioneer 
life  without  money,  but  bj^  cheerful  sacrifice,  close 
economj'  and  incessant  industry,  they  managed  to 
get  along  comfortably,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
in  October,  1854,  he  had  greatly  improved  his 
farm,  having  felled  the  timber  and  burnt  it  to  get 
it  out  of  the  way,  there  being  no  mills  for  the 
manufacture  of  lumber,  or  market  for  it.  His  dili- 
gence helped  to  promote  the  growth  of  the  county, 
and  he  is  held  in  remembrance  as  one  of  its  worthy 
pioneers,  whose  death  was  untimel3\  His  widow 
removed  to  Ganntown  after  the  sale  of  the  farm, 
some  years  after  his  demise,  and  there  she  breathed 
her  last  at  a  venerable  age  in  October,  1887.  She 
was  the  mother  of  nine  children:  Caroline,  a  resi- 
dent of  Ganntown;  James  G.,  a  farmer  atSamoth; 
Sarah,  widow  of  Mark  Bynum,  and  a  resident  of 
this  county;  Nancy,  wife  of  Jasper  Cross;  Mary 
A.,  who  died  in  this  county  in  1854,  and  was  bur- 
ied in  the  cemetery  at  Ganntown;  Rebecca,  widow 
of  Samuel  Cole,  and  a  resident  of  Kentucky;  Mar- 
garet, who  died  in  this  county  and  was  buried  in 
the  Ganntown  Cemetery;  Jacob,  Justice  of  the 
Peace  at  Ganntown;  and  Frank. 

Frank,  of  whom  we  write,  is  the  youngest 
child  of  the  family,  and  was  but  three  years  old 
when  his  father  died.  At  a  tender  age  he  was  set 
to  work  to  help  his  brothers  care  for  the  family', 
and    (lid  his   share  in  its  support.     He   attended 


198 


roirniAir  and  i;i(»(iWAi'iii('AL  hi;\  ikw. 


school  whenever  he  could,  and  so  improved  his  op- 
l)ortunilics  for  learning  tiiat  he  was  lilted  to  teach. 
He  only  tauglit  one  term,  however,  having  charge 
of  a  school  in  this  county.  He  remained  at  lioine 
until  1885,  and  then,  desiring  a  broader  held  of 
business  life,  he  obtained  a  situation  in  the  store 
of  F.  M.  Helm  at  Gauntown.  lie  (juickly  gained 
a  clear  insight  into  business  matters  and  an  ex- 
perience that  has  been  valuable  to  him  in  the  more 
responsible  position  of  manager  of  the  store  of 
Gann  Bros,  at  New  Grantsburg,  to  which  he  was 
called  in  Jlarch,  1892.  He  is  thoroughly  competent, 
having  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  mercantile 
affairs,  and  looks  closely  after  the  interests  of  his 
employers,  who  place  implicit  conlidence  in  his 
ability  to  promote  the  growth  of  the  trade. 

Our  subject  was  married  September  21,  1892, 
and  lie  and  his  bride  have  lilted  up  a  home  that 
is  attractive,  not  only  in  its  appointments,  but  in 
the  gracious  hospitality  of  its  host  and  hostess. 
Mrs.  Helm  is  a  native  of  Cla}'  County,  where  her 
father  is  engaged  as  a  farmer  and  merchant. 


^^^<Z) 


V  1  AMES  MAUPIN,  who  was  formerly  a  farmer 
j  and  slock-raiser  of  Vienna  Township,  but 
,«,  who  departed  this  life  December  2, 1892,  was 
^^f'  a  man  of  ripe  experience  and  sound  judg- 
ment in  all  that  pertained  to  his  business,  and  was 
a  valued  member  of  the  agricultural  communit3' of 
.lohnson  County.  He  was  born  November  12, 
1827,  on  his  father's  farm  near  the  town  of  Frank- 
lin, Tenn.,  and  is  a  son  of  Jesse  Maupin,  who  was 
also  a  native  of  Tennessee,  where  he  was  reared  to 
the  life  of  a  farmer.  Our  subject  was  of  English 
extraction  on  the  paternal  side  of  the  house,  his 
grandfather,  who  was  a  farmer  and  a  tanner,  hav- 
ing been  born  in  England.  Through  his  mother 
he  traced  iiis  ancestry  back  to  Geriiiany. 

As  his  people  were  not  wealthy,  our  sul)jeet  had 
to  work  for  a  living  when  a  bo,y,  beginning  hisap- 
prenticeship  to  downright  hard  labor  on  his  father's 


farm,  and  consequently  he  had  but  little  chance  to 
attend  school.  Hence  what  education  he  had  was 
the  result  of  his  application  to  his  books  in  his 
leisure  hours,  and  to  observation  and  experience. 
He  remained  with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty 
years  old,  and  then  started  out  for  liimelf  without 
money  but  with  a  resolute  will  and  a  good  stoek 
of  industry.  The  neighboring  farmers  would  iiavc 
been  glad  to  hire  him,  as  he  was  known  to  be  a 
good  worker,  and  capable  and  honest.  But  farm 
wages  were  so  low  he  thought  to  make  more  money 
by  chopping  wood  at  thirty  cents  a  cord  and  split- 
ting rails  at  twenty-five  cents  a  hundred.  llekei)l 
steadily  at  his  labors,  and  even  at  these  figures  was 
enabled  to  save  money,  continuing  thus  engaged 
a  number  of  years.  He  had  been  living  in  Ken- 
tucky when  he  came  to  this  county  in  1857  with 
his  family,  which  consisted  of  three  children  and 
his  wife,  Frances  (Ellis)  Maupin,  whom  he  had  mar- 
ried in  Kentucky',  although  she  was  a  native  of 
Tennessee.  They  stopped  about  one  mile  from  Ins 
late  farm,  and  Mr.  Maupin  went  to  work  in  a 
mill,  making  himself  so  useful  that  he  was  pre- 
vailed upon  to  sta^'  from  year  to  year  until  nine 
years  had  gone  by.  While  thus  employed  he  had 
from  time  to  time  judiciously  invested  his  earnings 
in  land,  and  would  often  sell  the  same  at  an  ad- 
vanced price,  always  keeping  in  view  the  object  of 
his  labors — that  of  securing  a  home  and  a  faim. 

AVhen  he  left  the  mill  in  which  he  was  so  long 
employed  our  subject  owned  a  farm  about  three 
miles  southwest  from  the  farm  which  he  owned 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  but  he  sold  it,  and 
bought  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  which  com- 
prises the  farm  upon  which  his  last  daj's  were  spent, 
and  for  which  he  paid  $2,000.  The  place  was  partly 
developed,  but  he  had  been  constantly  making  im- 
provements ever  since  it  came  into  his  possession, 
and  had  made  of  it  a  choice  farm,  with  well-tilled 
fields  and  buildings  of  a  good  class,  and  every 
facility  for  carrying  on  farming  to  the  bestadvau- 
tage,  and  he  had  it  well  stocked  also. 

Mr.  Maupin  had  the  shrewd  counsel  and  ever 
active  co-operation  of  his  wife  in  the  accumulation 
of  his  property.  Their  wedded  life  brought  to 
them  nine  children,  of  whom  the  following  are  left: 
Lewis,  a  resident  of  Meniia;  Emma,  Mrs.  Dr.  L.  W. 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


199 


Cai'lten,  who  lives  in  Missouri;  William,  at  home 
witli  his  mother;  John,  who  lives  in  this  couutj'; 
and  Amanda  at  home.  Rachel  died  in  infancy, 
and  Martha  J.,  Elizabeth  and  Susan  are  also  dead. 
Notvvithstanding  his  lack  of  opportunity  when 
a  boy,  Mr.  Maupin  rose  to  a  prosperous  con- 
dition through  the  sheer  force  of  sturdy  common 
sense  and  a  determination  to  succeed  in  what- 
ever he  undertook.  His  judgment  was  consid- 
ered good  in  educational  matters  as  well  as  in  all 
things  appertaining  to  the  highest  good  of  the 
eommunit}-,  and  he  had  been  a  member  of  the 
School  Board,  had  been  Supervisor  of  Roads,  and 
had  always  done  his  full  share  of  the  necessary 
public  work  of  tlie  neighborhood.  He  did  not 
take  an  active  part  in  political  matters,  preferring 
to  attend  to  the  business  and  care  incident  to  the 
life  of  a  farmer,  leaving  politics  and  official  claims 
to  men  more  desirous  of  such  honors.  However,  he 
never  forgot  to  vote  the  Democratic  ticket,  nor  did 
an3'  of  his  ancestors  before  him  after  becoming 
members  of  the  body  politic  of  this  great  Republic 
fail  to  assert  tlieir  manhood  and  vote  in  the  same 
direction. 


I!?  GUN  GILBERT,  Jr.,  Mayor  of  Golconda, 
j  and  a  banker  of  this  cit}^  is  a  financier  of 
^^  '  exceptional  talent,  and  is  one  of  the  fore- 
^^fJ  most  business  men  of  Pope  County,  a  fine 
representative  of  her  sons,  "native  and  to  the 
manor  born,"  whose  push  and  executive  ability 
have  done  so  much  to  promote  her  substantial 
growth. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Golconda  October  13, 
18.54,  a  son  of  John  Gilbert,  a  former  well  known 
and  prominent  citizen  of  this  place,  and  now  one 
of  the  leading  business  men  of  Evansville.  John 
Gilbert  was  born  in  Peuns3lvania  in  1818.  He 
was  left  an  orphan  at  an  earlj-  age,  and  was  bound 
out  to  live  with  an  uncle.  Hard  work  and  ill 
treatment  were  his  lot,  and,  tiiough  a  mere  boy,  he 
rebelled,  and  with  characteristic  independence,  tlie 


sturd}^  resolute  little  lad  left  the  shelter  of  his  rel- 
ative's roof  to  seek  a  home  among  strangers.  He 
was  naturally  strong  and  robust,  industrious  in 
his  habits,  and  he  supported  himself  by  various 
employments,  alwaj's  ready  to  do  what  lay  at 
hand,  whereby  he  could  turn  an  honest  penny. 
He  finally  entered  the  employ  of  the  Noi'thwestern 
Fur  Company,  his  venturesome  spirit  taking  de- 
liglit  in  the  excitement  and  occasional  peril  of  his 
journeys  to  the  frontier  settlements  to  buy  furs. 
In  connection  with  that  business  he  combined  an- 
other, that  of  selling  clocks,  which  were  not  in 
common  use  in  those  days,  the  people  having  sun- 
marks  on  their  door  sills  to  tell  the  noon  hour. 

Mr.  Gilbert  finally  drifted  into  Golconda,  and 
commenced  life  here  as  clerk  in  the  general  store 
of  W.  A.  Loath,  whom  he  served  in  that  capacity 
for  a  time,  and  then  bought  the  store  from  him. 
He  continued  its  management  some  jears,  and 
eventually  established  a  bank  in  company'  with  W. 
P.  Sloan.  In  his  removal  to  Evansville  in  1874, 
Golconda  sustained  the  loss  of  one  of  the  most 
able  and  enterprising  business  men  ever  connected 
with  its  interests.  Evansville,  however,  has  been 
the  gainer,  as  Iiis  experience,  rare  judgment  and 
masterly  business  capacities  have  proved  of  ines- 
timable value  in  advancing  its  material  prosperity, 
and  he  ranks  as  one  of  the  solid  men  of  the  city. 
For  some  j'ears  lie  was  prominently  connected 
with  its  street  railway  compan}^  and  he  is  now 
Vice-president  of  a  national  bank  there,  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  Evansville  ife  Paducah  Packet  Line.  Mr. 
Gilbert's  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Cornelia 
Bucklin,  and  who  was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island, 
died  in  1887.  Five  of  their  seven  children  are  liv- 
ing, namely:  Harry  C,  Fanny,  John,  Minnie  and 
Willis.  Eliza,  Maria  and  Clinton  are  deceased. 
Mr.  Gilbert  was  a  Whig  in  his  3'ouuger  da3's,  but 
he  has  been  a  stanch  Republican  since  the  forma- 
tion of  the  party. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  reared  and 
educated  in  Golconda.  In  1874  he  became  a  clerk 
in  the  bank  which  he  now  owns,  and  quickly  mas- 
tered the  details  of  banking.  His  career  as  a 
banker  began  in  1877,  when  he  became  partner  in 
the  ownership  of  said  bank.  In  1887  he  bouglit 
his  partner's   interest,   and    has   since    been    sole 


200 


I'oKi'UAiT  AM)  i;i()(;i;ai'1II(ai,  I;l■;^■II■;w. 


owner  of  the  concern.  Under  Lis  careful  super- 
vision tlie  affairs  of  the  bank  are  in  an  exceed- 
ingly prosperous  condition,  and  it  is  acknowledged 
to  be  one  of  the  safest  and  best  conducted  institu- 
tions of  the  kind  in  southern  Illinois.  The  funds 
entrusted  to  his  care  Mr.  Gilbert  invests  judici- 
ously, and  so  as  to  bring  sure  returns,  and  all  his 
business  transactions  show  him  to  possess  a  keen 
insight  in  money  matters,  to  be  quick  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  markets,  and  to  be  prompt  in 
meeting  all  obligations.  A  man  of  his  calibre, 
popularity  and  unsullied  reputation  is  necessarily 
a  conspicuous  figure  in  any  community,  and  is 
naturally  selected  by  his  fellow-citizens  to  bear  the 
honors  and  responsibilities  of  public  life.  Hence, 
our  subject  served  some  years  as  a  member  of  the 
City  Council,  and  is  now  for  the  fifth  time  filling 
the  ollice  of  Mayor  of  Golconda,  administering 
municipal  affairs  with  prudence  and  characteristic 
vigor,  and  giving  the  city  a  good  government. 
Politically,  he  stands  with  the  Uepublicans. 

In  September,  1882,  Mr.  Gilbert  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Edmenia  Kidd,  a  native  of 
McCracken  County,  Ky.,  and  a  daugliter  of  Dr. 
Kidd.  In  October,  1891,  after  a  wedded  life  of 
nine  years,  Mrs.  Gilbert  died,  leaving  behind  lier 
a  gracious  record  of  true  vvomanhood  as  daughter, 
wife,  mother  and  friend.  Three  children  were 
born  of  that  marriage:  Raymond,  Ethel  and  John. 


e^HjH^i 


\fl  EWIS  11.  FKIZ/KLL,  of  the  firm  of  Powell 
11  (©;  &  Frizzell,  druggists  at  Vienna,  is  a  native 
JiL^  of  Johnson  County,  and  occupies  an  hon- 
orable position  among  its  leading  business  men. 
He  was  born  in  Rurnside  Precinct  November  19, 
1852.  His  father,  Nathan  11.  Frizzell,  was  born  in 
Tennessee,  and  was  a  son  of  William  Frizzell,  who 
was  a  native  of  North  Carolina.  He  went  from 
that  State  to  Tennessee,  and  later  came  to  Illinois, 
and  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Rurnside  Pre- 
cinct, in  this  county.     He  purchased  land  at  that 


point,  which  he  farmed  for  some  years  prior  to  his 
removal  to  Jefferson  County,  where  he  spent  his 
last  days. 

The  father  of  our  subject  moved  into  Kentucky 
from  his  native  State,  and  after  residing  there 
some  years  came  to  Illinois.  He  was  accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  the  one  child  that  had  previously 
been  born  to  them,  and  the  momentous  journey' 
was  made  with  teams.  He  secured  a  tract  of  Gov- 
ernment land  in  what  is  now  Rurnside  Precinct, 
and  there  built  the  log  cabin  which  was  the  birtli- 
place  of  our  subject.  There  were  no  railw.ays 
here  for  some  years,  and  the  river  towns  were  tlie 
principal  markets.  Deer  and  other  wild  game 
were  plentiful  and  furnished  a  welcome  addition 
to  the  fare  of  the  settlers.  Mr.  Frizzell  was  a 
good  farmer,  and  he  developed  a  fine  farm,  su|)- 
plying  it  with  substantial  improvements,  thus  per- 
forming his  share  in  promoting  the  agricultural 
interests  of  the  county.  His  death  occurred  at 
the  home  that  he  had  built  up  in  1886,  at  the  age 
of  fifty-eight,  and  his  community  was  thus  de- 
prived of  the  services  of  a  valuable  citizen.  His 
wife  survives  him,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Pope 
County.  She  is  a  native  of  Kentucky,  her  maiden 
name  being  Asenath  AVilson,  and  her  father  was 
James  Wilson.  She  is  tiie  mother  of  six  children: 
Louisa,  Nanc}',  Lewis  IL,  Mattie,  Mollie  and  Lucy. 

Our  subject  was  reared  and  educated  in  his  na- 
tive township,  and  resided  with  his  parents  until 
he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  then  located 
on  a  farm  which  his  father  gave  him  in  Grants 
burg  Township,  and  devoted  himself  to  agricul 
tural  pursuits  until  1886.  In  that  year  he  was 
elected  Sheriff  of  Johnson  County,  and  removed 
to  Vienna  to  attend  to  his  official  duties.  He  re- 
mained here  four  j'ears,  and  at  the  expiration  of 
his  term  of  office  removed  to  Jletropolis  to  engage 
in  the  dry-goods  business.  In  1892  he  sold  his 
establishment  there,  and  returning  to  A'ienna,  has 
since  been  in  the  drug  business  with  Mr.  Powell. 
They  have  a  neatly  fitted  up  store,  in  which  they 
ciirry  a  good  line  of  drugs  and  other  articles 
usually  found  in  an  establishment  of  that  kind, 
and  they  arc  well  patronized. 

Mr.  Frizzell  was  married  August  6,  1871,  to 
Miss  Sidnc}-  Poor,  a  daughter  of  Sampson  1).  Poor, 


re::iofnce  of  jaimes  slack  ,  sec.  2.  Vienna  tp.  johnson   co.  ill 


RFSlDf  NCE  OF  PLEASANT    VEATCH     SEC    17    BLOO^/F,  ELD  T^   JOHNSON  CO    ILL 


]^-*^,AiA.  ■VJK--&K' 


■It  ^ 


Y  <*  ■'  '  ^.,  '  JUJ^J 


KLSIDLNCL  OF    MRS.   MARGARET     BRADFORD,  NEW    BURNSlUE    ,  I LL . 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


203 


niifl  a  native  of  C4rantsburg  Township.  She  is  a 
rneinber  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Cluirch, 
and  her  name  is  associated  with  its  various  good 
works.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frizzell  have  four  children 
living:  Aristie,  Mattie,  Lewis  and  Herman  P. 

Our  subject  is  a  stalwart  Democrat  in  his  politi- 
cal views,  and,  .as  before  mentioned,  was  honored 
by  election  to  the  important  and  responsible  ofHce 
of  County  Sheriff,  and  in  his  prompt  and  faithful 
discharge  of  the  onerous  duties  thus  imposed  upon 
him,  he  gained  the  favor  of  all  without  respect  to 
party.  In  his  social  relations  he  is  connected 
with  Vienna  Lodge  No.  150,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  .and 
with  Vesta  Lodge  No.  340,  L  O.  O.  F. 


i.*"&SS^i£20__ 


^#^^M-^l"l^li^^ 


W 


ILSON  ALEXANDER,  who  has  resided  on 
his  little  farm  of  sixty  acres  on  section  25. 
Tunnel  Hill  Township,  for  the  past  twenty 
years,  was  born  in  Williamson  County,  111.,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1830.  His  father,  Gideon  Alexander,  a 
farmer, was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  1771  and  was 
a  son  of  John  Alexander,  who  w.as  also  a  native  of 
North  Carolina  and  lived  and  died  on  his  farm  in 
that  State.  His  wife  was  Patsy  Sams,  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  they  reared  one  son  and  two  daughters, 
the  son  Gideon,  father  of  Wilson,  being  the  eldest 
of  the  family.  He  married  in  Wilson  County, 
Tenn.,  Elizabeth  Borom,  whose  parents  were  Ger- 
mans, though  she  was  born  in  the  United  States. 
They  were  married  in  Tennessee  in  1806,  and  after 
living  on  their  farm  sixteen  3-ears,  in  1822  came 
to  southern  Illinois,  locating  in  Williamson  County 
in  September  of  that  year.  They  came  through 
with  ox-teams  and  covered  wagons,  camping  by 
the  way,  and  being  people  of  means  they  entered 
eighty  acres  of  land,  u|)on  which  they  settled, 
built  a  good  hewed-log  house  with  a  shingle  roof, 
the  only  one  thus  covered  in  that  part  of  the 
country  at  tliat  time.  The  first  chimney  to  this 
house  was  made  of  brick  and  clay  but  was  soon 
replaced  bj'  one  of  stone. 

Mr.  Alexander  was  one  of  the  first  m  that  part 

10 


also  to  enter  and  deed  land,  and  made  his  perma- 
nent home  where  he  first  located,  improving  about 
eighty  acres  and  buying  fifty  more.  He  died  there 
in  September,  1865,  aged  ninety-four  years.  He 
was  a  widower  forty-three  years,  having  lost  his 
wife  in  1823.  She  bore  him  ten  children,  five 
sons  and  five  daughters,  of  whom  Wilson  was  the 
last  born.  Miuerva  and  Anna  were  twins,  both  of 
whom  married  and  reared  large  families.  Minerva 
died  at  seventy'  years  of  age  and  Anna  at  sixty-nine. 
John  H.,  a  school  teacher,  died  in  Missouri  when 
fifty  years  of  age.  Edmund  S.,  a  farmer  of  Will- 
iamson County,  died  when  seventj^-one  years  of 
age,  leaving  a  widow.  Angeline,  wife  of  John 
Slack,  died  in  Johngon  County  when  fortj'-one 
years  of  age,  leaving  nine  children.  Hannah 
was  the  wife  of  William  Welty,  and  died  in  Jolin- 
son  County  aged  sixty-tiiree  years,  leaving  three 
children.  William  R.,  a  carpenter  of  Williamson 
County,  died  at  sixtj'-one  years  of  age,  leaving 
four  children.  Elijah  died  in  Hamilton  Countj-  at 
thirty-two,  leaving  a  wife  and  eight  children. 
Nancy  M., died  at  her  father's  home  at  twent^'-five 
years.     Wilson  is  he  of  whom  we  write. 

Our  subject  grew  up  on  the  farm,  obtaining  but 
little  education,  which  was  received  in  the  sub- 
scription schools  so  often  described  in  these  pages. 
He  left  home  at  the  age  of  twenty  years  and  was 
married  in  1851  to  Miss  Lucinda  Phillips,  she  be- 
ing in  her  sixteenth  year.  She  is  the  daughter  of 
Laban  and  Rebecca  (Garrett)  Phillips,  who  came 
to  Illinois  from  Alabama  in  1849,  but  were,  how- 
ever, originally  from  Tennessee,  where  Mrs.  Alex- 
ander was  born.  They  had  one  son  and  nine  daugh- 
ters, and  Mrs.  Alexander  is  the  seventh  child.  Her 
parents  died  in  .Johnson  County,  the  mother  aged 
sixt3--five  years  and  the  father  when  about  ninety- 
three  years  old.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  began 
life  on  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land  near  the  present  site  of  New  Burnside.  This 
he  entered  as  Government  land,  and  he  also  bought 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  under  the  Bitt  Act. 
They  lived  there  sixteen  years,  when  they  sold  out 
for  1800  and  removed  to  Jefferson  County,  where 
they  lived  for  six  months  and  then  removed  to 
Williamson  County,  where  they  lived  seven  years, 
at  which  time  they  located  on  their   present  farm. 


204 


I'Oiri'lIAIT   AM)    lilOCKAl'IlICAI.    UKNIKW. 


They  had  eleven  children,  five  sons  and  six 
daughters,  one  son  and  one  daughter  dj'ing  in 
infancy,  and  Moses  dying  in  1871,  aged  nineteen 
years.  The  latter  was  a  very  promising  young 
man,  having  secured  a  good  education  and  being 
a  very  ardent  advocate  of  temperance.  The  chil- 
dren living  are  as  follows:  Esther,  who  is  at  home; 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  Adam  Ilarvec,  a  banker  at 
Vienna;  AVilliam  M.,  a  farmer  of  Johnson  County, 
who  has  a  wife  and  two  children;  Rebecca,  a  young 
lady  at  home;  Georgianna,  wife  of  William  Gill,  a 
carpenter  and  painter  at  Marion;  L.  D.,  a  young 
man  at  home  on  the  farm;  Susan,  wife  of  Wayde 
Nelson,  living  at  Tunnel  Hill,  and  who  has  three 
children;  and  Mitchell,  a  minor  at  home.  Mr. 
Alexander  lias  always  been  a  Democrat  and  both  he 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Christian  Church. 
He  is  doing  a  general  farming  business,  but  the 
hardest  part  of  the  work  is  now  being  done  by  the 
children  that  are  at  bome.  The  children  are  for 
the  most  part  members  of  the  Christian  Church. 


-^>-^^<^ 


l^iOlJERT  F.  HOOD,  of  the  firm  of  Francis  & 
L#^  Hood,  dealers  in  groceries,  hardware  and  ag- 
t4\  fl^  ricultural  implements  at  Vienna,  and  promi- 
nent  in  the  business  circles  of  Johnson 
County,  is  a  native  of  Mississippi,  born  in  Tippah 
County  July  2,  1856.  His  father,  Robert  Hood, 
was  born  in  Alabama,  while  his  grandfather,  James 
Hood,  was  born  in  one  of  the  Carolinas,  whence  he 
removed  to  Alabama,  and  from  there  to  Tennessee, 
where  he  resided  until  1862,  when  he  came  to  Illi- 
nois. He  settled  first  in  Union  County,  but  his 
last  years  were  spent  in  this  county  with  his  son 
Robert,  his  death  occurring  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
four  years.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Mary 
liowie.  She  too  was  a  native  of  one  of  the  Caroli- 
nas, and  died  in  this  county  at  upwards  of  eighty 
years  of  age. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  lad  in  his  teens 
when  his  parents  went  to  Tennessee  to  live.  He 
married  in  that  State,  and  then  went  to  Mississippi, 


where  he  I'eraained  one  year.  He  later  returned  to 
his  home  at  Salisbury,  where  he  was  engaged  in 
teaming,  and  for  some  time  he  had  a  contract  to 
furnisii  wood  to  tlie  railway'.  He  continued  liis  resi- 
dence at  Salisbury,  witli  the  exception  of  one  year 
in  Tippah  County,  Miss.,  until  1863,  when  became 
to  Illinois  and  located  in  Union  Count}'.  At  that 
time  there  was  much  cotton  raised  tiiere,  and  he 
operated  a  cotton  gin  at  Moscow  in  connection 
with  farming.  In  1867  he  came  to  Johnson  County 
and  bought  a  farm  nine  miles  west  of  Vienna,  where 
he  still  lives,  and  is  verj'  pleasantly  situated  in  the 
midst  of  comfort  and  plenty,  resulting  from  his  in- 
dustry. His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
Amanda  Ferguson,  and  was  a  daughter  of  John 
Ferguson,  was  born  in  East  Tennessee.  Four  chil- 
dren have  blessed  their  marriage:  Ann,  Robert  F., 
Mollie  and  John  J. 

Robert  F.  Hood  was  in  bis  seventli  ^'car  when  his 
parents  brought  him  to  Illinois,  lie  attended  liie 
public  schools  of  Union  and  Johnson  Counties,  and 
when  not  in  school  assisted  on  the  farm.  He  re- 
sided with  his  parents  until  he  was  nineteen  years 
old,  and  then  engaged  in  the  sale  of  sewing-ma- 
chines for  two  years.  After  that  he  was  in  the 
grocery  business  for  a  year  at  Burnside,  and  then 
for  three  years  he  was  employed  in  farming  and 
in  dealing  in  stock.  At  the  expiration  of  that 
time  he  accepted  the  position  of  Deputy  Sheriff, 
and  held  that  office  a  year.  lie  next  entered  the 
employ  of  J.  S.  Bridges  and  was  in  his  furniture 
store  until  1889,  when  he  formed  a  partnership 
with  James  S.  Francis  and  they  have  been  engaged 
in  business  together  as  indicated  in  the  opening 
paragraph  of  this  sketch.  They  have  a  complete 
line  of  groceries  and  a  full  supply  of  hardware  and 
tinware  of  all  kinds,  as  well  as  farm  implements, 
and  the}'  have  already  built  up  a  sound  and  exten- 
sive trade. 

Mr.  Hood  was  married  .January  12, 1890,  to  Miss 
Zora  Bridges,  a  native  of  this  county,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  S.  and  Elizabeth  Bridges.  The}-  have 
established  a  cozy  home,  that  is  the  centre  of  a 
cheerful  and  attractive  hospitalit}'.  Mr.  Hood  has 
an  excellent  reputation  as  a  clear-headed,  honorable 
business  man,  who  is  a  potent  factor  in  sustaining 
tiie  best  interests  of  the  city.     He   is   a    leader  in 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


205 


social  circles  as  a  member  of  the  following  organ- 
izations: Moscow  Lodge  No.  457,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.; 
Vienna  Lodge  No.  67,  R.  A.  M.;and  Vienna  Lodge 
No.  248,  K.  of  P.  He  is  active  in  religious  matters  as 
a  member  of  tiie  Metbodist  Episcopal  Cluircli.  In 
his  political  views,  he  is  a  steadfast  Republican. 


^^ 


-^  ] 


R.  KELLEY,  Superintendent  of  Schools  at 
Y  Vienna,  is  a  gentleman  of  broad  culture, 
_^  and  of  high  reputation  as  a  teacher,  and  is 
\)^j  among  the  first  of  his  profession  in  John- 
son County,  of  which  he  is  a  native.  He  is  a  rep- 
resentative of  one  of  the  early  picmcer  families  of 
the  county,  and  was  born  November  3,  1851,  in 
Tunnel  Hill  Township,  of  which  his  paternal  grand- 
fallier,  P)enjamin  Kelley,  was  an  early  settler.  He 
had  cleared  and  improved  a  farm  in  Tennessee 
prior  to  his  migration  to  this  State.  AVishiug  to 
improve  his  fortunes,  and  hearing  favorable  ac- 
counts of  the  fertility-  of  the  soil  and  taking  into 
account  the  cheapness  of  the  land  in  its  natural 
condition,  he  determined  to  found  here  a  new 
home.  He  loaded  his  household  effects  into  an 
ox-wagon  and  brought  his  family  directlj-  to  .John- 
son County.  He  secured  one  hundred  and  sixt^' 
acres  of  land  in  the  forest  and  entered  with  char- 
acteristic courage  and  vigor  into  his  struggle  with 
tiie  forces  of  nature,  and  he  experienced  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  pioneer  life,  but  by  hard  and  unre- 
mitting labor  a  fine  farm  was  reclaimed  from  the 
wilderness.  The  grandfather  died  in  .Johnson  Coun- 
ty at  a  ripe  age,  and  he  is  remembered  and  honored 
as  one  of  the  sterling  pioneers  of  this  section,  wlio 
lieli)ed  to  lay  the  solid  foundation  of  its  present 
pios[)entv.  His  widow  removed  to  the  State  of 
Kansas,  and  there  died  at  a  venerable  age. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  Leander  H.  Kelley,  is 
a  native  of  Tennessee.  He  had  but  little  oppor- 
tunity to  attend  school,  but  he  was  naturally  of 
an  inquiring  turn  of  mind  and  a  good  scholar, 
and  succeeded  in  learning  enough  to  constitute  a 
fair  education  at  the  time,  and   was  (jualilicd    t(> 


teach,  in  which  occupation  he  engaged  for  a  while. 
He  married  at  the  j'outhful  age  of  twenty  years, 
and  then  left  the  paternal  home  with  his  bride, 
Rhoda  Webb,  also  from  Tennessee,  and  began 
farming  on  a  farm  that  he  owned.  He  devoted 
his  energies  to  its  improvement,  and  then  sold  it 
and  bought  another  in  the  same  township  (Tunnel 
Hill),  which  he  still  occupies.  lie  is  an  experi- 
enced, capable  farmer,  thoroughly  understanding 
the  fundamental  principles  of  his  calling,  and  has 
a  well-equipped  farm,  which  he  manages  so  as  to 
obtain  an  assured  income  each  year.  He  and  his 
wife  were  blessed  with  twelve  children:  Eva- 
line,  who  is  living  in  Tunnel  Hill  Township;  H.  R.; 
Elisha,  deceased;  W.  A.,  a  farmer;  John  R.,  a  far- 
mer of  Goreville  Township;  Thomas  C,  a  mission- 
ary in  the  South;  Alfred,  who  died  in  infancy'; 
Melinda,  who  married  I'^lder  I.  Smith  and  is  now 
dead;  Mary  Jane,  wife  of  John  McCormack;  lien- 
jamin  P.,  living  on  the  old  homestead;  Martha, 
deceased;  and  Viola,  who  died  in  infancy. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch  is  the 
second  child  of  the  famil}'.  His  boyhood  was 
passed  on  a  farm  and  he  earl}'  became  familiar 
with  hard  work.  His  tastes,  however,  were  in  the 
direction  of  scholarly  pursuits  rather  than  for  the 
calling  to  which  he  was  reared,  and  he  devoted 
himself  to  his  books,  determined  to  secure  an  edu- 
cation. After  leaving  the  public  schools  he  at- 
tended school  at  Carmi  a  3' ear,  and  made  such 
rapid  progress  in  his  studies  that  he  was  well-fitted 
to  undertake  the  responsibilities  of  a  teacher,  and 
at  the  age  of  nineteen  entered  upon  his  professional 
career.  His  first  school  was  in  his  native  town- 
ship and  was  known  as  the  Webb  School,  and 
he  has  been  engaged  in  teaching  most  of  the  time 
since  1871  in  his  own  neighborhood  until  the 
present,  his  twent}'  3'ears'  service  so  near  home 
attesting  strongly  his  worth  as  an  instructor.  His 
reputation  as  a  thoroughly  competent  teacher  won 
him  the  honor  of  a  call  to  his  present  important 
position  as  Superintendent  of  the  schools  at  Vi- 
enna, and  he  assumed  the  duties  of  his  new  otlice 
October  3,  1892.  He  is  a  progressive  educator, 
keeping  well  abreast  of  the  times  in  educational 
matters,  and  is  well  versed  in  modern  methods  of 
instnicliiin.     lie  is  conscientious  in  his  work,  earn- 


206 


POlMHAil'  AM)    lll(t(;i{AlMll(AI.    KK\II':W. 


est  aiici  faithful  in  his  teaching  and,  as  he  is  yet  a 
young  man,  life  lies  before  him  with  fair  promise 
of  man}'  years  of  usefulness  in  his  chosen  sphere 
of  labor  as  one  who  is  contributing  to  the  eleva- 
tion of  societj'  by  fostering  a  love  of  learning  in 
the  minds  of  the  j-outh  of  to-dii}'  and  the  citizens 
of  to-morrow. 

Our  subject's  happiness  and  well-being  were 
materially  enhanced  by  his  marriage,  in  1883, 
with  Miss  Allie  Siimpter,  of  White  County.  Four 
children  gladden  their  home:  William  Otto,  Goldie 
Irene,  Bessie  Ma^-  and  Raoul  Homer. 


WIAMES  ready,  M.  1).,  of  (iolconda,  lias 
won  his  way  to  an  honorable  position  in 
his  profession,  and  is  classed  among  the 
most  successful  ph}'sicians  of  Pope  County. 
A  native  of  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  he  was  born 
April  10,  1830,  a  son  of  Patrick  and  INIary  Ready. 
He  was  but  two  years  old  when  his  mother  died, 
and  at  the  age  of  nine  years  he  was  left  an  orphan 
by  the  death  of  his  father.  They  were  at  that 
time  residing  in  Carroll  County,  Ky.,  and  the  lad 
so  sadly  bereft  of  his  natural  protectors  was  taken 
into  the  family  of  Joseph  Craig,  a  farmer  of  that 
county,  with  whom  he  remained  until  1848.  A 
studious,  thoughtful  j'outh,  ambitious  to  secure  an 
education,  during  that  time  he  took  advantage  of 
every  opportunity  to  attend  school.  There  were 
then  no  free  schools,  but  each  family  had  to  pay 
according  to  the  number  of  scholars  sent. 

In  1848  our  subject  came  Northward  to  Jit. 
Vernon,  Ind.,  where  he  learned  the  trade  of  a 
cooper.  In  1851,  he  went  back  to  Kentuck}',  and 
engaged  at  his  trade  at  Paducah,  spending  all  his 
spare  time  in  study.  In  1853,  he  came  to  Gol- 
conda,and  the  same  year  turned  his  attention  to  the 
study  of  medicine.  His  means  were  limited,  but  his 
was  a  resolute  character  and  success  was  assured 
to  one  so  determined  to  succeed.  He  was  indus- 
trious, and  by  working  hard  day-times  he  obtained 
money  enough  to  complete  his  medical  education, 


having  kept  up  in  his  reading  at  night,  and  he  at- 
tended two  courses  of  lectures  in  the  Cincinnati 
Medical  College.  He  finally  established  himself 
in  the  drug  business,  but  he  was  so  frequently 
called  upon  to  prescribe,  that  in  1870  he  sold  his 
drug  business,  and  has  since  devoted  himself  solely 
to  his  professional  duties.  He  has  control  of  a 
large  practice,  and  his  patients  find  in  him  a  care- 
ful, intelligent  and  considerate  ph^-sician,  who  is 
skillful  in  combating  disease  in  its  various  forms, 
and  his  personal  qualities  have  gained  him  a  warm 
place  in  the  hearts  of  many  who  have  become  his 
friends. 

The  Doctor  was  first  married  in  1862,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  J.  McCoy,  a  native  of  Golconda,  and  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  George  and  Mary  A.  McCoy. 
Her  death  occurred  in  1882.  Five  children  were 
born  of  that  marriage:  George,  Augusta  A.,  Alice, 
Arthur  and  Grace.  George,  the  eldest  child,  died 
at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  The  maiden  name  of 
our  subject's  present  wife  was  Elizabeth  Suther- 
land, and  she  is  a  native  of  Golconda.  One  child, 
Ruth,  has  blessed  her  union  with  the  Doctor. 


I  l^,ILLIAM  HENRY  GILLIAM  is  prominent 
\rJ//  in  the  social,  literary  and  political  circles 
W^  of  Johnson  County  as  the  talented  editor 
and  proprietor  of  the  Vienna  Weekly  Times,  which, 
under  his  business-like  and  judicious  management, 
is  a  newspaper  of  the  highest  merit,  and  is  classed 
among  the  leading  journals  of  the  southern  section 
of  the  State,  Our  subject  is  a  native  of  Weakley 
County,  Tenn.,  and  was  born  December  1,  1856. 
His  father,  Thomas  II.  Gilliam,  who  was  a  prosper- 
ous and  well-known  farmer  of  Burnsidc  Township, 
was  born  in  Dinwiddle  Countj',  Va.,  and  was  reared 
and  married  in  his  native  State,  Sarah  E.,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Thomas  Hill,  and  a  Virginian  by  birth,  be- 
coming his  wife.  It  is  supposed  that  the  paternal 
grandfather  of  our  subject  passed  his  entire  life  in 
A'irgiuia.  The  father  of  our  subject  left  his  early 
home  while  yet  a  young  man,  first  settling  in  Gib- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


20? 


son  County,  Tenn.,  whence  lie  removed  to  Henry 
County,  and  from  there  to  AATeaklej-  County,  both 
in  Tennessee.  He  resided  in  the  latter  county' 
some  years,  but  finally  moved  Northward  as  far  as 
Calloway'  Count3',  K}'.,  and  in  1862  came  thence  to 
.Johnson  Countj'.  He  bought  a  tract  of  land  in 
what  is  now  Burnside  Township,  developed  it  into 
a  fine  farm,  and  was  actively  engaged  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
November  18,  1892,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two  years. 
The  village  of  Ozark  is  located  on  his  farm.  The 
wife  of  his  earl}-  manhood,  whose  cheerful  and 
ready  help  at  all  times  was  such  an  aid  to  him  in 
the  upbuilding  of  a  home,  has  also  passed  away, 
closing  her  eyes  in  death  in  January,  1889. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  six  j'ears  old  when 
his  parents  brought  him  to  Illinois.  He  attended 
the  district  school  in  his  bo3'hood,  and  subsequently 
became  a  student  atEwing  College,  where  his  record 
for  good  scholarship  was  high.  At  the  age  of  nine- 
teen he  commenced  teaching,  confining  his  labors  in 
that  line  to  the  winter  seasons.  AVhen  not  teach- 
ing or  attending  school,  he  worked  on  his  father's 
farm.  A  few  months  were  spent  as  clerk  in  the 
postoffiee  at  New  Burnside,  and  also  in  the  Circuit 
Clerk's  office,  while  in  1882  he  was  appointed 
Deputy  Sheriff  of  the  couuty,  and  served  in  that 
capacity,  and  in  the  office  of  the  Circuit  Clerk,  un- 
til 1885,  gaining  then  a  clear  insight  into  public 
affairs  that  has  been  of  benefit  to  him  since  he  en- 
tered the  editorial  field  in  that  year.  He  then 
bought  a  half  interest  in  the  Weekly  Times,  with  G. 
W.  Ballance  as  partner.  In  October,  1886,  he 
bought  the  latter's  share  of  the  paper,  and  has  since 
been  sole  editor  and  proprietor.  This  is  an  admir- 
ablj-  conducted  paper,  a  bright  and  healthy  family 
journal,  keeping  its  patrons  well  informed  on  all 
matters  of  general  concern,  and  influential  in  fos- 
tering the  business  interests  of  the  village  and 
county  and  all  enterprises  that  will  in  any  wa}' 
promote  their  growth.  Mr.  Gilliam  has  a  job-print- 
ing office,  which  he  operates  in  connection  with  his 
newspaper  work,  and  has  plent}-  of  business  in 
that  line.  He  is  a  young  man  of  considerable  force 
of  character,  combined  with  pleasant  social  traits 
that  m.ake  him  a  good  comrade  and  a  steadfast 
friend.     He  is  a  thorough  Hepublicau  in  his  polit- 


ical sympathies,  and  his  jjapcr  is  a  valuable  ally  of 
the  part}-  in  disseminating  its  principles.  Frater- 
nally, our  subject  is  a  member  of  Vesta  Lodge  No. 
340, 1.  0.  O.  F.;  and  of  Vienna  Encampment  No. 
53. 

Mr.  Gilliam  was  married  at  X'ienna  in  .Tunc, 
1890,  to  Miss  Dimple  Perkins,  a  native  of  Howard 
County,  Mo.,  and  a  daughter  of  Henry  Stewart 
Perkins,  deceased.  The}'  have  established  a  cheery, 
lios|)ltable  home,  which  is  further  brightened  by 
the  little  son  th.at  h.as  been  born  to  them,  and  wliom 
they  have  named  Frank. 


^1' AMES  E.  LANE,  of  the  firm  of  Lane  it  Mc 
Gown,  proprietors  of  the  People's  Roller 
^^,  ,  Flour  Mill,  at  Golconda,  has  a  well-earned 
^^fJ  reputation  as  an  alert  and  sagacious  busi- 
ness man,  who  is  contributing  his  quota  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  commercial  interests  of  Pope 
Count3^  He  was  born  in  Obion  County,  Teuu., 
December  29,  1845.  His  father  was  Granville  Lane, 
who  was  engaged  in  flat-boating  on  the  Mississippi 
River,  and  died  in  March,  1846,  while  on  one  of 
his  trips.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Emma  Settles,  and  who  was  a  native  of  Tennessee, 
was  thus  left  a  widow  in  limited  circumstances, 
with  six  children  to  care  for.  She  bravely  bore 
the  burden,  but  she  had  been  an  invalid  for  a 
number  of  years  and  could  not  do  for  them  as 
she  would  wish  to  do.  In  the  year  1851  she  re- 
moved to  Missouri  in  the  hope  of  bettering  her 
condition,  and  lived  there  until  August,  1854, 
when  she  came  to  Illinois  and  passed  her  remaining 
days  in  Pope  County. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  nine  years  old 
when  he  came  to  this  State  with  his  mother,  and 
young  as  he  was,  he  was  of  great  help  to  her,  and 
as  soon  as  large  enough,  he  began  to  earn  his  own 
living,  and  faithfully  assisted  in  the  support  of 
his  mother.  Having  to  begin  the  struggle  for  ex- 
istence thus  early  in  life,  he  had  but    little   oppor- 


i'(»i;'i'i;.\i  T  AND  I!1()(;i;ai'iii(ai, 


;\  ii:\v. 


tuiiitv  to  utlciul  scliodi,  lull  ki'|il  liii>y  :U  (liircreiil 
kinds  uf  (Mii|)loyinent.  Ilo  wii.sbut  nlKiy  when  the 
w;ir  broke  out,  but  |iati-ioli.sni  was  strong  vvitliin 
liim,  aiul  at  tlie  age  of  seventeen,  July  5,  1HU3,  he 
enlisted  in  the  United  State  Navy  as  first  class 
bo3'  for  one  j'ear,  and  in  that  trying  position,  by 
bis  promptness  and  readiness  to  obey  all  orders 
however  ditlicult,  he  received  the  confidence  of  his 
superiors, and  was  promoted  to  be  ordinary  seaman, 
lie  served  on  the  gunboat  "nrilliant,"  No.  18  of 
the  Ohio,  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  River  Heel, 
until  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  enlistment, 
when  he  was  honorably  discharged. 

After  his  retirement  from  the  navy,  IMr.  Lane 
eonimeneed  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  miller,  and  was 
engaged  at  it  as  a  journeyman  for  a  time,  opera- 
ting mills  in  different  places,  and  in  1882  he  went 
to  Menna  to  take  charge  of  a  mill  there.  That 
mill  had  previously  been  a  failure,  but  having 
had  a  good  experience  in  running  mills,  and  being 
thoroughly  proficient  at  his  trade,  besides  posses- 
sing excellent  business  qualifications,  he  succeeded 
in  establishing  it  on  a  paying  basis.  He  continued 
in  its  management  until  1881,  when  he  returned 
to  Golconda  and  purchased  the  mill  in  which  he 
had  learned  his  trade,  paying  part  cash  for  it.  lie 
was  successful  in  the  operation  of  that  mill,  and 
had  it  nearly  paid  for  when  it  was  burned,  April 
11,  1887,  entailing  a  loss  of  *7,500,  including 
stock,  and  with  no  insurauce.  Mr.  Lane  had  to 
start  anew,  and  he  went  to  work  with  a  good  will 
to  retrieve  his  fallen  fortunes,  being  greatly  en- 
couraged and  strengthened  in  his  task  by  the  as- 
sistance afforded  him  by  the  citizens  of  Golconda. 
The  present  mill  is  a  commodious  frame  structure, 
furnished  with  the  best  of  modern  machinery  for 
the  manufacture  of  Hour,  and  it  turns  out  sixty 
barrels  a  day  when  working  at  its  full  capacity, 
the  flour  being  of  a  high  grade  and  commanding  a 
good  market.  In  1888  Mr.  Lane  sold  a  half  in- 
terest in  the  mill  to  his  present  partner,  Thomas 
McGown,  and  they  aic  doing  an  extensive  busi- 
ness. 

January  19,  1871,  Mr.  Lane  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Mary  E.  Hancock,  daughter  of  William  F. 
and  ALaiT  A.  (Paisley)  Hancock,  and  a  native  of 
Pope  Count3^     They  are  very  pleasantly  situated 


in  their  home  life,  and  have  two  children,  .lames 
II.  and  Mary  lunil^'.  Mr.  Lane  enjoys  the  good- 
will and  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  is  an 
all-round  good  man,  who  has  made  the  best  of  his 
circumstances  and  raised  himself  to  an  hononibic 
position.  He  is  sound  in  politics,  and  stands  witli 
the  Democrats. 


€E^SDl>'^i^I 


PKANCIS  M.  HAZEL,  a  farmer  of  much  en- 
;  terprise  and  business  ability,  who  has  a 
well-ordered  farm  on  section  12,  Grants- 
burg  Township,  and  is  also  interested  in  the  lum- 
ber trade  at  this  point,  comes  of  sturd3'  pioneer 
stock,  and  is  a  native  of  Pope  County,  born  on  the 
old  family  homestead  August  2,  18.59.  His  father 
was  Alfred  M.  Hazel,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee, 
and  in  the  opening  years  of  manhood  came  to  Illi- 
nois with  his  father. 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  settled 
in  Pope  County  in  the  earl}'  years  of  its  settle- 
ment, coming  hither  by  team  through  the  inter- 
vening wilderness.  He  was  a  poor  man,  but  made 
the  best  of  his  opportunities.  He  entered  land 
from  the  Government,  and  the  typical  pioneer  log 
house  that  he  erected  to  shelter  his  family  was  his 
home  the  remainder  of  his  days,  and  is  still  stand- 
ing on  the  premises. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  brought  up  on  a 
farm,  and  was  of  great  assistance  to  his  father  in 
clearing  his  land  and  felling  magnificent  forest 
trees  of  primeval  growth,  that  would  now  be  almost 
priceless,  and  burning  them  to  get  them  out  of  the 
way.  He  lived  with  his  parents  until  his  mar- 
riage to  Martha  Ellis,  a  native  of  Illinois, and  then 
he  moved  onto  some  land  that  he  entered  in 
Pope  County,  and  entered  vigorously  into  the 
pioneer  task  of  preparing  it  for  cultivation.  He 
subsequently  removed  to  a  farm  on  the  so-called 
"Hog-eye  Tract,"  and  afterwards  took  up  his  resi- 
dence on  what  is  now  known  as  the  Simmons 
Farm.  He  improved  that,  laboring  hard  to  cany 
out  his  plans,  and  made  it  his  home  for  thirt}'  years. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


209 


Then  selling  that  place,  he  bought  a  little  farm  of 
fort}'  acres  ou  section  12,  Grautsbufg  Township. 
Four  j-ears  later  he  disposed  of  that  farm  and  re- 
tired from  active  business,  living  with  his  children 
until  liis  death  in  July,  1886,  and  all  that  was 
mortal  of  liim  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  Hazel  grave- 
yard. Tlie  mother  died  in  1888,  and  was  buried 
in  Jlorris  graveyard.  Tlie  father  was  twice  mar- 
ried. His  first  wife  bore  him  one  child,  Mary 
.lane,  wife  of  Hamilton  Triplett,  of  Panther  Val- 
ley, IMo.  His  second  marriage  was  to  Vienna 
Dixon,  and  twelve  children  were  born  to  them,  of 
whom  these  four  are  living:  Alfred  Tliomas,  a 
farmer  in  Jolinson  County;  Green  W.,  a  farmer 
in  Pope  County;  Francis  M;  and  Ruan,a  resident 
of  Pope  County. 

The  subject  of  tliis  sketcli  was  reared  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  and  earl}'  became  familiar  with 
every  kind  of  farm  labor.  He  attended  the  com- 
mon schools,  but  his  education  was  necessarilj' 
limited,  as  he  had  but  few  advantages.  He  has, 
liowevcr,in  a  great  measure, made  up  for  his  early 
deficiencies,  experience,  observation  and  reading 
teaching  him  much,  and  he  is  a  well-informed 
man,  having  a  practical  knowledge  of  all  things 
pertaining  to  business,  etc.  He  remained  at  home 
until  he  was  eighteen  j^ears  of  age,  and  then  began 
life  on  his  own  account,  working  on  a  farm  and 
in  the  timber.  For  two  years  he  did  not  make 
much  headway,  but  his  prospects  brightened  the 
third  j'ear,  and  he  contrived  to  lay  up  money  the 
ensuing  three  3'ears.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he 
went  to  farming  for  liimself,  investing  in  a  farm 
of  one  liundred  and  forty  acres,  which  was  but  lit- 
tle improved,  but  his  well-directed  and  untiring 
labors  have  wrought  a  great  change,  and  it  is  now 
in  a  fine  condition.  He  has  increased  its  area 
from  time  to  time,  buying  first  twenty  acres  addi- 
tional, then  ten  acres,  and  then  twenty  acres,  and 
it  now  comprises  one  hundred  and  ninety  acres  of 
good  land. 

Mr.  Hazel's  attention  is  by  no  means  confined  to 
farming;  he  has  branched  out  in  other  directions, 
and  is  interested  in  various  enterprises.  He  is  en- 
gaged to  quite  an  extent  in  buying  standing  tim- 
ber, employing  a  number  of  men  to  cut  it,  and  he 
is  part  owner  of  a  sawmill,  from  which  he  derives 


a  good  income.  He  is  a  live  business  man,  and  is 
quick  to  take  advantage  of  all  opportunities  for 
making  money  by  legitimate  trade,  his  sagacity, 
keen  foresight  and  native  shrewdness  carrying 
him  successfully  through  any  undertaking.  A 
type  of  our  self-made,  self-educated  men,  he  has 
developed  into  a  good  citizen,  who  is  interested 
in  all  that  pertains  to  the  welfare  of  tlie  commu- 
nity, and  in  public  spirit  is  second  to  none  of  iiis 
neighbors.  Ap[)reciating  the  value  of  education, 
he  is  giving  las  children  a  chance  to  train  tlie 
brain  as  well  as  the  hands,  by  sending  tiiem  to 
good  schools. 

Our  subject  owes  mucli  to  the  clieerful  co-opei'a- 
tion  of  his  estimable  wife,  who  was  formerly'  Miss 
Ellen  Morris,  and  was  born  on  her  father's  farm 
in  Johnson  County.  Her  parents  are  both  de- 
ceased. Her  mother  was  from  Tennessee,  while 
her  father  was  born  in  Illinois,  and  was  a  son  of 
one  of  the  earlj*  pioneer  families.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hazel  have  had  six  children,  as  follows:  Martha 
Jane,  who  lives  at  home;  Ida  Viola,  deceased; 
Marj'  L.,  at  home;  Clement  D.,  at  home;  a  ciiild 
that  died  in  infancj';  and  Lillie,  wlio  died  at  the 
age  of  two  j'ears. 


ylLLIAM  MOORE,  a  grocer  at  Vienna,  is  a 
native-born  son  of  Johnson  County,  and 
is  one  of  her  successful  business  men,  who 
has  made  his  way  from  poverty  to  a  well-assured 
financial  position  solelj'  through  his  pusii  and 
energy  in  tlie  management  of  his  affairs.  He  was 
born  in  Eloomfield  Township,  Januarj'  24,  1857,  a 
son  of  John  P.  Moore,  a  patriotic  soldier  of  the 
late  war,  who  sacrificed  his  life  for  his  country. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  born  in  Davidson 
County,  Tenn.,  and  was  a  son  of  Andrew  Moore, 
who  was  a  farmer  of  that  State,  and,  so  far  as 
known,  spent  his  entire  life  in  Davidson  County, 
he  being  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  early  pioneer 
families  of  Tennessee.  John  Moore  was  a  young 
man  wiien  lie   came    to    Illinois   to  cast  in  iiis  lot 


210 


roiiiii.M  r  AM)  niocK.vi'iiicAL  i;i:\  ii;\v. 


with  the  pioneers  of  Johnson  County.  He  bought 
a  tract  of  timber  land,  and  erected  a  log  cabin  for 
himself  and  his  young  wife,  and  in  that  iiunible 
abode  their  eldest  son,  of  whom  we  write,  was  born. 
It  was  a  primitive  affair.  The  boards  for  the  roof 
were  split  by  liand  and  held  in  place  by  poles, 
and  boards  split  by  hand  were  used  for  tiie  floor 
and  doors;  in  fact,  no  sawed  lumber  entered  into 
tiie  construction  of  the  building.  The  chimney 
was  made  of  clay  and  sticks.  Mr.  Moore  worked 
diligently  to  clear  his  land  and  place  it  under 
cultivation,  but  he  finally  laid  aside  his  labors  at 
the  call  of  a  higher  duty,  and  in  1802  enlisted  in 
Company  K,  One  Hundred  and  Tvventietli  Illinois 
Infantr}-.  He  served  with  fidelity  a  year  and 
a-lialf,  and  was  then  honorably  discharged  on  ac- 
count of  disability.  He  returned  home,  but  never 
recovered  his  health,  remaining  an  invalid  until 
his  death  in  1873,  thus  surrendering  his  life  for 
the  Union,  for  which  he  had  so  bravely  fought. 
His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Mary  S.  Braden, 
and  who  is  thought  to  have  been  a  native  of  Ten- 
nessee, survived  him  until  February  10,  1889,  and 
then  she  too  passed  awa)'.  They  were  the  parents 
of  six  children:  William,  Sarah,  Lucy,  Nancy, 
John  and  Henry. 

The  subject  of  this  biograpiiical  review  being 
the  eldest  of  the  family  had  to  shoulder  the 
burdens  of  life  early,  as  his  father  went  to  war 
when  he  was  very  young.  He  had  but  little  op- 
portunit}'  to  attend  school,  and  his  education  has 
been  mostly  gained  by  experience  and  observation. 
The  good  mother  was  ever  active  in  the  interests  of 
her  home  and  children,  and  for  some  time  they 
were  neatly  clad  in  home-spun,  the  work  of  her 
deft  hands  in  carding,  spinning  and  weaving. 

In  tlie  meantime  Mr.  Moore  bought  forty  acres  of 
land,  and  in  1882  sold  his  crop  and  stock,  and  with 
the  proceeds  completed  the  payment,  and  then 
traded  his  land  for  an  interest  in  a  liver}'  stable  in 
Vienna.  Later,  in  the  same  year,  he  exchanged 
his  interest  in  the  stable  for  a  stock  of  groceries 
at  Metropolis  estimated  to  be  worth  1300.  He 
removed  the  groceries  to  Vienna,  and  renting  a 
small  room,  began  his  successful  career.  He  now 
carries  a  large  stock  and  commands  a  first-class 
trade.     He  is   recognized   as  a  thoroughlj-  honest 


and  trustworthy  business  man,  whose  word  is  as 
good  as  a  bond,  and  his  fellow-citizens  bear  him  in 
great  respect.  In  his  political  symp.ithies  he  is 
with  the  Repul)licans.  Religiously,  both  he  and 
his  estimable  wife  are  consistent  members  of  the 
Congregational  Church. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Moore  witli  Miss  Nancy  J. 
J5oardman,  who  was  born  near  Jonesboro,  Union 
County,  was  solemnized  July  7,  1878.  It  has  been 
hallowed  to  them  by  the  birth  of  three  children: 
Ernest,  Myrtle  and  Teddie. 


E^^ 


>^EORGE  A.  CROW,  County  Judge  of  Pope 
County,  early  displayed  fine  aliilities  as  a 
lawyer,  has  risen  rapidlj'  in  his  profession, 
and  is  distinguished  as  being  one  of  the  youngest 
members  of  the  judiciary  presiding  over  the 
courts  of  southern  Illinois.  This  is  his  native 
State,  and  he  was  born  on  a  farm  nine  miles  from 
Metropolis,  in  Massac  Count}',  March  17,  1860.  He 
is  a  son  of  Jacob  W.  Crow,  of  whom  an  extensive 
sketch  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work. 

His  boyhood  days  being  passed  on  a  farm,  our 
subject  had  to  assist  in  its  labors  as  soon  as  old 
enough  to  be  of  use.  His  education  was  not  neg- 
lected, however,  and  the  blight,  ambitious  lad 
made  the  best  of  his  opportunities  to  attend 
school.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  began  to  teach, 
and  taught  seven  terms  in  the  winter  and  one 
term  in  the  summer.  In  the  meantime  he  was 
fitting  himself  for  the  legal  profession,  for  which 
he  had  a  decided  taste,  and  so  well  did  he  employ 
his  spare  time  in  the  study  of  law  that  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar  in  1884.  He  at  once  commenced 
practice  at  Golconda,  and  has  resided  here  ever 
since.  His  success  was  assured  from  the  start,  and 
his  natural  gifts  soon  brought  him  to  the  front 
among  the  most  talented  members  of  the  Bar.  In 
1886,  after  scarcely'  two  j-ears'  experience  before 
the  courts,  he  was  elected  Count}-  Judge,  and  in 
1890  he  was  re-elected  to  this  responsible  position. 
He  fills  the  office  with  becoming  dignity,  and   his 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


2n 


decisions  are  mariced  by  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  law  as  bearing  on  each  case  tried  before  him, 
by  sound  common  sense,  and  by  a  keen  sense  of 
justice.  Tlie  Judge  cast  his  first  vote  for  Garfield 
in  1880,  and  lias  been  a  stanch  supporter  of  the 
princi[ilcs  of  the  Republican  party  ever  since.  So- 
cially, he  is  a  member  of  Golconda  Lodge  No.  292, 

r.  o.  o.  F. 

Judge  Crow  was  married  October  10,  1883,  to 
Miss  Flora  Hemphill,  a  native  of  Pope  County. 
She  was  born  five  miles  south  of  Golconda,  and  is 
a  daughter  of  Samuel  D.  Hemphill,  a  pioneer  of 
the  count}'.  Tlie  Judge  and  his  amiable  wife  are 
people  of  high  social  standing,  friendl}',  courteous 
and  considerate  in  their  relations  with  all  with 
whom  the}'  come  in  contact,  and  in  their  home 
they  welcome  the  coming  or  speed  the  parting- 
guest  witli  genuine  tact  and  perfect  hospitality. 
The  Judge  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  in  which  he  is  an  Elder. 


Vf?  EWIS  G.  JONES  was  born  in  Roane  County, 
I  (^  Tenn.,  September  24,  1837.  He  is  a  son  of 
jlLA'^  John  Jones,  who  was  born  in  Washington 
County,  Tenn.,  in  1810.  The  latter  was  a  son  of 
Lewis  Jones,  who  removed  to  Tennessee,  it  is  be- 
lieved, from  Virginia.  He  followed  farming  most 
of  his  life  in  Tennessee,  where  he  died  at  an  ad- 
vanced age.  He  reared  a  large  family,  of  whom 
John  was  one  of  the  older  sons.  John  Jones  mar- 
ried Isabella  Raulston,  of  Tennessee,  daughter  of 
Moses  Raulston,  who  came  from  Ireland,  and  who 
was  a  finished  scholar.  His  wife  was  Mary  Denn}', 
of  Tennessee,  who  was  left  alone  with  five  small 
children,  all  of  whom  she  reared. 

Lewis  G.  Jones  is  one  of  eighteen  children,  five 
of  whom  died  in  infancy,  and  only  six  of  whom 
arrived  at  adult  age.  William  was  a  volunteer  in 
the  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  killed 
in  battle  in  front  of  Atlanta,  July  22,  1864,  the 
same  day  on  which  Gen.  McPherson  was  killed. 
The  [larents  of  Lewis  G.  came  to  Illinois  in    1858 


with  their  team,  leaving  him  and  his  elder  sister 
in  Tennessee.  He  came  on  in  the  fall  of  1865, 
and  his  sister  came  in  1876.  Lewis  G.  Jones  vol- 
unteered to  defend  the  Bag  of  his  country  in 
March,  1862,  joining  the  Fifth  Tennessee  Infantry, 
and  serving  as  a  private  soldier  all  the  time  he 
was  in  the  army.  He  was  in  some  of  the  princi- 
pal battles  of  the  war,  Chickamauga  and  Resaca, 
and  in  the  entire  Atlanta  campaign,  back  with 
Gen.  Thomas  in  pursuit  of  food  to  Nashville,  at 
F"t.  Fislier,  Ft.  Anderson,  and  at  Wilmington, 
N.  C.  He  was  married  first  in  1856,  to  Louisa 
Phillips,  who  bore  him  five  sons  and  one  daughter, 
and  who  died  in  Illinois  in  1869,  in  her  thirt}'- 
fifth  year.  Three  of  the  sons  died  in  infancy. 
The  children  she  left  at  the  time  of  her  death  were 
Samuel  A.,  who  died  when  twenty-seven  years  of 
age,  leaving  a  widow  and  two  sons;  William  I., 
who  died  when  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  Isa- 
belle,  wife  of  Turner  Miller,  a  farmer  of  Tunnel 
Hill  Township.  Mr.  Jones  was  married  the  sec- 
ond time,  July  16,  1871,  to  Miss  Sarah  E.  Stroud, 
daughter  of  J.  C.  and  Mary  (Adams)  Stroud. 

Our  subject  removed  from  Tennessee  to  Illinois 
with  his  ox-team,  being  thirty  days  en  route.  He 
had  but  little  means,  and  was  at  the  time  an  in- 
valid, and  had  been  from  the  time  he  came  out  of 
the  army,  where  he  had  lung  fever,  and  was  gen- 
erally broken  down.  He  settled  first  in  Goreville 
Township,  on  an  eighty-acre  farm  belonging  to  his 
mother.  His  first  farm  in  Illinois  consisted  of 
eighty  acres,  now  a  part  of  his  present  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  nineteen  acres.  Mr.  Jones  was 
Treasurer  of  the  Township  Board  and  a  Commis- 
sioner. He  is  a  member  of  the  Odd  Fellows'  fra- 
ternity, and  has  since  the  war  voted  the  Republi- 
can ticket  principall}'.  He  carries  on  for  the  most 
part  general  fanning,  growing  mostly  wheat  and 
corn,  and  keeps  a  few  horses,  cattle,  sheep  and 
hogs.  He  and  his  present  wife  buried  one  son, 
Oscar,  at  four  years  of  age.  They  have  six  chil- 
dren living,  viz:  Viola,  a  j'oung  lady  at  home; 
Verrazanna,  a  young  man  at  home;  Cordelia,  a 
young  lady  in  school;  Jesse  C,  a  rugged  farmer 
boy;  Philip  Sheridan  and  Mary  E.  AVhile  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Jones  themselves  had  but  limited  educa- 
tion tlioy  SCO  tlie  benefit  of  it,  and  are  doing  what 


212 


POR'J'RAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


they  can  to  educate  their  cliildi'cn.  Tliey.iro  botli 
meiiibers  of  the  Cumlierland  rrcsb3'teri,an  Cliiucli. 
The  fatlier  of  Mrs  Jones  was  a  soldier  in  the  War 
of  tiie  Rebellion. 


UGII  II.  HICKS  was  iM.rn  in  Hickman 
Y  County,  Tcnn.,  forty  niiU's  fioni  N.asliville, 
in  181().  His  father,  William  Hicks,  who 
was  born  in  Virginia  in  1771,  was  a  fanner 
and  a  carpenter,  and  was  married  to  a  Miss  Bees- 
ley,  of  Tennessee,  who  died  in  Hickman  County, 
Tenn..  in  llSH).  She  l)ore  him  nine  children,  of 
whom  Hugh  II.  w.as  the  youngest.  After  her 
death  the  children  were  soon  scattered  among  the 
neighbors,  and  Hugh  H.  had  practically  no  educa- 
tion. He  grew  up  accustomed  to  farm  labor,  and 
earned  his  own  living  from  the  time  he  was  seven 
years  old.  He  had  for  a  time  a  good  home  with  a 
kind  old  couple,  whom  he  left  to  go  to  his  father 
again  in  Weaklc}' County,  Tenn.  There  his  father 
had  a  farm,  and  when  Hugh  II.  was  sixteen  years 
of  age  he  ran  this  farm  one  year  alone.  His  father 
died  in  Henry  County,  Tenn.,  aged  scvcnt\--two 
years. 

Hugh  II.  Hicks  was  married  in  AVeakle}-  County, 
Tenn.,  when  in  his  eighteenth  j^ear,  to  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Pirtle,  a  native  of  Stewart  County,  Tonn. 
born  in  Ma}',  1812.  He  lived  for  some  ten  years 
on  a  claim  of  two  hundred  acres,  when,  on  account 
of  sickness  and  the  death  of  his  children,  he  sold 
his  imi)rovcments  for  1*400,  and  removed  to  Will- 
iamson Count}',  111.,  near  his  present  home,  arriv- 
ing March  15,  1846.  He  drove  through  all  the 
way  with  two  yoke  of  oxen  and  four  horses,  the 
latter  following  and  being  led.  The  family  then 
living  consisted  of  one  little  son.  He  bought  an 
improved  farm  for  $300,  and  some  deeded  land, 
which,  at  the  end  of  seven  years,  he  sold  for  S468 
at  auction,  when  he  removed  to  Arkansas,  remain- 
ing there  one  year.  Then  returning  to  Illinois  he 
bought  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  after  a 
time  bouirlit  one  hundred   and   seven   acres  more. 


On  Mils  land  ho  lived  until  18G(i,when  he  sold  out 
and  went  tu  Kansas,  lemaiuing  there,  in  Saline 
County,  for  fifteen  days,  after  which  he  returned 
to  .Johnson  County,  III.,  to  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  in  Goreville  Township.  He  now 
has  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  acres,  which  he 
bought  in  1880. 

Our  subject  and  his  estimable  wife  have  had 
three  sons  and  four  daughters,  all  of  whom  died 
except  one  son,  Hugh  H.  Two  died  in  infancy, 
and  the  others  .it  different  ages.  James  F.  was 
a  volunteer  in  the  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infan- 
try in  18G3,  under  Capt.  Robinson,  and  died  soon 
afterward  of  measles,  in  his  twenty-second  year, 
leaving  a  wife  and  one  son.  The  surviving  son, 
Hugh  H.,  carries  on  his  own  little  farm, and  is  also 
in  compan}'  with  his  father.  He  married  Eliza- 
beth Barringer,  and  they  have  buried  three  infant 
sons,  and  have  three  daughters,  viz:  Ella,  wife  of 
George  Neel}',  a  farmer  of  Williamson  County; 
Ollie,  a  3'oung  lad}'  at  home  who  has  taught 
school;  and  Nola,  a  young  lady  of  seventeen,  at 
home.  Mr.  Hicks  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  but 
was  formerly  a  Whig,  having  cast  his  first  Presi- 
dential vote  for  Henry  Clay.  He  has  been  a  very 
healthy  and  rugged  man,  and  has  done  a  vast 
amount  of  hard  work,  and  is  still  strong  and 
hearty  and  is  working  every  day.  He  has  no  rec- 
ollection of  ever  having  been  sick  or  ailing  in 
any  way,  showing  that  his  manner  of  life  has  been 
as  nearly  in  accordance  with  nature's  laws  as  it  is 
possible  for  a  man  to  live. 


I  OB  ROY  RIDEXHOWER,  who  occupies  the 
if  responsible  ollice  of  Sheriff  of  Johnson 
\\\  County,  is  a  fine  type  of  the  native-born 
sons  of  this  section  of  southern  Illinois, 
who  are  taking  a  leading  part  in  conducting  its 
various  interests  and  are  also  identified  with  its 
public  life.  Our  subject  is  classed  among  its  ca- 
pable, cnterprisinii'   vounii    farmers,   and    he   owns 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


213 


and  superintends  a  part  of  the  farm  in  Vienna 
Township  that  formerly  belonged  to  his  father, 
Harris  Monroe  Rideuhower,  Sr.,  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  who  was  the  most  prominent  man  of  his 
time  in  the  earh'  daj'S  of  the  settlement  of  this 
county,  and  of  whom  an  extended  account  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  work  in  the  sketch  of  Harris  M. 
Ridenliower,.Jr. 

Our  subject  was  the  eighth  child  of  his  parents, 
and  was  born  April  14,  1861,  on  the  old  farm  in 
Gorevillc  Township,  then  occupied  by  his  parents, 
and  where  his  mother  now  makes  her  home.  The 
|)aternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  a  German 
1)3'  birth,  who  came  to  this  countrj^  and  settled  in 
North  Carolina,  where  he  pursued  his  trade  as  a 
tanner  until  he  died.  The  father  of  our  subject 
was  instructed  in  the  same  trade  bj"  his  father. 
He  was  married  in  Rowan  County,  his  native 
State,  to  Lavinia  Miller,  who  was  born  in  that 
count}-,  and  in  1845  he  and  his  wife  set  out  to 
traverse  the  intervening  mountains  and  wilder- 
ness between  their  old  home  and  Illinois  in  a  one- 
horse  carryall,  taking  with  them  their  household 
effects  and  personal  property.  Thej'  took  up  their 
abode  in  a  lonel}^  log  cabin  in  Union  Countv,  and 
he  divided  his  time  between  farming  and  teaching. 
He  was  a  man  of  fine  mental  endowments,  although 
he  was  mainly  self-educated,  but  he  had  studied  to 
a  good  purpose,  and  had  a  good  command  of  both 
Englisli  and  German,  as  well  as  a  practical  knowl- 
edge of  matliematics  and  other  branches,  and  he 
had  a  wide  reputation  as  a  pioneer  educator  in  the 
sparsel}^  settled  country  where  he  lived.  He  often 
taught  a  long  distance  from  home,  and  his  brave 
3'oung  wife  would  be  left  in  solitude  for  days  and 
nights,  the  onl^-  noise  to  break  the  silence  when 
darkness  reigned  being  the  howling  of  the  wolves 
outside  of  the  little  dwelling,  and  the  occasional 
cry  of  a  panther. 

In  1857  Mr.  Ridenhower,  our  subject's  father, 
disposed  of  his  place  in  Union  Count3%  and  coming 
to  Johnson  Count}',  entered  a  tract  of  land  in 
what  is  now  Goreville  Township,  and  here  they 
commenced  to  build  another  home.  In  186.3  that 
farm  was  sold  to  George  Gibson,  and  another 
parti}'  improved  was  bought  two  and  one-fourth 
miles  soutlieast  of  Vienna,  upon  which  the   father 


of  our  subject  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  dy- 
ing in  1869.  The  mother  continued  to  live  upon 
this  farm  until  1883,  when  she  was  married  to 
George  Gibson,  the  purchaser  of  her  former  home 
in  Goreville  Township,  and  went  back  to  preside 
over  it  again.  By  her  marriage  with  Mr.  Riden- 
hower she  became  the  mother  of  the  following 
children,  nine  in  number:  Otto  Lebref,  who  sacri- 
ficed his  life  for  his  countr3'  during  the  late  war, 
having  contracted  measles  while  in  the  arm3',  and 
returning  home  to  Johnson  Count3',  died  shortl3^ 
after;  Peninna  Ardanissa,  who  died  in  .Johnson 
Count3';  Erastus  Kimber,  a  farmer  and  teacher,  re- 
siding in  Hamilton  Count}',  Tex.;  Mary  Ann,  wife 
of  W.  A.  Snow,  a  farmer  of  Vienna  Townshii); 
Harris  Monroe,  Jr.,  a  resident  of  Vienna;  Carrie 
Levina,  who  graduated  at  Carbondale  with  high 
honors,  and  subsequently  died  in  the  midst  of  a 
successful  career  as  a  teacher;  Addie  May,  wife  of 
Alvis  Berry,  a  teacher  and  farmer  in  Saline  County; 
Rob  Roy;  and  Fleta,  wife  of  James  Gibson,  a 
farmer  of  Goreville  Township. 

Our  subject's  b03'hood  was  spent  on  the  farm 
which  was  his  birthplace,  and  as  he  was  but  seven 
years  old  when  his  father  died  he  had  to  help  his 
mother  as  he  was  large  enough  to  be  of  use  in  do- 
ing the  heavy  farm  work,  or  his  share  of  it.  He 
remained  with  her  until  she  married  again,  when 
he  began  farming  for  himself,still  remaining,  how- 
ever, on  the  old  homestead,  a  part  of  whicli  he 
owns,  and  which  he  still  makes  his  home,  except 
when  he  is  engaged  at  his  official  work  in  Vienna. 
He  keeps  his  farm  up  to  a  high  standard  of  culti- 
vation, and  has  a  neat  and  well-ordered  place,  from 
which  he  derives  a  good  income  by  careful  and 
thrifty  management. 

AVhen  he  began  life  for  himself  in  1883,  our 
subject  also  took  another  important  step  by  his 
marriage  to  Miss  Alice  Carter,  a  native  of  Johnson 
County,  of  which  her  parents,  who  were  from 
Tennessee,  were  early  settlers,  her  father  still  liv- 
ing in  the  county,  while  her  mother  is  dead.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Ridenhower  have  had  three  children,  of 
whom  Rob  Ro}',  Jr.,  is  the  onl}'  survivor.  The 
others  were  Lotta  Lavina  and  a  child  that  died  in 
infanc3'. 

Our  subject  was  brought  up  a   Republican,  but, 


21  1 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


tiiiding  himself  of  reueiit  yciirs  inoris  in  S3'in|)atliy 
Willi  the  People's  party,  lie  has  transferred  his  al- 
legiance to  it,  and  is  an  enthusiastic  advocate  of 
its  principles.  In  1890  he  w.as  made  the  candidate 
of  his  party  for  the  important  otlice  of  County 
Slieriff,  and  was  triumphantly  elected.  He  pos- 
sesses fine  (lualifications  for  the  position,  whose 
functions  he  performs  in  a  manner  highly  credita- 
ble to  himself  and  pleasing  to  his  constituency, 
always  placing  duty  above  personal  interests,  and 
a('ting  with  tact,  discrimination  and  firmness.  He 
is  genial  and  open-hearted,  and,  tliougli  he  may 
have  incurred  the  enmit3-  of  some,  he  has  man}' 
strong  friends. 


^.^^^ 


ARTIN  A.  HANKINS,  of  Vienna  Town- 
ship, .Johnson  Count}',  won  a  good  mili- 
tary record  while  fighting  for  the  Union 
during  the  late  war,  and  has  since  proved 
an  equally  valuable  citizen  in  his  capacity  as 
farmer  and  stock  dealer  and  as  a  competent,  stirring 
business  man.  He  was  born  February  7,  1845,  in 
Kentucky,  the  third  of  the  ten  children  of  Cheston 
Hankins  and  his  good  wife. 

The  father  of  our  subject  carried  on  farming  in 
Kentuck}-  until  1857,  when  he  emigrated  to  Illinois 
with  his  wife  and  their  five  children.  He  bought  a 
partly  improved  farm  of  eighty  acres  in  INIassac 
Count}',  and  in  the  cabin  that  stood  on  the  place  he 
and  his  famih'  began  life  in  their  new  home.  Fifteen 
years  later  he  sold  that  property  and  purchased 
another  farm  three  miles  distant,  which  is  still  in 
possession  of  the  family,  and  there  he  and  his  wife 
spent  their  remaining  years,  he  dying  in  1865,  and 
she  twenty  years  afterward.  The}'  had  the  follow- 
ing children:  William,  who  died  .young;  Rhoda 
Ann,  who  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-four  in  Massac 
County;  Martin  A.;  Wilson  I).,  who  liveson  theold 
homestead  in  Massac  County;  .Jesse,  who  died  on 
the  home  farm;  Reuben,  who  died  young;  Sarah, 
wife  of  Benjamin  Leach,  of  Metropolis;  Xaney  .1., 
who  died  in  Mass.ac  County;  David,  living  on  our 


subject's  farm;  Logan,  who  died  at  Metropolis; 
and  Ellen,  who  died  on  the  old  homestead. 

The  subject  of  tiiis  brief  biographical  review  ob- 
tained a  fair  education  in  the  common  schools  an<l 
was  well  trained  in  all  that  pertains  to  agriculture 
on  his  father's  farm.  When  about  seventeen  years 
of  .ige  he  left  home  to  become  a  soldier,  enlisting 
in  Company  A,  Twenty-ninth  Illinois  Infantr}-. 
He  unfortunatel}-  contracted  the  measles  not  long 
after,  and  was  so  seriously  ill  that  he  was  dis- 
charged from  the  army.  Nothing  daunted  by  his 
short  experience  of  military  life,  after  his  recovery 
he  again  enlisted  in  a  few  months  in  a  cavalr}' 
regiment  and  remained  at  the  front  until  the  ter- 
rible war  was  closed.  He  fought  right  well  at  Ft. 
Donelson  and  in  other  important  engagements,  and 
w.as  for  some  time  in  active  service  in  Alabama  and 
elsewhere  in  the  South. 

When  he  left  the  army,  our  subject  returned 
home  and  resumed  his  duties  as  a  private  citizen, 
and  the  following  March  took  upon  himself  the 
responsibilities  of  mai'ried  life,  wedding  Mi.ss  Sarah 
Leech,  a  native  of  Massac  County  and  a  daughter 
of  David  Leech.  Her  paternal  grandfather,  James 
Leech,  w.as  originall}-  from  South  Carolina,  whence 
he  removed  to  Iientuck}-  and  from  there  to  Illi- 
nois, and  died  in  Massac  Count}'.  He  was  a  farmer 
and  reared  his  son  David  to  the  same  occupation. 
The  latter  w.as  a  boy  when  his  parents  cast  in  their 
fortunes  with  the  early  pioneers  of  Massac  County, 
which  was  in  all  its  original  wildness  when  they 
settled  there,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  attempts 
at  reclaiming  the  soil  made  by  scattering  settlers. 
Mrs.  Hankins'  father  obtained  a  good  education 
mainly  by  his  own  application,  as  there  were  but 
few  schools  in  his  boyhood  in  southern  Illinois. 
He  became  a  successful  farmer  and  was  aided  in 
the  upbuilding  of  a  comfortable  home  by  his  wife, 
who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Elizabeth  Mathews, 
and  to  whom  he  was  married  in  Massac  County. 
They  had  six  children, namely:  James  K.,  a  teacher 
in  Texas;  David,  who  died  at  .Jackson,  Tenn., 
while  fighting  for  his  country;  Sarah;  Benjamin,  a 
resident  of  Metropolis;  Joseph,  a  resident  of  Texas: 
and  .John,  who  died  in  infancy. 

At  the  time  of  his  marriage,  Mr.  Hankins  re- 
moved to  a  farm  in  Massac  County  and  carried   it 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHIUAL   REVIEW. 


215 


on  six  or  seven  years,  and  then  made  his  home  for 
two  years  on  land  belonging  to  his  wife.  After 
that  he  dealt  in  stock  at  Metropolis  two  j^ears,  and 
engaged  in  the  same  business  in  Macon  County  one 
summer.  After  spending  the  subsequent  two  j-ears 
in  Metropolis,  he  went  to  Ft.  Worth,  Tex.,  staying 
there  four  months,  and  after  an  eight  months' 
residence  in  Metropolis,  and  a  three  years'  so- 
journ on  a  farm  in  the  same  county,  he  came 
back  again  to  Jtetropolis,  and  from  that  city  to 
his  present  location  on  section  10,  Vienna  Town- 
ship. This  is  a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-six  acres  of  well-tilled  and  highlj-  pro- 
ductive land  and  provided  with  substantial  im- 
provements. Mr.  Hankins  devotes  much  of  his  time 
to  dealing  in  stock,  and  his  business  calls  him  away 
from  home  a  great  deal.  He  is  a  good  judge  of  stock 
keeps  well  posted  in  the  markets,  and  is  shrewd 
and  enterprising  in  his  dealings,  which  are  always 
conducted  fairli",  and  he  is  one  of  the  moneyed 
men  of  the  township.  He  has  an  able  co-ad jutor 
in  his  wife,  who  is  an  intelligent,  well-informed 
lady  with  quite  a  faculty  for  business,  and  during 
his  frequent  trips  away  from  home  she  superin- 
tends the  work  of  the  farm.  Mr.  Hankins  is  a 
loyal  citizen  of  commendable  public  spirit,  and  in 
politics  stands  with  the  Republicans.  He  and  his 
wife  have  a  ver^'  pleasant  home,  which  is  bright- 
ened by  the  presence  of  five  of  their  six  children, 
Laura  K.,  .James,  Mertie,  Charles  and  Essie.  Their 
daughter  Alice  C.  is  the  wife  of  D.  W.  Mathis. 


"I^  OBERT  MARION  JIc  CALL,  physician  and 
IW^  surgeon  at  Vienna,  stands  well  at  the  head 
/Ai\V  of  his  profession  as  one  of  its  ablest  rep- 
\^  resentatives  now  practicing  in  Johnson 
Count\'.  A  native  of  Mississippi,  the  Doctor  was 
born  September  1,  1847,  the  eldest  child  of  Robert 
R.  and  Maiy  E.  (Dawson)  JlcCall.  His  father  was 
born  near  Nashville,  Tcnn.,  in  182.5,  and  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation,  and  also  a  minister  of  some 
note  in  the  Christian  Church.     At  some  period  of 


his  life  he  removed  to  the  western  part  of  his  na- 
tive State,  whence  he  afterward  went  to  Mississippi 
to  settle.  He  was  energetic  and  industrious,  and 
by  the  exercise  of  rare  judgment  and  sound  busi- 
ness methods,  he  accumulated  a  valuable  property, 
becoming  the  owner  of  a  large  plantation  and  of 
a  number  of  slaves.  The  breaking  out  of  the  re- 
bellion changed  his  fortunes  materially,  interfering 
with  his  plans  and  darkening  his  prospects.  He 
was  the  eldest  of  quite  a  large  family,  all  of  whom 
were  for  the  Union,  and  a  great  deal  of  responsi- 
bility devolved  upon  him,  as  his  brothers  looked 
to  him  for  advice  in  that  trying  time.  After 
much  prayer  and  thought  upon  the  grave  question 
of  what  to  do  under  the  existing  circumstances, 
he  counseled  his  kinsmen  to  leave  the  State  and 
get  within  the  Federal  lines.  Hence  they  departed 
for  Tennessee,  leaviug.him  behind,  at  his  own  de- 
sire, to  care  for  the  property.  He  had  always 
possessed  some  influence  with  his  fellow-citizens, 
who  knew  him  to  be  peaceable  and  inoffensive,  and 
it  was  thought  that  he  could  remain  without  mol- 
estation, but  he  soon  found  that  his  only  safety 
lay  in  following  his  brothers  to  Tennessee,  and  the 
removal  was  made  in  1863,  when  all  Union  fam- 
ilies were  ordered  out  of  Mississippi. 

In  1864  Mr.  McCall  returned  to  Mississippi  to 
save  some  of  his  wasting  property,  if  possible,  his 
eldest  son,  our  subject,  accompanj'ing  him.  There 
was  quite  a  crop  of  cotton  on  the  plantation,  and 
the  few  bales  of  it  that  they  managed  to  take  to 
Memphis,  where  they  sold  them  for  $2,000,  were 
the  only  things  they  could  rescue  from  the  clutches 
of  the  Confederates.  However,  cotton  in  those 
days  was  worth  almost  its  weight  in  gold,  and  com- 
manded 81  a  pound.  The  guerrillas,  both  rebel  and 
Union,  appropriated  the  remainder,  and  a  subse- 
quent attempt  to  regain  by  law  a  part  of  his  prop- 
erty or  some  remuneration  for  his  loss  was  de- 
feated in  the  courts.  In  January,  1865,  the  father 
came  to  Illinois  with  his  famil}',  and  settlement  was 
made  five  miles  northwest  of  Vienna,  where  he 
bought  a  small  farm  of  forty-eight  acres  that  was 
only  partly'  developed,  and  the  little  log  house  in 
which  he  and  his  wife  and  children  found  shelter 
was  quite  a  contrast  to  their  previous  commodious 
residence.     They    made  tlie  best  of  the  situation, 


216 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


however,  and  in  liinr  li.id  :i  pleasant  liorne,  replete 
with  comfort,  aiul  .Mf.  .McCall  was  enabled  to  pur- 
chase other  laud,  until  his  farm  comprised  a  hun- 
dred acres  of  finely  tilled,  productive  soil,  and 
the  improvements  that  he  was  constantly'  making 
were  of  a  substantial  order.  Here  his  serene  and 
honored  life  was  brought  to  a  close  by  his  death 
in  .Tune,  1883.  His  wife,  whose  encouragement 
and  never-failing  helpfulness  had  been  so  potent 
in  making  his  life  a  success,  is  now  living  in  Vi- 
enna. She  is  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  her  fam- 
ily was  closely  associated  with  that  of  her  husband, 
and  accompa.'ned  them  to  this  State.  To  her 
and  her  husband  were  born  these  eight  children: 
Robert  M.;  Francis,  who  died  in  infancy;  Victoria, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years;  Rebecca, 
who  died  in  .Johnson  County';  Thomas  and  James, 
who  died  in  infano}';  William,  who  died  while 
studying  medicine  in  Indianapolis;  and  Daniel,  a 
resident  of  Vienna. 

The  boyhood  of  our  sulijccl  was  mostly  passed 
amid  the  scenes  of  his  Southern  birthplace.  There 
were  no  public  schools,  but  his  father  was  abund- 
antly able  to  give  him  the  benefit  of  the  subscrip- 
tion and  select  schools,  which  he  attended  regularly 
until  he  was  thirteen  years  old,  when  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  war  put  an  end  to  all  schools  in 
that  section  for  some  time.  In  1861  he  was  con- 
scripted by  the  Confederate  Government,  and  had 
to  leave  home  and  keep  in  hiding  to  avoid  being 
pressed  into  the  rebel  army.  lie  nuide  his  way  to 
Memphis  with  his  father,  who  depended  upon  him 
greatly  for  assistance  in  those  trying  times,  he  be- 
ing the  eldest  child.  He  came  with  the  family  to 
Johnson  County,  and  desiring  more  education, 
entered  the  district  school  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  new  home,  and  the  following  summer  attended 
a  school  in  Vienna.  The  next  vvfinter  he  taught  in 
Williamson  County,  afterwards  went  back  to  school 
in  \'ienna,  and  while  alternately  teaching  and  be- 
ing taught,  laid  a  solid  foundation  for  his  subse- 
quent professional  studies. 

Christmas  day,  18()8,  was  the  occasion  of  a  most 
joyous  yet  solemn  event  for  the  Doctor,  for  on  that 
day  he  was  married  to  Miss  Josephine  Glassford,  a 
native  of  Johnson  County.  Upon  the  farm  three 
miles  west  of  Vienna  belonging  to  the  bride,  the 


happy  young  couple  commenced  their  wedded  life, 
he  devoting  his  time  to  farming  in  the  summer, 
and  to  teaching  in  the  winter.  He  was  successful, 
but  that  life  did  not  fully  satisfy  him,  as  he  had  a 
natural  taste  for  medical  studies  and  a  strong  in- 
clination to  fit  himself  for  the  profession,  and  in 
1871  he  commenced  to  prepare  himself  to  be  a  phy- 
sician. In  1872  and  1873  he  had  the  benefit  of  a 
course  of  lectures  in  the  Ohio  Medical  School  at 
Cincinnati,  and  returning  to  Illinois,  he  estab- 
lished himself  as  a  practitioner  in  Union  County. 
He  was  not  long  in  gaining  a  good  name  as  a  re|i- 
utable  pliysician,  well  grounded  in  medical  knowl- 
edge and  possessing  the  requisite  tact  and  skill 
to  use  it  properly.  Always  a  student,  he  was  not 
content  with  what  he  had  already  learned,  and  the 
winter  of  1875-76  found  him  in  attendance  at  a 
course  of  lectures  in  the  medical  de[)artment  of 
the  Universit}'  at  Louisville,  Kj*.  He  received  a 
diploma  from  that  institution,  and  resumed  his 
l)ractice,  removing  to  Marion  and  from  there  to» 
Buncombe,  in  Elvira  Township,  where  he  remained 
fourteen  jears.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time  he 
bought  a  farm  west  of  Vicuna,  on  which  he  lived 
until  1890,  devoting  himself  to  his  profession,  and 
since  then  he  has  made  his  residence  in  Vienna,  as 
a  more  central  and  convenient  point  for  the  con- 
trol of  his  large  practice,  which  extends  over  quite 
a  large  territorj'  and  requires  hard  work  and  a 
great  deal  of  travel.  The  jjeople  to  whose  ills  he 
administers  place  the  utmost  reliance  in  him,  as 
they  know  him  to  be  scrupulously  honest  and 
straightforward  in  all  that  he  does,  devoted  to  his 
noble  calling,  and  never  failing  in  the  performance 
of  his  professional  duties. 

The  Doctor  is  an  excellent  man  of  business,  and 
has  accumulated  a  fine  property.  After  taking  u]) 
his  residence  in  Vienna,  he  sold  the  farm  west  of 
the  village  that  he  had  been  living  upon,  but  he 
still  owns  two  farms,  one  in  Cache  Township  and 
one  in  Bloomfield  Township,  the  latter  adjoining 
the  vill.age  of  Vienna.  Politically,  the  Doctor  af- 
filiates with  the  Democratic  party.  Religiously  he 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Christian  Church. 
He  takes  much  interest  in  educational  matters,  and, 
indeed,  in  all  things  that  will  refine  and  elevate 
the  community  of  which  he  forms  so  important  a 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


217 


part.  lie  is  very  ple.as.antly  situated  in  his  do- 
mestic life,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  blessed  with 
nine  children,  all  of  whom  are  living,  namely:  Sam- 
uel, who  resides  on  the  farm  near  Vienna;  Thomas 
Edgar,  who  is  attending  Rush  Medical  College, 
Chicago;  Elizabeth,  at  home  with  her  parents; 
Ada,  at  school  at  Carbondale;  and  the  following 
five  at  home:  Eugene,  Robert,  William,  Gertrude 
and  -Tames. 


--^^ 


LEASANT  W.  ROSE  was  born  April  27, 
1848,  on  one  of  the  oldest  settled  farms  in 
Johnson  County,  and  he  is  now  the  fortu- 
nate proprietor  of  this  fine  old  family  home- 
stead, which  is  situated  in  the  northwestern  part 
of  section  5,  Grantsburg  Township,  and  since  it 
came  into  his  possession  he  has  risen  to  be  one  of 
the  leading  farmers  and  stock-raisers  of  this  locality. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  who  bore  the  same 
name  as  himself,  was  born  in  Hardin  County  in 
1812,  when  Illinois  was  a  Territory,  and  bis  parents 
were  among  the  first  settlers  of  his  native  county. 
His  father  died  when  he  was  a  little  child,  and 
when  he  was  three  years  old  his  mother  removed 
to  an  unimproved  farm  that  the  father  had  left  in 
the  wilds  of  Pope  County,  and  he  was  there  reared 
to  the  life  of  a  farmer.  His  opportunities  for  an 
education  were  meagre,  as  he  had  to  work  as  soon 
as  he  was  large  enough  to  be  of  any  use.  He  lived 
at  home  with  his  mother  until  he  was  twenty-two 
years  old,  affording  her  valuable  assistance  in  the 
management  of  the  farm,  and  he  then  took  unto 
himself  a  wife  in  the  person  of  Miss  IMary  Ann 
Ellis,  from  North  Carolina.  Her  i)arents  came  here 
from  the  South  in  pioneer  times. 

At  the  time  of  his  marriage,  Mr.  Rose  was  poor, 
and  came  without  money  to  Johnson  Count}'  to 
make  a  home  for  himself  and  bride.  Energy,  am- 
bition and  ability  fully  supplied  the  lack  of  capital, 
and  the  young  coujjle  entered  upon  tiie  trj-ing  life 
l)efore  them  with  calm  courage  and  good  prospects 
of  success  in  the  future,  in  spite  of  the  vicissitudes 


and  hardships  that  they  would  inevitaby  encounter 
in  their  primitive  surroundings.  The  land  which 
Mr.  Rose  bought  in  Grantsburg  Township,  the 
same  on  which  our  subject  is  now  living,  was 
covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  timber,  and  his 
first  work  on  it  was  to  clear  a  si^ace  for  a  dwelling 
and  erect  a  log  cabin.  The  country  around  was 
very  sparsely  settled,  and  he  had  to  go  a  distance 
of  eight  or  ten  miles  to  get  help  in  rolling  logs 
and  building  his  house.  Many  of  the  trees  that  he 
cut  when  clearing  the  land  for  cultivation  he  had 
to  burn,  although  they  would  have  made  very  fine 
lumber,  but  there  was  no  market  for  them.  By 
many  years  of  hard  and  well-directed  labor  Mr.  Rose 
wrought  a  great  change  on  his  premises,  reclaiming 
from  its  natural  state  a  farm  that  compared  with 
the  best  in  the  vicinity  in  point  of  tillage  and  im- 
provements. Here  his  life  work  was  brought  to 
an  end  by  his  death  in  1873,  and  he  was  laid  to 
rest  in  Grissom  Cemetery.  His  wife  did  not  long 
survive  him,  her  demise  occurring  December  8, 
1874.  They  were  people  of  sterling  merit  and 
worthy  types  of  the  brave,  resolute,  stanch  pioneers 
who  did  so  much  in  the  development  of  the  county. 
They  were  blessed  with  six  children,  as  follows: 
Mary,  widow  of  D.  C.  Chapman  and  a  resident  of 
Johnson  County;  J.  E.,  who  died  on  the  home 
farm;  Jane,  who  died  at  the  age  of  two^'ears;  Syd- 
ney A.,  wife  of  J.  W.  Damron,  of  this  township; 
Maria,  and  our  subject.  Maria  first  married  John 
M.  Jones  and  after  his  death  she  married  George 
Shelton.  By  her  first  marriage  she  had  eight  chil- 
dren, and  by  her  last  marriage  one  child. 

Pleasant  W.  Rose  is  the  youngest  of  the  family, 
and  the  farm  upon  which  he  lives  has  always  been 
his  home,  and  is  now  his  property.  It  comprises 
two  hundred  and  seventeen  acres  of  choice  land, 
which  he  keeps  up  to  a  high  standard  of  cultiva- 
tion by  methods  best  adapted  to  the  soil,  as  he  is 
a  thoughtful,  well-trained  farmer,  with  an  intelli- 
gent comprehension  of  agriculture  in  all  its 
branches.  He  improves  the  place  every  year,  and 
it  is  amply  su[iplied  with  buildings  and  machinery 
for  various  i)urpo.ses. 

Mr.  Rose  was  married  October  29,  1878,  to 
Miss  Mary  Elizalieth  Farris,  a  native  of  Tennessee, 
and  a  resident  of  Johnson  County  at  the  lime  of  her 


218 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


nmiriiige.  In  her  lie  linds  those  excellent  (]ii!ilities 
that  nuike  her  a  true  woman,  who  faithfully  per- 
forms her  duties  as  wife,  mother,  friend,  and  as  a 
consistent  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to 
which  she  and  all  her  family  except  our  subject  be- 
longs. She  has  been  the  nrother  of  seven  children: 
Aristia  A.,  at  home;  Ida,  deceased;  Mary,  Lillie 
and  William  at  home;  and  Sidney  and  James, 
twins,  the  former  at  home,  and  the  latter  deceased. 
Mr.  Rose  was  educated  in  the  common  schools, 
and  is  a  thoroughly  sensible,  pr.actieal  man,  of 
good  business  ability,  as  is  shown  by  his  judicious 
management  of  his  well-ordered  farm.  His  life  is 
guided  by  sound  principles,  his  habits  are  exem- 
plary, and  he  bears  a  high  reputation  for  veracity 
and  strict  honor  in  all  his  dealings — as  a  husband 
and  father,  who  is  devoted  to  his  family;  as  a  kind 
neigiibor,  who  is  always  glad  to  help  others;  and 
as  a  trustworthy  citizen.  In  his  political  views  he 
is  a  Republican,  who  stands  firmly  by  his  party  just 
the  same  when  it  is  shadowed  by  defeat  as  wlien 
victor}'  perches  on  its  banners. 


ellRISTIAN  BENGERT,  dealer  in  stoves, 
tinware  and  groceries  at  Vienna,  is  num- 
bered among  the  progressive  business  men 
of  .Johnson  County-  who  have  been  instrumental 
in  extending  its  commercial  interests  for  several 
years.  He  is  a  Piavanan  by  birth  and  w.as  born  in 
that  far-away  German  kingdom  .January  12,  1857. 
His  father,  whose  name  was  Joseph  Bengert,  was 
also  a  native  of  Bavaria  and  was  there  married 
to  Barbara  Ermantraut.  Ambitious  to  improve 
his  fortunes,  Joseph  Picngert  left  the  land  of  his 
birth  in  1869,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren, crossed  the  waters  on  a  steamer,  landed  in 
New  York,  and  made  his  way  Westward  as  far  as 
Evansville,  Ind.  He  designed  to  establish  himself 
in  the  transfer  business  in  tiiat  city,  that  having 
been  his  occnpation  in  liii'  Old  Country,  but  his 
heallli  failed,  and  in  a  sluirl  time  he  died.  Eive 
children    of    the    lamily    are    living:     Juseph    :ind 


.John,  who  reside  at  Evansville,  Ind.;  Elizabeth, 
wife  of  Michael  Knaebel,  who  is  in  business  at  Vi- 
enna; Lena,  wife  of  .John  JMauch,  of  Evansville, 
Ind.;  and  Ciiristian. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  obtained  a  good 
education  in  his  native  land,  where  the  public 
schools  were  of  a  high  order,  and  attendance  on 
them  compulsory.  He  w.as  twelve  years  old  when 
the  family  left  the  pleasant  scenes  where  they  had 
been  born  and  had  always  lived  to  seek  a  new 
home  in  a  strange  land.  After  the  untimely  death 
of  his  father,  the  sturdy,  self-reliant,  helpful  lad 
gladly  did  all  that  he  could  to  support  his  mother. 
He  first  worked  in  a  stove  foundry,  in  which  he 
was  employed  for  a  year,  and  by  steady  applica- 
tion he  gained  a  good  knowledge  of  every  detail 
of  the  business,  working  at  various  things  in  con- 
nection with  it.  He  then  served  an  apprentice- 
ship at  the  trade  of  a  tinner,  and  has  engaged  at 
it  to  some  extent  ever  since.  He  was  very  dili- 
gent, and  with  the  econoin}'  and  thrift  character- 
istic of  the  Germans,  he  saved  something  from  hi> 
earnings,  and  leaving  Evansville,  where  he  had 
been  at  work,  he  with  his  mother  came  to  Vienna, 
where,  after  working  at  his  trade  a  short  time,  he 
bought  Mr.  Perkins'  tinshop.  He  formed  a  part- 
nership with  his  brother-in-law,  Mich.ael  Knaebel, 
and  they  were  conducting  a  satisfactory  business, 
when  our  subject  was  obliged  to  sell  his  interest 
to  his  partner,  as  his  wife  was  out  of  health  and 
her  pln'sician  advised  a  change  of  climate.  Hi' 
took  her  to  Frederickstown,  Mo.,  where  he  estali- 
lished  himself  at  his  trade.  The  removal  to  other 
scenes  did  not  have  the  desired  eflfecton  his  wife's 
health,  and  death  soon  ended  her  sufferings,  April 
1),  1888,  and  her  bod}'  was  brought  back  to  John- 
son County  and  tenderly  laid  to  rest  in  its  native 
soil.  Her  maiden  name  was  Jidia  Dwyer,  and  her 
parents  were  from  Ireland.  Her  mother  is  living, 
but  her  father  is  dead.  Her  marriage  with  our 
subject  was  solemnized  August  13,  1885. 

After  the  death  of  his  wife  Mr.  Bengert  sold  out 
his  business  in  Missouri,  and  returning  to  Vienna, 
bought  his  present  establishment,  of  which  he  is 
sole  proprietor.  He  carries  a  complete  stock  of 
stoves  and  tinware,  and  also  has  a  full  line  of  gro- 
ceries,  and   coMimands   a    in'olilable    trade,  having 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


221 


liis  share  of  the  patronage  in  the  village  and 
county,  as  he  is  a  good  salesman  and  Lis  custom- 
ers are  sure  of  good  treatment  and  satisfaction  at 
liis  hands.  Mr.  Bengert  occupies  an  important  po- 
sition in  social  circles  in  the  village  as  leader  of 
the  band,  which  under  his  guidance  has  become 
one  of  the  best  musical  organizations  in  the 
county.  He  has  a  decided  talent  for  music,  and 
with  but  little  instruction  has  attained  wonderful 
proficiency  in  the  art  by  close  application  to  the 
study  of  its  principles. 


<*^^IIOMAS  M.  HOWELL,  a  worthy  represent- 
iu^\  *^'^^  ^^  ^^^  grand  army  of  veterans  who 
V^/  fought  so  nobl5^  for  the  honor  of  the  Old 
Flag  during  the  late  war,  comes  of  the  sturdy-  pio- 
neer stock  that  settled  Johnson  County.  He  is  a 
native  of  its  soil,  and  is  identified  with  the  indus- 
trious, thriftj'  farmers  who  are  conducting  its 
agriculture,  his  farm  and  home  being  pleasantly 
situated  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  9, 
Grantsburg  Township.  This  farm,  which  his  father 
hewed  out  from  the  forests,  is  also  his  birthplace. 
Our  subject  is  a  son  of  A.  D.  Howell,  who  was 
born  and  brought  up  on  a  Kentucky  farm.  When 
tiie  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  an  elderly 
man  he  decided  to  settle  upon  the  rich  river  bot- 
toms of  Missouri,  and  started  for  his  destination 
with  teams,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  six  sons  and 
three  daughters.  On  the  journey  he  was  taken 
sick  and  died,  which  was  a  severe  blow  to  the 
family,  who  scai'cely  knew  what  to  do.  The  trip 
to  Missouri  was  abandoned,  and  the}'  decided  to 
settle  in  soutliern  Illinois,  near  where  they  were 
stopping.  The  boys  entered  land,  and  the  father 
of  our  subject  thus  secured  eighty  acres.  He 
built  a  typical  pioneer  log  cabin,  and  shortly  after 
being  married  to  Miss  Dulcina  Poor,  took  posses- 
sion of  that  liumble  abode  with  his  bride.  They 
were  without  money  with  which  to  begin  their 
ni'w  hie,  but  they  were  full  of  courage  and  hope, 

U 


and  worked  well  together  in  the  upbuilding  of  a 
home.  The  land,  being  heavily  covered  with  a 
forest  growth,  had  to  be  cleared  and  most  of  the 
timber  burned.  Mr.  Howell  made  good  headway 
against  the  difficulties  that  beset  his  pathway, 
placed  his  land  under  good  cultivation,  built  a 
better  house,  and  just  had  things  arranged  more 
comfortably  and  was  ready  to  enjoy  life  more  at 
his  ease,  when  death  called  him  hence.  His  wife 
survived  him  ten  years  and  then  passed  away, 
and  was  buried  by  his  side  in  Grantsburg  Ceme- 
tery, on  the  land  that  he  had  bought,  and  where 
he  had  made  a  home.  He  and  his  wife  had  sev- 
eral children,  of  whom  five  are  living:  Thomas 
M.;  John  W.,  who  resides  on  a  part  of  the  old 
homestead;  James,  a  farmer  in  Grantsburg  Town- 
ship; S.  P.,  who  also  resides  in  Grantsburg  Town- 
ship; and  Missouri,  wife  of  Louis  Walker.  Pleas- 
ant and  Sarah  died  on  the  old  place. 

Thomas  M.  Howell  was  the  second  child  born 
to  his  parents.  He  had  to  work  on  his  father's 
farm  when  a  boy  and  had  but  very  little  oppor- 
tunity to  go  to  school,  not  even  enough  to  ac- 
quire the  rudiments  of  learning,  and  he  did  not 
learn  to  read  until  after  he  was  nineteen  years  old, 
while  he  was  in  the  army.  Although  unlettered 
and  poor,  he  had  a  brave  and  loyal  heart  that  beat 
with  true  patriotic  love  for  his  country,  and  at 
tlie  youtliful  age  mentioned  he  volunteered  to 
help  fight  her  battles  when  rebellion  threatened 
the  Union.  His  name  was  enrolled  as  a  member 
of  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  and  he  went  with  his  regiment  to 
Camp  Butler,  thence  to  Memphis,  and  from  there 
to  Vicksburg,  where  he  bore  his  part  right  gal- 
lantly in  the  siege  and  conquest  of  that  city,  as 
well  as  in  numerous  other  engagements  with  the 
enemy  while  at  the  front.  After  the  affair  at 
Guntown  Mr.  Howell  was  taken  violently  sick 
from  being  over-heated,  and  was  sent  to  the  sol- 
diers' home  at  Memphis  to  convalesce.  He  had 
good  care,  or  otherwise  his  long  illness  of  twelve 
months  might  have  resulted  differently.  He  re- 
ceived his  discharge  papers  nearly  a  month  before 
the  rest  of  his  regiment,  and  left  the  army  after 
three  long  and  weary  years  of  hard  service. 

Our  subject  returned  home   after  his  discharge, 


222 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


intending  to  rc-enlist,  but  sickness  in  the  fainil}- 
made  it  necessary  to  abandon  all  thoughts  of  tak- 
ing up  a  soldier's  life  again,  as  his  duty  seemed 
to  demand  his  presence  here.  He  took  up  his  la- 
bors on  the  old  homestead  once  more,  and  lived 
upon  it  until  his  marriage  with  Miss  Mollie  Hen- 
derson, a  native  of  Nortli  Carolina,  who  came 
here  when  she  was  twelve  years  old  with  her  mo- 
ther and  two  uncles.  Her  union  with  our  sub- 
ject has  been  blessed  to  them  bj-  the  birth  of  seven 
children,  namely:  Cora,  wife  of  James  Thomas,  of 
Grantsburg  Township;  Ida,  Hosella,  Stella,  Frank, 
Fleet}',  and  Augusta,  who  died  in  infancy. 

After  his  marriage  our  subject  took  his  bride  to 
live  in  a  house  that  he  had  built  on  a  tract  of 
sixty  acres  of  land  that  his  father  liad  given  him. 
Seven  years  later  he  bought  one  hundred  and 
tliirty-three  acres  of  laud,  partly  improved,  a  mile 
and  a-half  north  of  his  other  place,  and  after  liv- 
ing on  that  thirteen  years  purchased  sixty  acres 
of  the  land  originally  entered  by  his  grandfather, 
and  he  is  now  successfully  engaged  in  its  cultiva- 
tion and  in  raising  a  good  class  of  stock.  Here  he 
and  his  famil}'  have  a  cozy,  hospitable  home,  and 
he  and  his  good  wife  live  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
esteem  due  to  their  worth. 


li^c^^ai 


EOF.  JOHN  S.  SPEAR,  Principal  of  the 
111  Golconda^  public  schools,  is  a  teacher  of 
rare  merit,  and  is  deservedly  classed  among 
the  leading  educators  of  southern  Illinois. 
He  comes  of  fine  old  Revolutionary  stock  and  was 
born  at  Alton,  in  this  Slate,  October  7,  1855.  His 
father,  Louis  P.  Spear,  was  born  in  Jefferson  Town- 
ship, Richland  County,  Oliio,  and  was  a  son  of 
AVilliam  Spear,  who  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  he  in  turn  was  a  son  of  one  Duncan  Spear, 
who  was  born  in  the  North  of  Ireland.  He  came  to 
America  in  Colonial  times,  accompanied  by  two 
brothers,  and  all  fought  in  the  Revolution  in  the 
interests  of  the  Colonies.  Duncan  Spear's  brothers 
fell  in  liattle,  and   he  was  the  only  one  left  to  rear 


a  family.  After  the  war  he  settled  in  Penns3-1- 
vania,  and  there  died  at  a  ripe  age. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  the  only  son  of 
Duncan  Spear,  moved  to  Canada  in  3'oung  man- 
hood and  located  on  land  that  he  bought  near 
Kingston.  But  he  did  not  cease  to  be  loyal  to  his 
native  country  and  showed  his  devotion  to  it  when 
the  War  of  1812  broke  out  by  refusing  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  British  Government, 
though  he  knew  that  by  refusing  to  do  so  his  prop- 
ert3'  would  be  confiscated.  He  sacrificed  his  all  to 
his  patriotism,  and  returning  to  the  United  States 
penniless,  he  enlisted  in  the  service  of  this  Gov- 
ernment, was  commissioned  Captain  and  won  a 
most  honorable  military  record.  Later  he  received 
a  land  warrant  for  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
for  his  services,  and  equipped  with  that  he  emi- 
grated to  the  wilds  of  Richland  County,  Ohio, 
selected  a  suitable  tract  of  Government  land  and 
built  a  home  in  the  forests.  He  was  a  man  of  much 
prominence  among  his  fellow-pioneers,  as  he  pos- 
sessed a  superior  education.  He  taught  school 
and  served  as  Justice,  and  at  the  same  time  super- 
intended the  improvement  of  his  land,  which  was 
his  dwelling-place  until  his  death.  His  wife  also 
spent  her  last  years  on  the  home  farm  in  Richland 
County.  She  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Catherine 
Will,  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  was  of 
German  antecedents.  She  was  the  mother  of  twelve 
children. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  educated  in  his 
native  country,  and  learning  the  trade  of  a  car- 
penter in  his  youth,  he  was  engaged  at  that  occu- 
pation a  few  years.  At  the  age  of  twenty -one  he 
made  his  way  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  was  eraplo}-ed 
at  his  trade  for  a  time,  and  he  also  worked  at 
it  at  Chester,  111.,  whence  he  went  to  Alton,  in  the 
same  State,  to  take  the  position  of  superintendent 
of  the  carpenter  shop  of  the  penitentiary,  and  he 
acted  in  that  capacit}-  until  the  institution  was  re- 
moved to  Joliet.  He  then  bought  a  farm  in  Greene 
County  and  resided  thereon  until  his  removal  to 
Bloomington,  in  1870,  where  he  now  lives  retired 
from  active  labor.  He  was  married,  June  10,  1838, 
to  Lourene  S.  Stowe,  who  was  born  in  Alabama, 
November  17,  1818,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Pam- 
ela (Lane)  Stowe.     She   was    in   her   second  year 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


223 


when  her  parents  emigrated  to  Illinois,  in  1820, 
and  settled  in  Madison  County.  The  parents  of 
our  subject  Lave  lived  together  fifty-four  ^-ears  in 
an  uuusuall3-  long  and  happj'  wedded  life,  and  both 
are  in  the  enjoyment  of  good  health.  They  have 
reared  seven  children  to  useful  and  honorable  lives 
and  they  no^?  have  their  homes  in  sis  different 
States.  They  are  William  L.,  Harvey  V.,  Stephen 
L.,  Charles  E.,  Walter  E.,  John  S.  and  Kate  C. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  review  has  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  Illinois.  His  early 
education  was  conducted  in  the  public  schools  of 
Greene  County,  and  was  completed  b3"  a  thorough 
course  of  study  in  the  fine  State  Normal  School  at 
Normal,  111.  For  a  time  he  taught  and  attended 
school  alternately,  his  teaching  being  confined  to 
the  schools  of  McLean  Count}-  until  1885.  That 
year  he  went  to  Kansas,  took  up  his  residence  at 
Kendall,  Hamilton  Count}^  and  was  elected  Prin- 
cipal of  the  schools  in  that  cit}'.  He  held  that  po- 
sition one  3'ear,  and  in  1886  was  appointed  County 
Clerk.  At  that  time  there  was  a  contest  in  that 
count}'  over  the  permanent  location  of  the  county 
seat,  and  feeling  ran  so  high  that  the  contest 
ripened  into  one  of  the  most  bitter  wars  of  the 
kind  ever  known  in  the  States.  Our  subject  sided 
witli  the  "Kendallites."  of  course,  and  as  his  party 
was  finally  defeated  his  office  was  taken  from  him 
in  conse(pience. 

After  his  retirement  from  office,  Prof.  Spear 
spent  some  tune  in  traveling  in  New  Mexico,  Ari- 
zona and  Colorado,  whence  he  returned  Northward 
to  Boone  County,  Neb.,  where  he  accepted  the  ap- 
pointment of  Principal  of  tiie  schools  at  Peters- 
burgh,  and  retained  that  office  until  1891.  Return- 
ing home  then  on  a  visit,  he  was  called  to  Golconda 
to  take  charge  of  the  schools  of  this  city,  and  has 
ever  since  presided  over  them.  He  is  an  honest 
and  enthusiastic  worker  in  his  profession,  is  pos- 
sessed of  much  executive  abilit}^  and  under  his 
administration  the  public  schools  of  Golconda 
are  accorded  high  rank  among  the  schools  of  this 
part  of  the  State. 

Prof.  Spear  was  married  in  1890,  to  Miss  Kittie 
Bradv,  a  native  of  McLean  Count}'  and  a  daughter 
of  .lames  and  Catherine  Brady.  One  child,  Mary 
Estelle,    has    hallowed    their  happy    wedded    life. 


Our  subject  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  and  is  identified  with  all  movements 
to  promote  the  highest  interests  of  the  community. 
In  politics,  he  is  a  Republican.  He  has  held  pub- 
lic office,  as  before  mentioned,  and  while  a  resi- 
dent of  McLean  County  served  as  Township  Col- 
lector several  terms.  He  is  a  member  of  Normal 
Lodge  No.  673,  A.  F.  &  A.  M. 


RS.  MARGARET  BRADFORD  is  the  widow 
|i  of  the  late  Sidney  C.  Bradford,  who  was 
born  in  Maryland  September  8,  1829,  and 
died  December  25,  1885.  His  father, 
Avery  Bradford,  removed  from  Maryland  to  Indi- 
ana about  18.34,  with  his  wife  and  family.  A  few 
}ears  later  he  came  to  southern  Illinois,  and  there 
resided  until  his  death,  which  occurred  August  7, 
1848,  when  he  was  forty-three  years  old.  He  left 
a  wife  and  six  children,  three  sons  and  three 
daughters.  His  wife  was  Mary  Phillips,  of  Mary- 
land, born  ia  1810,  and  who  died  in  1854.  Of  their 
six  children,  Sidney  C.  was  the  first-born.  All  have 
died  but  one,  Nancy  Jane,  wife  of  Clark  Cruzen. 

Sidney  C.  was  reared  to  agriculture  and  had  but 
limited  educational  facilities.  He  was,  however,  a 
studious  youth,  and  in  his  inaturer  years  a  con- 
stant reader.  At  the  age  of  twenty-four,  on 
March  29,  1853,  he  married  Miss  Margaret  Breeze, 
the  ceremony  being  performed  at  the  home  of  the 
bride  in  Jefferson  County,  111.,  by  the  Rev.  John 
A. Williams,  a  Christian  minister.  The  father  of  Mrs. 
Bradford  was  Richard  Breeze,  of  Orange  County, 
Ind.,and  her  mother  was  Louisa  Gaston,  of  Jefl'er- 
son  County,  III.,  the  former  born  in  1811.  The 
latter,  who  was  born  in  1815,  died  in  1850,  leaving 
eight  children,  one  son  and  seven  daughters,  of 
whom  Sirs.  Bradford  was  the  first-born.  The  father 
of  Mrs.  Bradford  was  twice  married,  his  second 
wife  being  Eliza  Gaston,  a  relative  of  his  first  wife. 
By  her  he  had  two  children,  a  son  and  a  daughter. 
The  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Bradford  was  Robert 
Breeze,  of  North  Carolina,  who  removed  from  that 


k 


224 


roi;  TRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


State  to  Indiana  iinfl  afterward  to  Illinois.  He  be- 
gan life  a  ])0or  young  man  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  Jefferson  County,  1 11.,  when  he  was  eighty- 
three  years  old,  he  left  a  good  estate  and  eight  chil- 
dren. His  wife  was  Margaret  Cappel.  The  father 
of  Mrs.  Bradford  accompanied  his  parents  to  (Jraiid 
Prairie,  Jefferson  County,  111.,  October  11,  1827, 
when  he  was  sixteen  years  old.  He  was  reared 
to  labor  on  his  father's  farm  and  was  familiar 
with  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life.  By  indus- 
try and  economy  he  acquired  a  good  property  and 
home.  He  was  an  exemplary  member  of  the 
Christian  Church  for  many  j'cars,  and  lived  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  Golden  Rule.  At  his  death  he 
was  mourned  by  all  who  knew  him.  His  wife 
survived  him  some  years,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty. 

Mrs.  Bradford  and  her  luisl)and  started  in  life 
upon  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres  of  Government 
land,  which  contained  few  improvements.  On  this 
place  they  lived  for  twenty-one  years  and  within 
a  few  years  after  their  marriage  they  built  a  good 
frame  house.  In  March,  1874,  they  removed  to 
the  present  home  of  Mrs.  Bradford,  buying  forty 
acres  on  the  tableland  south  of  New  Burnside,  and 
close  to  the  corporate  limits.  He  paid  $1,000  for 
this  farm,  upon  which  there  was  a  poor  old  house, 
and  about  fifteen  acres  cleared.  The  old  farm  was 
not  sold,  and  this  forty-acre  farm  was  purchased 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  fruit,  as  Mr.  Bradford's 
tastes  were  in  that  direction,  llpon  this  farm  he 
planted  orchards  of  apple,  pear,  plum,  peach,  and 
other  trees,  and  set  out  numerous  kinds  of  small 
fruits.  Soon  afterward  he  added  forty  acres  to 
this  property.  In  1875  and  1876  he  erected  the 
present  substantial  frame  house,  where  he  died  at 
the  date  above  mentioned. 

The  union  of  Mr.  and  Jlrs.  Bradford  was  not 
blessed  with  children,  but  thej*  reared  three  foster 
sons  and  also  Jane  Bradford,  who  married  Clark 
Cruzen.  Their  first  foster  son  was  John  W.  AVhit- 
tenberg,  who  has  been  twice  married,  and  who  is  a 
farmer  and  carpenter  in  this  township.  The  next  was 
James  A.  Deason,a  farmerof  Johnson  County,  who 
married  Drucilla  Vaughn.  The  third  is  Eddie  E. 
Horn,  whom  Mrs.  Bradford  is  now  rearing.  He 
came  to  her  at  the  age  of  eight,  and  is  now  thir- 


teen years  old.  Mr.  Bradford  was  drafted  into  the 
army  at  the  last  call  for  troops,  and  was  away  from 
his  home  three  months,  when  he  was  discharged.  Po- 
litically he  was  a  Republican,  and  socially  was  iden- 
tified with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 
He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  for  thirty-two  years,  and  had  served  as 
Steward.  Class-leader  and  Trustee,  and  was  very 
benevolent,  keeping  open  house  for  all  the  pre.ich- 
ers.  Mrs.  Bradford  resides  on  her  farm  and  rents  the 
land  on  shares.  In  her  religious  connections  she  is 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  .is 
was  her  husband,  who  w.as  active  in  the  work  as 
Superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school. 


i>^^<i 


AMES  K.  TROVILLION  has  preached  in 
the  Baptist  Church  for  over  twenty  years, 
beginning  soon  after  his  graduation,  and 
taking  charge  of  the  church  at  Harrisburgh, 
where  he  remained  until  1884,  at  which  time  he  re- 
moved to  Columbus,  and  has  since  been  pastor  of 
the  Baptist  Church  of  this  place.  He  owns  a  farm 
which  is  located  on  section  30,  township  13,  range 
6,  which  he  superintends,  .and  on  which  he  carries 
on  general  farming  and  stock-raising. 

Mr.  Trovillion  is  a  native  of  Pope  County,  hav- 
ing been  born  April  2,  1845.  His  father,  .lames 
Y.,  was  born  in  the  Old  Dominion,  while  his 
mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Betta  A.  Maddox, 
was  a  native  of  Tennessee.  Our  subject's  paternal 
grandfather  was  a  prominent  man  in  Virginia  in 
early  life,  and  afterward  removed  to  Tennessee, 
there  wedding  Miss  Susan  Carr.  James  Y.  Tro- 
villion emigrated  to  Illinois  in  1835,  making  the 
journey  by  tlatboat  on  the  Tennessee  River,  the 
trip  taking  about  six  weeks,  during  all  of  which 
time  they  cooked  and  lived  entirely  on  the  boat. 
Lauding  at  Golconda,  he  purchased  land  and  lo- 
cated in  Pope  County.  His  property  consisted  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty'  acres  on  section  29, 
township  13,  range  6,  where  he  devoted  himself  to 
general    agriculture  and  stock-raising  during  the 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   RE^^EW. 


225 


remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  an  industrious  and 
honorable  man,  one  who  attended  strietl}'  to  his 
own  business  and  reared  his  children,  giving  them 
as  many  advantages  as  were  in  iiis  power.  He  de- 
parted this  life  on  the  15th  of  October,  1881,  a 
man  who  was  thoroughl}-  respected  bj'  his  friends 
and  neighbors. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  assisted  his  father  in 
caring  for  the  homestead  until  he  reached  the  age 
of  twenty-six  years.  His  educational  privileges 
were  those  afforded  bj*  the  district  schools  of  the 
old-fashioned  type,  the  building  being  made  of 
logs,  with  a  puncheon  Hoor,  and  desks  made  of 
roughly-hewn  planks  built  against  the  side  of  the 
wall.  Mr.  Trovillion  attended  school  until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war,  and  with  youthful  patri- 
otism and  zeal  was  hardlv  able  to  control  his  im- 
patience to  go  to  the  assistance  of  his  country  un- 
til he  had  arrived  at  the  age  at  which  he  could  be 
admitted  to  the  service,  according  to  armj'  regula- 
tions. He  was  only  eighteen  when  he  enlisted  as  a 
member  of  Company  F,  Twenty-ninth  Illinois  In- 
fantry, at  Columbus,  in  the  year  1864.  He  partici- 
pated in  the  battle  of  Mobile,  and  faithfully  served 
until  the  close  of  the  conflict,  receiving  an  honor- 
able discharge  at  New  Orleans  June  30,  1865.  Re- 
turning home,  he  assumed  the  charge  of  his  fath- 
er's farm,  which  he  carried  on  until  1872;  then, 
purchasing  sixty  acres  of  land  in  the  same  town- 
ship, he  devoted  himself  to  its  development  and  im- 
provement for  the  following  seven  years.  He 
then  sold  the  farm  and  removed  to  Harrisburgh, 
since  which  he  has  given  his  time  more  especially' 
to  the  ministry,  though  he  has  not,  however,  en- 
tirely- given  up  the  peaceful  vocation  of  a  farmer. 

In  1870  and  1871  Mr.  Trovillion  began  studying 
for  the  ministry,  attending  the  Baptist  Theological 
Seminarv  in  Chicago  one  term.  From  that  time 
he  preached  considerably  in  different  parts  of 
the  county,  and  on  his  removal  to  Harrisburgh  he 
was  made  the  regular  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church 
at  that  place,  remaining^n  charge  of  the  same 
for  about  four  years.  He  is  an  unostentatious 
shepherd  of  his  Bock,  one  who  is  thoroughly  con- 
scientious, and  who  feels  the  high  sense  of  respon- 
sibility devolving  upon  him.  For  the  past  eight 
j-ears.   as   previoush"  mentioned,   he  has  been   in 


charge  of  the  church  at  Columbus,  and  has  largely 
increased  the  membership  and  strengthened  the 
various  relations,  financial  and  otherwise,  of  the 
congregation. 

On  April  27,  1870,  occurred  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Trovillion  and  Ilanna  L.  Hillerman,  who  was  born 
in  Missouri,  March  31,  1846.  She  was  called  to  the 
home  beyond  December  16,  1883,  leaving  two  chil- 
dren: Marie  and  Josiah  C.  On  April  26,  1885, 
our  subject  was  again  married,  the  lady  of  his 
choice  being  Miss  Missouri  Jones,  a  native  of  Jack- 
son County,  111.  Their  union  has  been  blessed 
with  two  children:  William  B.  and  Millie  Elsie 
Alice.  The  family  are  attendants  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  of  which  the  older  ones  are  members.  Our 
subject  is  a  straightforward  Republican,  and  his 
influence  is  ever  found  on  the  side  of  right  and 
justice. 


,j^^  TEPHEN  B.  BURRIS,  a  veteran  of  the  late 
war,  did  his  duty  manfullj'  while  fighting 
for  his  countr}-,  and  has  done  no  less  good 
service  in  promoting  the  agricultural  in- 
terests of  Johnson  Count}'  as  one  of  its  practical, 
enterprising  and  successful  farmers,  his  farm  on 
section  11,  Vienna  Township,  being  one  of  the 
best  equipped  and  best  managed  in  this  region. 

Mr.  Burris  was  born  in  Fleming  County,  Ky., 
August  25, 1830,  his  father,  Hiram  D.  Burris,  being 
a  native  of  the  same  county.  The  latter  was  left 
an  orphan  at  an  early  age,  and  was  reared  by 
strangers.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a  shoemaker 
in  his  youth,  and  followed  it  in  Kentucky  until  the 
fall  of  1851,  when  he  came  to  Illinois,  accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  nine  children,  traveling  hither  by 
way  of  the  Ohio  River  as  far  as  Metropolis,  and 
thence  b}'  team  to  his  destination  in  Grantsburg 
Township.  After  living  a  short  time  on  land 
that  he  bought  there,  he  took  up  his  residence  at 
Vienna,  where  he  followed  his  occupation  of  mak- 
ing shoes,  and  there  his  death  occurred  at  the  age 
of  fifty-four.     His  wife  also  died  at  Vienna.     Her 


•>-2(i 


I'Oin'RAIT  AND   BIOdRAl'IIK  AL    REVIEW. 


name  before  marriage  was  Elizabeth  Biddle,  and 
she  was  also  born  in  Fleming  County,  K3'.,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Stephen  Biddle.  These  worthy  people  reared 
a  family  of  ten  cliildren. 

Our  subject  passed  his  early  life  in  his  native 
county,  and  obtained  his  education  in  subscription 
schools,  there  being  no  free  schools  at  the  time, 
each  family  having  to  pay  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  scholars  that  attended.  As  his  father 
was  poor,  his  chances  of  going  to  school  were  lim- 
ited, and  while  he  was  yet  a  boy  he  had  to  help 
support  the  famil}-.  lie  came  to  Illinois  with  liis 
parents,  and  continued  to  reside  with  them  until 
he  was  twenty-three  j'ears  old,  when  he  commenced 
to  learn  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  at  which  he 
worked  until  he  entered  the  army.  lie  also  had 
an  interest,  with  his  brother,  in  a  cabinet  shop, 
which  he  purch.ased  in  1861,  and  which  he  dis- 
posed of  at  the  time  mentioned. 

In  August  of  the  year  1862,  Mr.  Harris  settled 
up  his  affairs,  and  laid  aside  his  work  to  go  to  the 
front  with  the  brave  boys  in  blue  to  help  save  the 
Union  from  destruction.  He  became  a  member  of 
Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois 
Infantry,  and  did  his  share  of  fighting  in  the  var- 
ious engagements  with  the  rebels  in  which  his  reg- 
iment bore  an  active  part.  He  was  present  at  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg,  and  assisted  in  its  capture.  Af- 
ter that  notable  event,  his  regiment  was  employed 
in  guarding  railways  and  in  fighting  bushwhackers. 
In  October,  1861,  our  subject  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Confederates,  and  had  an  unpleasant  ex- 
perience of  life  in  rebel  prisons  at  Meriden  (Miss.) 
and  Cahaba.  From  the  latter  place  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  Vicksburg,  and  with  many  others  was 
paroled.  These  soldiers  took  passage  on  three 
steamers  for  St.  Louis,  and  on  the  voyage  the  en- 
gine of  one  of  the  boats  exploded,  and  all  on  board 
were  lost.  Our  subject  arrived  at  home  safel3'  at 
last,  and  did  not  rejoin  his  regiment,  iis  his  health 
was  much  impaired  by  what  he  had  undergone. 

As  soon  as  he  was  able  after  his  discharge  from 
the  service,  Mr.  Burris  resumed  business  in  the 
cabinet  shop  in  which  he  had  formerly  been  inter- 
ested, having  a  share  of  the  profits  as  before.  Two 
ycai-s  afterward  he  sold  his  interest  in  the  shop, 
and  in  1869  settled  on  the  farm  where  he  now  re- 


sides, and  has  since  devoted  himself  to  its  im- 
provement. It  comprises  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  of  which  ninety  are  under  a  high  state  of 
tillage,  and  the  substantial  buildings  that  stand 
on  tlie  place  rank  witli  the  best  in  the  township. 

]\Ir.  Burris  was  first  married  November  13,  1853, 
to  Nancy  M.,  daugliter  of  James  and  Maiy  Gris- 
son,  and  a  native  of  this  county.  She  passed  away 
in  Jauuar}',  1862.  Two  children  by  that  marriage 
are  living:  Pleasant  G. and  Thomas  R.  Mr.  Burris 
was  married  a  second  time,  November  12,  1865. 
Mildred  Stockdale  becoming  his  wife.  She  is  a 
native  of  Fleming  Count}',  Ky.,  and  a  daughter  of 
James  and  Mary  Stockdale.  There  are  six  chil- 
dren living  by  this  union:  Arthur,  Edith,  MoUie, 
Fannie,  Albert  and  Ethel.  Edith  is  a  teacher  in 
the  public  schools. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burris  are  conscientious,  upright 
Christian  people,  and  the  United  Baptist  Church 
finds  in  them  two  of  its  most  helpful  members.  Mr. 
Burris  is  connected  with  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  as  a  member  of  Vienna  Post  No.  221,  and 
in  politics  he  votes  with  the  Republican  party. 


iiHOMAS  COLLIER  is  a  meml)er  of  one  of  the 
early  pioneer  families  of  Pope  County,  and 
owns  a  valuable  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  on  section  5,  township  12,  range  7. 
He  was  born  in  this  county  in  1824,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  Collier,  who  was  born  in  North  Carolina 
in  1761,  and  well  remembered  man}-  scenes  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  The  latter  was  a  son  of  John 
Collier,  who  was  of  Irish  descent,  and  was  a  soldier 
in  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  He  had  a  family 
of  seven  sons,  to  whom  he  left  a  large  property  in 
plantations  and  slaves. 

Our  subject's  father  was  first  married  to  a  Miss 
Dees,  by  whom  he  had  two  children.  They  emi- 
grated to  Illinois  at  a  very  early  day,  prohabl}'  in 
the  year  1810,  coining  b\'  boat  down  the  Cumber- 
land River.    His  first  wife  having  died,  Mr.  Collier 


PORTRAIT   AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


227 


was  married  in  1818  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Pitcliford, 
tbeii-  union  being  celebrated  in  this  portion  of  the 
Territory  of  Illinois.  To  them  were  born  four 
sons,  two  of  whom  died  in  Missouri  in  1821,  in 
which  State  the  family  were  living  at  the  time.  The\- 
spent  about  one  year  there,  but  found  from  sad 
experience  tiiat  it  was  a  ver}*  sickl}-  region,  as  four 
members  of  the  family — our  subject's  two  brothers, 
a  half-brother  and  their  maternal  grandmother — 
all  departed  this  life  there.  When  Mr.  Collier  re- 
moved to  Missouri  from  Illinois,  he  took  with  him 
a  small  drove  of  hogs,  which  were  allowed  to  run 
wild  in  the  woods.  One  of  them  wore  a  bell,  and 
at  one  time  was  so  scared  by  a  black  bear  that  she 
swam  across  the  Mississippi  River,  making  her  way 
back  lo  the  former  home  in  Illinois,  a  distance  of 
eight\-five  miles.  When  the  family  returned  the\- 
were  astonished  to  find  her  on  the  old  homestead, 
as  tiiey  supposed  she  had  been  eaten  by  the  bears. 
Our  subject's  parents  died  on  the  old  farm  in  this 
county,  which  was,  however,  not  really  theirs,  as 
no  land  could  be  bought  at  that  early  day.  Thej' 
settled  within  the  six  mile  square  reserved  for  the 
prospecting  lead  miners,  but  no  laud  was  sold  in 
tills  region  until  our  subject  was  some  twenty-two 
years  of  age.  The  father  died  in  1833,  aged  sev- 
ent3'-two  3'ears,  hi»  wife  dying  four  years  later. 

Tliomas  Collier  was  practically  without  any  edu- 
cational advantages,  though  he  attended  the  sub- 
scription school  of  that  period  for  a  few  weeks, 
learning  to  spell  and  read  a  little.  He  has  alwa3''s 
worked  at  farming,  and  on  the  death  of  his  mother 
resided  with  an  older  brother,  David,  who  was 
married  and  settled  in  life.  In  1861  our  subject 
wedded  Mrs.  Margaret  Hogg,  «ee  Vaughn,  and 
widow  of  Lewis  Hogg.  Her  parents,  Joseph  and 
Keziah  (Derman)  Vaughn,  were  from  Tennessee, 
but  Mrs.  Collier  was  born  in  this  county,  Ma}'  28, 
1834.  She  was  first  married  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
years,  and  had  five  children  by  that  union,  three 
of  whom  are  living:  Keziah,  wife  of  William  N. 
Wagner,  a  farmer  of  this  neighborhood;  Aquilla, 
wife  of  Nathan  Goldsby,  who  is  engaged  in  farm- 
ing near  Ilarrisburg;  and  Francis,  who  is  also  a 
farmer  of  this  township.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Collier 
were  born  eleven  children,  five  sons  and  six  daugh- 
ters,   three    of   whom  died  in  infanc3^     Mary  C, 


wife  of  Green  Van  Bibber,  died  in  March,  1892, 
at  the  age  of  thirty  years,  leaving  six  children. 
The  living  members  of  the  family  are  as  follows: 
David,  a  farmer  near  the  old  homestead,  who  is 
engaged  in  carrying  on  the  place  formerh'  owned 
by  his  grandfather,  and  who  has  a  wife  and  four 
children;  Aseneth,  widow  of  John  Asbell,  who  has 
two  bright  sons  and  is  living  at  home  with  her 
father;  James,  who  is  engaged  in  farming  a  por- 
tion of  our  subject's  homestead;  and  John  W., 
also  farming  a  portion  of  the  old  home  place. 

Mr.  Collier  served  as  School  Director  in  this 
neighborhood  for  fourteen  years,  and  for  many 
years  he  and  his  worthy  wife  have  been  members 
of  the  United  Baptist  Church.  Our  subject  is  a 
stanch  Republican  and  fought  bravely  to  preserve 
the  I'nion,  having  been  a  private  soldier  in  the 
One  Hundred  and  Thirt^'-first  Illinois  Infantry,  in 
which  he  served  from  August,  1862,  to  January, 
1864.  He  was  sick  and  in  the  hospital  much  of 
the  time,  in  consequence  of  which  he  took  part  in 
no  battles.  He  is  now  one  of  the  worthy  pen- 
sioners of  LTncle  Sam. 


^ILEY  SIMJIONS,  a  retired  farmer  living 
in  Vienna,  was  born  in  what  is  now  Simp- 
son Township  September  23,  1837,  and 
represents  one  of  the  pioneer  families  of  Johnson 
Count3^  His  father,  who  bore  the  same  name  as 
himself,  was  born  in  Bertie  County,  N.  C,  Septem- 
ber 24,  1801,  and  was  a  son  of  Thomas  Simmons, 
who  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  native  of  the  same 
State.  During  some  period  of  his  life  he  removed 
to  Tennessee,  and  came  thence  to  Illinois,  and  his 
last  years  were  spent  in  this  countj'.  His  wife 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Mary  Ann  Walker. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  3'oung  when  his 
parents  removed  to  Tennessee,  and  he  grew  up 
there  amid  primitive  scenes,  and  was  married  to 
Mary  A.,  a  daughter  of  Hezekiah  Erving.  She 
was  born  December  11,  1802,  and  died  on  the 
home     farm     in    Blooomfield     April     11,     1869. 


228 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


Mr.  Simmons  migrated  from  Tennessee  to  Mis- 
souri witli  his  famil3-  in  1832,  and  resided  in  that 
.State  until  1836,  when  he  came  to  Johnson 
County,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  the  five 
children  that  had  previously  been  born  to  them, 
the  entire  journey  being  made  with  teams.  He 
settled  in  what  is  now  Grantsburg  Township,  buy- 
ing a  tract  of  Government  land,  and  building  the 
log  house  in  which  our  subject  was  subsequently 
born.  In  185.5  he  sold  that  place,  after  making 
many  valuable  improvements,  and  Irom  that  time 
resided  in  what  is  now  Bloomfield  Township  until 
his  death,  in  January',  18C7. 

Wiley  Simmons,  of  whom  we  write,  is  one  of  a 
family  of  eight  children,  and  his  boyhood  was 
passed  amid  pioneer  scenes  on  the  old  farm  where 
he  was  born.  Johnson  County  was  then  in  a  wild 
and  sparsely  settled  condition,  .and  he  may  be 
said  to  have  grown  with  its  growth,  and  it  may  be 
bis  pride  that  he  has  helped  to  develop  its  rich 
agricultural  resources.  In  his  early  da3-s  the  peo- 
[)le  were  mostly  honie-livers,  obtaining  their  food 
from  the  fertile  soil  and  from  the  wild  game,  such 
as  deer,  turkeys,  etc.,  that  abounded  in  this  region 
before  it  was  much  settled.  Their  clothing  was 
the  product  of  the  skill  of  the  mothers,  wives  and 
sisters  of  the  pioneers  in  carding,  spinning  and 
weaving  wool  and  tlax.  There  were  no  railw.iys, 
and  all  travel  was  with  horses  or  oxen,  or  on  foot, 
over  rough  roads  or  no  roads  at  all. 

Our  subject  under  these  influences  grew  up  to 
be  a  stalwart,  self-helpful  man,  and  adopted  the 
calling  of  a  farmer,  to  which  he  had  been  bred. 
He  lived  with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty- 
two,  assisting  in  the  management  of  the  farm,  and 
then,  a  few  months  after  marriage,  he  took  the 
entire  charge  of  it,  having  it  under  his  control, 
and  residing  on  it  until  18(J5,  when  he  bought 
land  in  Tunnel  Hill  Township.  He  dwelt  upon 
that  place  several  years,  but  in  1888  ho  rented  the 
farm  very  advantageously,  and  has  since  made  his 
home  in  Vienna. 

Mr.  Simmons  was  married  April  10,  1859,  to 
Miss  Mary  McGown,  in  whom  he  has  found  a  lov- 
ing and  true  helpmate.  Mrs.  Simmons  was  born 
in  Williamson  County  March  18,  1841,  a  daugh- 
ter of    Lewis  and  Sarah  McGown.     Her  marriage 


with  our  subject  has  been  hallowed  to  them  by  the 
birth  of  four  children:  Cazal,  Mary  J.,  Letha  A.  and 
Mai'garet  C.  Cazal  married  Mahala  Benson,  and 
they  have  six  children.  Mary  married  R.  M.  Jack- 
son, and  they  have  three  children.  Margaret  married 
Ad  Hooker,  and  they  have  one  child.  Letha  is  at 
home  with  her  parents,  and  is  their  stay  in  their 
declining  j'cars.  The  family  is  well  known  and 
greatly  respected,  and  all  arc  members  in  high 
standing  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 


W 


ILLIAM  J.  I1KRR1^'G  is  the  owner  of  a 
good  farm,  having  within  its  boundaries 
ne  hundred  and  thirty  .acres,  of.  which 
seventy-five  are  tilled  and  sown  to  corn,  wheat, 
oats  and  hay.  The  homestead  is  located  in  town- 
ship 11,  range  7,  Pope  County,  to  which  he  came 
in  the  fall  of  1851.  He  was  born  in  Wales  in 
1816,  being  the  son  of  Joseph  Herring,  a  native  of 
the  same  place,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  1782. 
He  spent  his  entire  life  in  his  native  land,  djing 
when  about  seventy-five  j'ears  of  age.  His  wife,  who 
was  in  her  girlhood  Miss  Ann  Power,  bore  him  a 
family  of  eleven  children,  of  whom  seven  sons  and 
two  daughters  lived  to  manhood  and  womanhood. 
Of  the  four  who  are  now  surviving,  William  J.,  of 
this  sketch,  is  one.  A  brother  resides  in  N'ancou- 
ver's  Island,  and  John  and  David  are  in  Colorado. 
In  the  spring  of  1851  Mr.  Herring  left  his  na- 
tive land,  coming  to  America  with  his  wife  and 
one  son,  William  J.,  Jr.  The  voyage  was  made  in 
an  Epglish  sailing-vessel  of  the  old  Allen  Simp- 
son Line,  in  command  of  Capt.  Lee.  Tl'e\-  were 
upon  the  briny  deep  for  five  weeks,  starting  from 
Cardiff,  Wales,and  landing  in  Xew  York  City,  from 
which  place  they  soon  removed  to  I'ittstown,  in 
Pennsylvania.  There  Mr.  Herring  worked  in  the 
coal  mines  for  about  six  months,  then  crossing  the 
Alleghany  Mountains  on  the  railroad  and  proceed- 
ing down  the  Ohio  from  Pittsburgh  to  Elizabeth- 
town,  came   Westward   to   Illinois.     He  was  pos- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW. 


229 


sessed  of  a  few  dollars,  which  he  had  earned  in 
the  mines  of  his  native  land.  The  country  was 
very  wild,  and  houses  were  built  of  logs  '  rudely 
put  together.  He  first  purchased  in  this  county  a 
tract  of  forty  acres  at  81.25  per  acre,  and  after 
some  years  purchased  another  piece  of  land  of 
forty  acres,  since  which  time  he  has  added  still  an- 
other tract  of  fifty  acres,  tlius  making  one  hundred 
and  thirty  in  all.  Our  subject  is  a  progressive  and 
enterprising  farmer,  and  his  place  is  well  stocked 
with  horses,  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Herring  is  a  Democrat,  .and  for 
over  fifty-five  years  has  been  a  member  of  the  In- 
dependent Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  Presb^'terian  Church, 
being  active  workers  and  zealous  in  the  cause. 
They  have  but  one  son,  William  J.,  Jr.,  but  have 
eight  grandchildren,  in  whom  they  take  great 
pride  and  interest.  Mr.  Herring  is  thoroughly 
deserving  of  the  success  which  has  crowned  his 
years  of  toil  and  brought  to  him  a  comfortable 
home  and  a  secure  competence  for  his  declining 
days,  for  he  has  always  been  one  who  has  not  been 
afraid  of  hard  and  honest  labor. 


]^+^[ 


'^i  OHN  R.  BROWN.  We  are  always  glad  to 
accord  a  place  in  all  records  and  accounts 
of  the  worthy  pioneers  to  the  brave  sol- 
diers of  the  late  war,  who,  in  addition  to 
having  dfme  so  much  for  the  count3'  in  which 
they  made  their  home,  have  deserved  a  place  in  the 
history  of  their  country,  for  which  they  dared  and 
suffered  untold  privations  and  hardships  on  the 
field  of  battle.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  remained 
with  his  parents  until  nearly  twenty  years  of  age, 
when  he  enlisted  in  the  Union  arm^'  at  Elizabeth- 
town,  111.,  being  commissioned  First  Lieutenant  of 
Company  F,  One  Hundred  and  Thirtj'-first  Illinois 
Infantr}',  when  only  twent3'-one  years  of  age. 
The  dale  of  his  enlistment  was  November  13, 1862, 
when  he  enlisted  for  a  three-years  term  of  service, 
the  call  for  troops  being   made   by   Gov.    Yates. 


Mr.  Brown  was  honorabl3'  discharged  from  service 
at  Paducah,  September  16,  1863,  on  account  of 
poor  health.  He  returned  to  hishome,and  durino 
the  remainder  of  his  life  suffered  greatly  from  dis- 
ease contracted  and  the  exposure  incident  to  life 
in  the  army. 

Mr.  Brown  was  born  in  Hardin  County-,  this  State, 
August  2,  1841.  The  mother,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Sarah  Morris,  was  born  in  old  Virginia,  while 
his  father  w.as  a  native  of  Mobile,  Ala.  Our  sub- 
ject attended  the  common  schools,  where  he  re- 
ceived his  elementary  education,  and  later  entered 
Hewitt  &  Twinham's  Business  College,  from  which 
he  received  a  good  recommendation  and  a  diploma. 
Before  going  to  the  arm3'  he  attended  school  at 
Elizabethtown,  paying  for  his  tuition  b}^  drivino-a 
horse  in  a  taubark  mill,  for  which  he  received  ten 
cents  a  da}'.  In  1863  he  engaged  in  the  mercan- 
tile business,  carrying  on  a  general  store  in  Colum- 
bus until  1880,  at  which  time  he  sold  the  business 
and  continued  to  reside  here  nntil  his  death,  Oc- 
tober 30,  1884. 

Our  subject  was  twice  married,  his  first  union 
being  with  Ourilla  Sehuhart,  June  2,  1868.  She 
was  called  from  this  life  January  1,  1874,  and  Mr. 
Brown  chose  for  his  second  wife  Miss  Maggie  Ru- 
ble, to  whom  he  was  married  January  21,  1877. 
Mrs.  Brown  was  born  in  this  county  September  23, 
1856.  Her  mother  was  likewise  a  native  of  Illi- 
nois, but  her  father  was  born  in  the  Buckeye  State. 
Since  her  husband's  death  Mrs.  Brown  has  carried 
on  the  Brown  Hotel,  in  the  village  of  Columiius 
and  in  that  hospitable  hostelry  the  weary  traveler 
always  finds  a  pleasant  resting-place  and  a  cheer- 
ful welcome.  The  genial  landlady  is  known  far 
and  wide  as  the  proprietor  of  one  of  the  best  hotels 
of  southern  Illinois.  On  April  2,  1885,  she  was 
appointed  Postmistress  at  Columbus,  the  office  be- 
ing known  as  Brownfield,  named  in  her  honor. 
She  has  held  that  responsible  position  up  to  the 
present  time,  and  is  a  thoroughly  capable  business 
woman.  She  is  the  owner  of  twenty-one  lots  in 
Clark's  Addition  to  Columbus,  and  also  owns  sev- 
eral houses  in  the  village,  which  she  rents,  besides  a 
store  building  and  her  hotel.  Mr.  Brown  left  two 
children,  George  IL,  a  son  by  his  first  union,  and 
John  R.,  born  May  1,  1879,  the  child  of  the  second 


230 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


union.  Mrs.  Brown  is  a  member  of  the  Cumber- 
lanil  Presbyterian  Cliureh,  and  in  social  circles  has 
always  occupied  an  enviable  position  in  the  esteem 
of  all.  Ilcr  husband  was  a  stanch  Republican, and 
the  boys  in  blue  wore  particularly  dcir  to  him. 


•^^1 


t3' 


■m 


\^^ 


^|OSKPlI  t'.\VILLIAM.S,a  progressive  fanner 
of  Pope  County,  111.,  is  a  native  of  Muhlen- 
berg Count}',  Kj'.,  and  the  date  of  his  birth 
March  .5,  18i;3.  His  father,  Samuel  Will- 
iams, was  a  North  Carolinian,  born  in  1791,  and 
his  grandfather,  James  Williams,  was  also  from 
that  State.  The  latter  moved  with  his  family  to 
Iventucky  and  died  on  a  farm  in  that  State  at  the 
age  of  sixtj'-five  years,  having  reared  a  family  of 
three  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom  Samuel 
J.  was  the  second  son.  The  latter  married  Mary 
Woodis,  of  Muhlenberg  County,  Ky.,  and  together 
they  settled  on  a  farm  and  tilled  the  soil  until 
about  1850,  when  they  sold  out  in  that  Stale  and 
moved  to  Hardin  County,  111.,  making  the  journey 
of  one  hundred  miles  with  two  yoke  of  oxen  and 
covered  wagons,  their  family  at  that  time  consist- 
ing of  five  children.  Like  most  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  the  Prairie  State  thej'  came  with  small 
means,  and  after  renting  land  for  some  years 
bought  their  first  home,  in  1854,  a  tract  of  forty 
acres,  on  which  some  slight  improvement  had 
been  made,  pacing  for  the  same  the  sum  of  i^200, 
and  on  this  land  they  made  their  permanent  home, 
afterward  adding  to  their  original  purchase  until 
they  had  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixtj'  acres. 
The  father  died  in  1856,  at  the  age  of  sixty  years, 
leaving  a  widow  and  six  children.  Their  first- 
born, Richard  W.,  died  at  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
James  F.  died  in  1869  at  the  age  of  thirty  years, 
leaving  a  familj'.  He  was  a  volunteer  in  Com- 
pany A,  Twenty-ninth  Illinois  Infantry,  was 
wounded  at  Ft.  Donelson  and  taken  prisoner. 
After  being  kept  in  "durance  vile"  for  about  two 
months  he  with  three  others  managed  to  escape 
but   was  retaken   b}'  the  enein}-.     He  again   suc- 


ceeded in  escaping  and  this  time  reached  the 
Tennessee  River,  which  he  swam,  and  after  some 
two  or  three  weeks  reached  the  Union  lines.  This 
was  late  in  the  spring  of  1862,  and  during  this 
time  he  suffered  innumerable  hardships,  being  at 
one  time  chased  by  bloodhounds.  This  experi- 
ence and  his  exposure  were  the  causes  of  bis  death. 
Sarah  Ann,  the  wife  of  Benjamin  Bramlett,  a  far- 
mer of  Hardin  County,  is  now  about  sixty  years 
of  age.  Joseph  C.  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Sam- 
uel .Jackson  is  a  farmer  of  Hardin  Count\'.  .Mary 
E.,  the  wife  of  fleorge  W.  Cowsert,  died  in  August. 
1891.  Ili'iir}-  L.  resides  at  Shetlervillc,  Hardin 
County,  111. 

Joseph  C.  Williams  spent  his  youth  on  the  home 
farm,  and  prior  to  leaving  home,  at  the  age  of 
nineteen  years,  he  obtnined  but  little  schooling. 
He  enlisted  in  Company  B,  Eighteentli  Illinois  In- 
fantry, with  which  he  served  three  years,  at  the 
end  of  which  time  he  re-enlisted  and  served  faith- 
fully for  a  period  of  one  year  in  the  same  company 
in  which  his  brother  served,  and  like  him  proved 
a  trusty,  valiant  and  useful  soldier.  During  the 
four  years  he  was  in  the  army  he  was  alw.ays  found 
ready  for  duty,  with  the  exception  of  about  six 
weeks  when  he  was  ill.  He  was  first  under  fire  at 
Ft.  Donelson,  next  at  the  bloody  battle  of  Shiloh 
and  then  at  Vicksburg.  He  participated  in  the 
capture  of  Spanish  Fort  and  Ft.  Blakely  and  was 
in  various  skirmishes  but  was  not  wounded.  He 
returned  home  .as  strong  and  sound  in  health  as 
most  of  the  boj's  in  blue,  and  is  now  a  remarkal)ly 
active,  energetic  and  healthy  man,  weighing  one 
hundred  and  ninet}'  pounds. 

Our  subject  was  married  March  28,  1869,  in 
Hardin  Countj',  111.,  to  Laura  Hutchison, daughter 
of  Floyd  and  Mary  (Langdon)  Hutchison,  she  be- 
ing a  native  of  Pen-}'  Count}',  Ind.,  in  which 
State  her  parents  were  married  December  8,  1850. 
They  first  farmed  on  rented  land  for  nearh'  three 
years,  but  their  first  purchase  of  fortj'  acres  they 
afterward  sold  and  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  for  ^800,  for  which  the}'  went  in  debt.  Tliev 
later  sold  this  property  and  bought  one  hundred 
and  fort}'  acres  in  1875,  on  which  they  resided  un- 
til 1892,  when  they  sold  the  place  at  a  good  profit. 
Their   present   farm    now  comprises  one   hundred 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


231 


and  eiglitj--  acres,  the  purchase  price  of  which  was 
¥1,500,  one  hundred  acres  being  under  cultivation 
and  the  rest  good  timber  land.  Mr.  Williams 
does  general  farming  and  believes  in  the  rota- 
tion of  crops.  He  keeps  about  five  farm  horses 
and  also  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs,  marketing  some  of 
them  each  yeai,  and  of  the  latter  sells  about  thirty 
annually.  He  and  his  wife  buried  two  sons  and  a 
daughter  in  infancy  and  have  the  following  living 
children:  Lieunette,  wife  of  James  Shield,  who  re- 
sides with  her  parents  and  has  a  little  daughter; 
I^mer^"  F.,  Blanche,  Clvde  J.  and  Rollin  H.  Mr. 
Williams  is  a  Republican  and  has  served  as  Consta- 
ble of  his  precinct  for  three  3'ears.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Post  No.  56.5,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Elizabethtown, 
and  he  and  his  intelligent  and  amiable  wife  are 
members  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  hold  a 
prominent  position  in  the  social  circles  of  their 
communitv. 


PERRIS     TROVILLION    owns    a    well-im- 
;  proved  and  fertile  farm,  comprising   one 
.  hundred  and   twenty  acres,  on    section  31, 

township  13,  range  6,  Pope  County.  His  pater- 
nal grandfather  removed  to  Illinois  about  the 
year  1835,  purchasing  land  in  this  county  and 
here  making  his  home  for  over  half  a  century. 
The  various  members  of  his  family  and  their  de- 
scendants have  long  been  considered  among  the 
best  citizens  and  worthy  men  in  this  portion  of 
the  State,  in  whatever  walk  of  life  the}'  have  been 
found. 

Ferris  Trovillion  is  a  native  of  Pope  County, 
his  birth  having  occurred  August  26,  1851.  He 
is  the  son  of  Elijah  and  Nancy  T.  (Carr)  Tro- 
villion, both  of  whom  were  born  in  the  same  part 
of  Tennessee.  The  former,  who  was  born  in  1826, 
was  the  son  of  James  Y.  and  Betsey  Ann  Tro- 
villion, the  father  a  native  of  the  Old  Dominion, 
and  the  mother  of  Tennessee.  Our  subject's  mo- 
ther was  born  May  6,  1821,  and  was  a  daughter 
of  John  Carr,  also  of  an  old  Virginian  family,  his 


wife  being  in  her  girlhood  days  Miss  Elizabeth 
Horsley,  of  the  same  State.  They  both  dei)arted 
this  life  in  Tennessee  at  the  age  of  eighty-two 
years.  Grandfather  Trovillion  was  called  to  his 
final  rest  in  1878,  being  then  over  seventy-five 
years  of  age.  Our  subject's  father  emigrated  with 
his  parents  to  Illinois  about  the  year  1835,  and 
was  in  the  Mexican  War  from  beginning  to  end. 
He  purchased  land  and  turned  his  attention  to 
agricultural  pursuits,  being  also  a  teacher  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  southern  Illinois.  He  was  married 
January  10,  1849,  and  had  a  family  of  seven  chil- 
dren. During  the  Civil  War  he  enlisted  at  Gol- 
conda,  in  November,  1862,  in  Company  G,  Sixth 
Illinois  Cavalry,  being  commissioned  First  Lieuten- 
ant. He  was  obliged  to  resign  on  account  of  bad 
health,  being  honorably  discharged  at  Columbus, 
Ky.,  in  Ma}',  1863.  Soon  after  his  return  to  Illi- 
nois he  was  called  to  the  home  beyond  March  10, 
1865. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  passed  his  boyhood 
days  and  youth  on  his  father's  farm,  and  being 
early  left  with  much  of  the  responsibility  and  care 
of  the  homestead  upon  his  shoulders,  he  was  not 
enabled  to  acquire  much  of  an  education,  but  has 
amply  atoned  for  the  early  lack  of  privileges  in 
this  direction  b\'  wisel3^-selected  reading  and  a 
critical  observation  of  everything  coming  beneath 
his  notice.  So  well  did  he  improve  such  oppor- 
tunities as  he  had,  that  from  1869  to  1872  he 
taught  school  in  the  county  with  very  fair  suc- 
cess. He  has  always  resided  on  the  farm  where 
he  first  saw  the  light  of  day,  and  after  his  mar- 
riage purchased  the  interest  of  the  other  heirs, 
now  being  in  entire  possession  of  the  place,  which 
comprises  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  on  sec- 
tion 31.  He  has  developed  into  a  skillful  and 
thrifty  agriculturist,  the  evidences  of  his  indus- 
try and  wise  supervision  being  shown  on  every 
hand. 

At  the  age  of  thirt\'-two  j'ears  Mr.  Trovillion 
concluded  to  become  a  Benedict,  and  it  was  in 
accordance  with  that  resolve  that  on  Ma\'  30, 
1883,  he  wedded  Miss  Carrie  Clanahan,  who  was 
born  August  16,  1859,  in  Pope  County.  Her  fa- 
ther was  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  while  her 
mother  was    born    in    Tennessee.     They  both  re- 


232 


I'OHTlJArr  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


moved  to  Illinois,  where  the\-  first  formed  an  ac- 
qnaintancc  and  were  married.  For  a  number  of 
years  they  resided  on  a  farm,  which  the\'  liave 
latelj'  sold,  and  are  now  making  their  liomc  in 
(iolconda.  To  our  worthy  subject  and  his  estima- 
ble wife  was  born  a  family  of  five  children,  three 
of  whom  are  living.  The  record  is  as  follows: 
Maud,  who  was  born  May  111,  1884;  Edna,  .Jan- 
uary 24,  188{);  Mary,  August  23,  1891;  Lcla, 
born  March  9,  1888,  and  who  died  .luly  ;>,  of  the- 
same  year;  and  Don,  wliose  birth  occurred  June 
24,  1889,  and  who  departed  this  life  September 
22,  1892.  Mr.  Trovillion  is  liberal  in  his  relig- 
ious views  and  is  not  connected  with  any  denom- 
ination, though  his  wife  is  a  consistent  member  of 
the  C'uml)erland  Presb^'terian  Church.  He  has 
served  as  School  Director  for  several  terms,  and 
always  voles  the  straight  Republican  ticket. 


\||0I1N  LOGAN  CUMMINS  is  an  intelligent, 
wide-awake  farmer,  and  a  native  of  Jolin- 
son  County,  who  is  carrying  on  his  occupa- 
"^fj  tion  on  the  old  homestead  on  section  3(), 
Grautsburg  Township,  where  he  was  born,  and 
which  is  now  his  propert}^  His  father  was  Samuel 
A.  Cummins,  who  was  born  and  roared  in  Ken- 
tucky. He  left  his  native  State  in  the  vigor  of 
earl}'  manhood,  ambitious  to  enjoy  the  advant.ages 
offered  by  the  cheap  lands  and  rich  virgin  soil  of 
the  more  newly  settled  State  of  Illinois.  He  was 
accompanied  by  others,  and  the  little  comjiany 
purchased  a  flat-boat,  in  which  they  placed  their 
earthly  possessions,  and  pushing  from  the  shore, 
commenced  their  momentous  journey,  propelling 
their  craft  with  poles.  A  man  on  each  side  of  the 
boat  at  the  bow  would  put  one  end  of  his  pole  in 
the  bottom  of  the  river,  and  holding  the  other 
against  his  shoulder,  would  then  walk  to  the  stern 
of  the  boat,  pushing  as  he  went,  and  in  that  man- 
ner the  adventurers  literally  pushed  themselves 
into  a  new  country,   arriving  at  their  destination 


some  time  in  184.').  'i'hey  found  southern  Illinois 
an  unreclaimed  wilderness,  with  only  a  few  scat- 
tered settlements,  with  scarcely  any  schools  (ir 
churches  or  other  signs  of  advancing  civilization. 
Mr.  Cummins  first  selected  a  site  near  the  pres- 
ent town  of  Temple  Hill,  Pope  County,  and  build- 
ing a  cabin  of  logs,  commenced  the  life  of  a  pio- 
neer, suffering  from  the  privations  and  sacrifices 
incidental  to  establishing  a  foothold  in  a  frontier 
settlement.  Three  years  later  he  came  to  Johnson 
County  and  chose  a  fairly  good  tract  of  land  for 
his  future  home.  He  worked  with  characteristic 
energy  to  transform  it  into  a  farm,  and  in  due 
time  had  it  in  an  excellent  condition.  He  erected 
a  set  of  very  good  buildings,  which  were  unfort- 
unately destroyed  by  fire,  and  he  replaced  them  as 
he  was  able,  and  the  same  buildings  are  occupied 
by  his  son,  of  whom  we  write.  Among  other  im- 
provements he  planted  an  orchard  of  seven  acres, 
which  has  since  yielded  fruit  to  bless  his  memory. 
He  was  obliged  to  destro}"  much  fine  timber  when 
he  was  clearing  his  land,  deadening  the  trees,  and 
then  burning  them  to  get  them  out  of  the  way. 
He  met  with  more  than  ordinary  success  in  his  un- 
dertakings, and  was  one  of  the  solid  men  of  the 
county,  accumulating  a  handsome  jiroperty,  and 
at  one  time  owning  over  seven  hundred  acres  of 
land.  He  was  a  self-educated  man,  acquiring  a 
good  practical  knowledge  of  things  without  much 
assistance  from  the  schools,  and  was  able  to  attend 
to  business  transactions  with  good  judgment  and 
dispatch.  He  was  one  of  the  most  useful  and  en- 
ergetic of  the  pioneers  who  settled  in  this  count}-, 
and  the  great  changes  that  he  witnessed  in  its  de- 
velopment from  a  wilderness  to  a  well-improved 
country  vverc  partly  brought  about  by  his  untir- 
ing industry.  He  died  April  28,  1883,  and  three 
years  later,  in  the  month  of  January,  the  brave 
partner  of  his  labors  and  of  his  joys  and  sorrows 
followed  him  to  his  last  resting-place  among  the 
dead.  The  following  are  the  twelve  children  born 
unto  them:  Washington,  who  died  in  childhood; 
Virginia,  who  died  in  Johnson  County;  Sophia, 
wife  of  James  Helm,  of  Samoth,  Massac  County; 
Peter  A.,  a  farmer  at  Reevesville;  Harriet  A.,  who 
is  living  with  her  brother  on  the  old  home  place; 
Cornelia,  living  at   Reevesville;  Deborah   A.,  wife 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


233 


o(  John  Kelton,  of  Paducab,  Ky.;  Arminta,  wife 
of  Richard  P>oyles,  of  Samoth;  John  Logan; 
.Martha  and  Maiy,  twins,  who  died  in  infancy; 
and  Idora,  wife  of  Robert  Knucitolls,  of  Metropolis. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  ninth  child  of 
the  family,  and  the  pleasant  old  homestead  where 
he  was  born  is  still  his  dwelling-place.  His  edu- 
cation was  conducted  in  the  public  schools,  and 
the  farm  afforded  him  an  ample  training  ground 
to  become  proficient  in  all  branches  of  agriculture. 
He  assisted  his  father,  remaining  an  inmate  of  the 
[larental  household  until  death  removed  his  father 
and  mother,  and  he  administered  upon  the  estate, 
subsequently  purchasing  the  homestead  of  fifty-six 
acres,  and  has  alwa\-s  lived  upon  it.  It  is  well 
tilled,  is  supplied  with  all  the  necessary  buildings 
and  app.aratus  for  conducting  farming  successfully", 
and  is  a  valuable  piece  of  property. 

After  his  mother's  death,  which  occurred  Jan- 
uary 22,  1885,  our  subject  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  Grifitii,  who  was  from  Pope  Count}',  where 
her  people  now  live.  Their  cheerful,  cozy  home  is 
gladdened  by  the  presence  of  the  three  children 
tliat  have  hallowed  their  union,  and  whom  they 
liavc  named  Ora,  Idora  Bell  and  Lucy  Ann.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Cummins  are  exemplary  members  of  the 
Methodist  P^piscopal  Cliurch,  and  earnest  workers 
in  tiie  Sundaj'-school,  and  are  held  in  true  respect 
and  confidence  by  the  entire  community,  where 
they  are  so  well  known. 


J****,^ 


.j.^.,;..^!- 


3^..5..5.^.l^^l.j..5.4.^.| 


IpVjOBERT  M.  FISHER,  State's  Attorney  for 
\l^^  Johnson  County,  is  one  of  the  foremost 
^\Y  lawyers  of  southern  Illinois,  one  of  the 
^^  most  important  civic  functionaries  of  this 
section,  and  a  conspicuous  figure  in  its  political 
life.  He  is  a  son  of  the  soil,  and  springs  from  one 
of  the  very  earliest  pioneer  families  of  this  part  of 
the  State.  His  father,  William  Fisher,  was  born 
in  this  county  in  1816.  The  fatiier  of  the  latter, 
who  bore  the  same  name  as  himself,  was  from  In- 
diana and  came  over  the  border  from   that  State 


to  Illinois  as  early  as  1810,  being  one  of  the  first 
to  brave  the  dangers  and  privations  of  frontier 
life  in  the  wilderness  that  then  prevailed  here. 
This  part  of  the  country  was  then  under  Terri- 
torial government,  and  but  few  white  men  had 
ventured  to  settle  among  the  Indians  and  wild 
animals  that  then  held  possession  of  the  forests  and 
prairies.  The  elder  Mr.  Fisher  was  a  man  of  res- 
olute character,  wasstrong,  courageous  and  capable, 
and  his  industry  was  duly  rewarded.  In  dying, 
he  left  behind  him  a  noble  record  as  a  pioneer  far- 
mer, who  had  contributed  his  quota  to  the  develoii- 
ment  of  the  agricultural  resources  of  the  State. 

The  boyhood  of  the  father  of  our  subject  was 
passed  in  arduous  toil  on  his  father's  farm,  as  he 
was  early  set  to  work  to  clear  and  break  the  land, 
fence  it  and  place  it  under  cultivation.  As  his 
parents  were  poor,  he  had  no  chance  to  attend 
school.  At  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  took  upon 
himself  tlie  cares  and  responsibilities  of  domestic 
life,  marrying  Miss  Minerva  Johnson,  who  had 
come  to  this  State  from  Kentucky  with  her  par- 
ents. After  marriage,  he  and  his  young  wife  com- 
menced making  a  home  on  land  which  he  had 
bought  in  the  forests.  He  devoted  his  energies  to 
felling  the  timber  that  cumbered  his  farm,  and 
had  done  much  toward  reclaiming  it  from  its  na- 
tive wildness  when  the  hand  of  death  stayed  his 
labors,  December  25,  1844,  while  he  was  yet  in  the 
flush  of  early  manhood,  and  the  county  thus  lost 
the  services  of  one  of  its  most  useful  citizens,  who 
is  worthy  of  remembrance  as  one  of  its  honored 
pioneers,  as  well  as  for  being  one  of  its  lirst-born 
sons.  After  the  death  of  the  father  the  mother 
removed  to  Massac  County,  and  there  died,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1858. 

Robert  M.  Fisher,  of  whom  we  write,  is  the  only 
survivor  of  five  children.  The  others  were  John, 
William,  Levi  and  James  K.  Our  subject  was 
born  in  Johnson  County  October  10,  1843,  and 
was  but  a  year  old  when  deprived  of  a  father's 
care.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm  and  became  accus- 
tomed to  hard  work  when  young.  He  managed 
to  attend  the  public  school  occasionally,  but  the 
most  of  his  education  has  been  obtained  outside 
of  schools.  He  was  ambitious  to  make  the  most 
of   life   and    win   a  name  and  place    for   himself 


234- 


l'()lM'I{AI'r  AND    P.IOflKAPIIICAL   REVIEW. 


ill  one  of  the  professions,  and  Imving  a  decided 
bent  toward  the  Bar,  he  commenced  the  study 
of  law  with  .John  F.  McCartney,  of  Mass.ae,  and 
■ludge  IJuff;  of  Benton,  Franklin  Count\\  His 
bright  and  active  mind  easily  mastered  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  jurisprudence,  and  he  made 
such  rapid  progress  in  his  studies  that  the  end  of 
nine  niontiis' preparation  found  him  ready  for  ad- 
mission to  the  Bar  and  he  became  a  member 
thereof  in  1869.  He  did  not,  however,  enter  into 
active  practice  until  the  spring  of  1873,  when 
he  opened  an  office  at  Vienna,  where  he  h.as  since 
made  his  home,  lie  had  continued  his  legal  stud- 
ies after  being  admitted  to  the  Bar,  and  brought 
to  his  professional  duties  a  sound  knowledge  of 
common  law,  a  keen,  well-trained,  analj'tical  mind, 
together  with  a  ready  wit  and  a  talent  for  extem- 
poraneous speaking  that  have  won  him  high  hon- 
ors in  his  profession  and  have  gained  him  an  ex- 
tensive i)atronage. 

A  man  of  Mr.  Fisher's  calibre,  influence  and  high 
personal  standing  is  necessarily  looked  to  by  his 
fellow-citizens  for  counsel  and  aid  in  public  mat- 
ters and  is  thus  drawn  into  the  civic  life  for  which 
he  is  so  eminently  well  qualified  in  all  respects, 
and  he  has  filled  various  offices  of  trust.  In  1869 
he  was  elected  County  Superintendent  of  Schools, 
and  during  the  four  years  that  he  occupied  that 
position  he  devoted  his  energies  to  the  advance- 
ment of  educational  facilities  in  ever}'  part  of  the 
county.  He  was  elected  Police  Magistrate,  but  re- 
signed after  serving  three  3'ears,  and  his  next  offi- 
cial post  was  that  of  State's  Attorney,  to  which  he 
was  elected  in  1876  on  a  non-partisan  ticket  for  a 
period  of  four  j-ears.  In  1888,  well  satisfied  with 
his  first  administration  of  the  functions  pertaining 
to  that  office,  the  people  again  made  him  State's 
Attorney,  and  he  is  still  acting  in  that  capacitj'. 
He  has  always  affiliated  with  the  Republican  part3% 
is  an  able  advocate  of  its  principles  and  is  promi- 
nent in  political  circles.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  true 
courtesy,  genial  and  frank  in  his  manner,  and 
among  an  extensive  aiMjuaintance  has  gathered 
many  warm  friends. 

Mr.  Fisher  was  first  married  July  28,  1870,  to 
Miss  Mary  E.  Fisher,  a  native  of  Johnson  County. 
Her  death  occurred  August  1,  1887.  Five  children 


were  born  of  that  marriage:  Stella,  wife  of  Will- 
iam H.  Shields,  of  EldoradoSpiings,  Mo.;  Lucinda, 
who  livesat  Mt. Carroll;  AValter  A.,  who  died;  and 
George  H.  and  William  M.,  who  are  at  home  with 
their  parents.  Our  subject's  second  marriage  w:is 
with  Mrs.  (4.  ().  Hamilton,  widow  of  R.  W.  Hamil- 
ton. She  is  a  native  of  Williamson  County,  where 
her  father  was  a  physician  of  much  prominence 
during  his  life,  having  settled  there  in  the  town  of 
Bainbridge  in  1841.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were 
of  New  England  birth  and  breeding,  he  from 
Massachusetts  and  she  from  Connecticut.  She 
died  three  years  before  he  did.  Mrs.  Fisher  can 
trace  her  ancestry  to  the  branch  of  the  Harrison 
family  to  which  President  Harrison  belongs.  By 
their  present  union  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fisher  have  one 
daughter,  wlioni  thov  have  named  Am\'. 


m>-^<m^- 


RS.  ETTA  M.  BLANCHFILL  is  a  lady  of 
culture  and  refinement,  who  presides  with 
grace  over  her  attractive  home  near  the 
village  of  Vienna,  and  is  successfully  man- 
aging large  interests  with  marked  business  ability. 
She  was  born  at  Oxford,  Benton  County,  Ind., 
April  28,  1863,  and  is  a  daughter  of  John  F.  Mc 
Connell,  who  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  When  he 
was  quite  young,  his  parents  removed  from  that 
State  to  Ohio,  and  thence  to  Benton  Count}-,  Ind.. 
where  they  were  earl}^  settlers.  The  grandfather 
of  our  subject  rose  to  prominence  in  the  public 
life  of  that  county,  and  was  intluential  in  its  af- 
fairs. He  held  many  positions  of  honor  and  trust, 
among  them  the  office  of  Probate  Judge,  and  was 
also  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature  atone  time. 
He  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years,  and 
his  memory  is  cherished  and  honored  for  the  part 
he  took  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  county  where  he 
founded  a  home.  He  was  a  man  of  good  educa- 
tion, and  taught  school  to  some  extent.  He  and 
his  good  wife  reared  a  family  of  ten  children. 

Tlie  father  of  our  subject  grew  to  a  vigorous 
manhood  amid  the  pioneer  environments  of   the 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


235 


home  in  the  forest  wilds  of  Indiana.  He  attended 
the  common  schools  and  learned  wliat  conid  he 
taught  him  there,  and  supplemented  his  education 
ill  after  j'ears  by  much  reading,  and  was  well  in- 
formed on  scientific,  literary,  political  and  other 
to|)ics.  The  parents  of  our  subject  had  twelve 
ciiildren,  as  follows:  Etta  M.;  Elgin,  a  telegrapher; 
Lula  H.,  who  is  teaching  in  Indiana;  Alice,  who 
was  a  teacher  and  died  in  Indiana;  t'iirissie,  who 
died  in  infauc}';  Victor,  who  resides  at  Atkinson, 
Ind.;  Ernest,  Vivian,  Ray,  Roy,  Beatrice  and  Inna, 
who  are  at  home. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  first-born  of  the 
family.  In  her  girlhood  she  was  carefull3-  trained 
in  home  duties,  and  she  was  given  every  advan- 
tage to  obtain  a  liberal  education,  going  from  the 
public  schools  to  Oxford  Academy',  where  she  stud- 
ied some  time  under  competent  instructors,  and  then 
to  Perdeu  University-,  keeping  up  a  high  reputation 
in  both  institutions  for  excellency  in  scholarship. 
Thus  rarely  equipped  for  the  profession,  she  began 
teaching  wiien  but  sixteen  years  old,  and  taught 
until  she  was  called  upon  to  assume  the  responsi- 
bilities of  wedded  life,  giving  her  hand  in  mar- 
riage to  James  B.  Blanciiflll   September   11,   1883. 

Mr.  BlanchfiU  w.as  born  in  Canada,  March  13, 
1834.  In  his  boyhood  he  came  to  the  United 
States  with  his  father,  mother  and  brother  George, 
and  they  lived  in  La  Fayette,  Ind.,  until  his  fa- 
ther's death,  in  1849.  After  that  sad  event,  the 
mother  removed  with  her  two  sons  to  Benton 
County,  in  the  same  State,  and  settled  near  Ox- 
ford. Mr.  BlanchfiU  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools,  and  the  bright,  active  lad  developed  into 
a  wide-awake  business  man,  of  more  than  ordinary 
acumen,  forethought  and  enterprise.  His  money 
was  always  judiciously  invested,  and  he  managed 
his  affairs  with  such  sagacity,  energy  and  masterly 
ability,  that  fortune  smiled  upon  his  undertakings, 
and  he  accumulated  wealth  rapidly.  He  had  a 
large  amount  of  real  estate  in  Johnson  County-, 
owning  some  ten  hundred  and  sevent3'  acres  near 
Vienna,  one  hundred  and  .fifty  acres  adjoining  the 
town,  and  in  November,  1866,  he  look  up  his  resi- 
dence here  in  order  to  look  after  his  interests.  He 
proved  a  decided  acquisition  to  the  citizenship  of 
this  county,  ever  displaying  an    active  and  wise 


public  spirit  that  did  much  for  its  advancement, 
especially  in  .agricultural  matters.  He  was  an  en- 
thusiast in  regard  to  breeding  good  stock,  and  was 
instrumental  in  raising  the  standard  thereof  in 
this  section  of  the  State.  His  experience,  accurate 
knowledge  and  rare  judgment  in  that  line  were  of 
great  benefit  to  the  farmers,  rousing  in  them  an  in- 
terest in  blooded  stock,  and  leading  them  to  im- 
prove the  grade  of  their  horses  and  cattle.  He  first 
introduced  i)ure  blooded  horses  into  the  county, 
bringing  with  him  some  very  fine  animals  when 
he  came  here  to  settle.  To  the  end  that  the  inter- 
est thus  awakened  should  be  fostered  and  kept 
alive,  Mr.  BlanchfiU  succeeded  in  organizing  the 
Fair  Association  of  the  county,  which,  with  its 
pleasant  grounds,  attractive  improvements  and 
well-conducted  fairs,  has  proved  of  great  advan- 
tage to  the  people. 

In  the  death  of  Mr.  BlanchfiU,  May  15,  1890, 
Johnson  County  sustained  an  irreparable  loss.  All 
honor  was  paid  to  the  memory  of  the  departed, 
and  the  mortal  remains  of  him  who  had  been  a  pub- 
lic benefactor  were  reverently  borne  to  their  last 
resting-place  in  the  Odd  Fellows"  Cemetery  at 
Vienna.  He  was  a  manly  man,  who  combined 
strength  of  character  with  a  warm,  generous  na- 
ture, and  a  frank,  pleasant  manner,  which  at- 
tracted to  him  many  friends,  who  always  found 
him  steadfast  and  true  in  his  friendship,  while  his 
family  had  in  him  a  devoted  husband  and  tender 
father.  He  left  three  children  to  mourn  with  their 
mother  his  untimely  death.  They  are  Georgia, 
Frank  S.  and  Alice. 


y 


ILLIAM  E.  GALEENER,  who  resides  on 
his  farm  in  Tunnel  Hill  Township,  has  an 
admirably  planned  arid  well-stocked  nur- 
sery at  Vienna,  and  is  well  patronized  by  the  peo- 
ple of  the  village  and  counter.  He  is  a  native  of 
Warren  County,  Ohio,  born  October  30,  1841,  and 
is  of  the  earlj'  pioneer  stock  of  that  State.  His 
father,  the  late  S.  B.  Galeener,  was  also  a  native  of 


236 


PORTRAIT   AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


Ohio,  and  was  there  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer, 
lu  1857  he  came  with  his  family  to  Illinois,  and 
lirst  engaged  in  farming  in  Edgar  County,  whence 
he  removed  to  Union  County  in  186(5.  While 
there  he  devoted  himself  to  general  farming  and 
to  raisiiu"  small  fruit.  In  1870  he  came  to  John- 
son County  to  settle,  taking  up  his  residence  in 
Tunnel  Hill,  and  still  continued  to  till  the  soil; 
he  also  made  brooms  in  the  winter  time  when  he 
could  do  nothing  else.  He  was  a  hard  worker 
from  boyhood,  and  his  industry  was  well  rewarded 
bv  the  comforts  with  which  he  was  enabled  to 
surround  his  old  age.  His  death  occurred  in  1887, 
and  the  last  sad  rites  for  the  dead  were  solemnized 
in  Odd  Fellows'  Cemetery,  Vienna,  where  be  was 
laid  to  rest.  His  venerable  wife  survives  him, 
and  makes  her  home  with  our  subject.  She  is  a 
native  of  Clermont  County,  Ohio,  and  bore  the 
maiden  name  of  Nancy  Malsbai'i'.  She  h.as  been 
the  mother  of  twelve  children:  Missouri  .Jane,  vvho 
died  in  Warren  Count3f,  Ohio;  William  Elwood; 
Samuel,  who  died  in  Ohio  in  1841),  during  the 
prevalence  of  the  cholera  epidemic;  Rachel,  who 
also  fell  a  victim  to  the  cholera  in  that  year  at 
Montgomery,  Ohio;  Mary  Emeline,  wife  of  El- 
wood Einlej',  a  fruit  grower  at  Cobden,  Union 
County;  three  children,  two  being  twins,  who  died 
in  infancy;  Herbert  Francis,  a  resident  of  Tunnel 
Hill,  whose  occupation  is  that  of  railway  bridge 
carpenter;  Percy  Ilosbrooks,  station  agent  at  Ilar- 
risburgh;  Nancy  Alice,  wife  of  Abraham  Flick,  a 
farmer  at  St.  Francisville;  and  Stephen  Clifton, 
railway  agent  at  Eldorado. 

William  Elwood  Galeener,  of  whom  this  sketch 
is  written,  is  the  second  child  of  the  family  in  or- 
der of  birth.  His  early  life  was  passed  much  as 
that  of  other  farmers'  boys,  with  plenty  of  hard 
work  to  strengthen  his  muscles  when  he  was  not 
improving  his  mind  in  the  district  school,  which 
he  attended  until  he  was  fifteen  3'ears  old.  He 
continued  to  live  with  bis  parents  until  he  was 
twenty-four  years  old,  although  he  had  begun  to 
work  for  himself  when  he  attained  his  majority. 
He  came  to  Vienna  in  November,  1869,  with  the 
little  monej'  that  he  had  accumulated,  which  was 
not,  however,  enough  for  his  purpose — to  start  in 
the  nursery  business — so  that  he  had  to  begin  life 


here  in  debt.  But  he  was  not  lacking  in  enter- 
prise, and  his  resolution  to  do  his  best  under  all 
circumstances,  together  with  his  capacity  for  sus- 
tained iind  intelligent  labor,  wa.s  a  guarantee  of 
his  future  success.  In  1876  he  bought  a  farm  of 
sixty  acres  in  Tunnel  Hill  Townshii*,  and  remov- 
ing his  nursery  to  it,  he  farmed  and  attended  to 
his  nursery,  and  in  the  busy  years  that  followed 
conducted  his  affairs  jjrolitably.  He  pLaced  his 
land  under  a  thorough  system  of  cultivation, 
planted  a  large  quantity  of  fruit  of  different  sorts, 
and  made  many  excellent  improvements,  includ- 
ing the  erection  of  a  neat  and  comfortably  ar- 
ranged residence.  He  still  continues  to  live  on 
his  farm,  but  in  1890  he  again -established  his  nur- 
sery at  Vienna,  deeming  this  village  a  more  desir- 
able field  for  carrying  on  his  business.  He  is 
thoroughly  conversant  with  everything  pertaining 
to  horticulture,  particularlj'  to  that  branch  of  it  to 
which  he  is  devoted,  and  has  a  finely  equip[)ed 
nurser}',  and  is  constantly  adding  to  his  stock, 
which  is  alwa3'S  of  the  choicest,  and  is  well  selected 
with  regard  to  the  requirements  of  his  customers 
and  adaptation  to  the  soil.  He  is  strictly  honest 
in  his  dealings,  nevci  misrepresenting  an^-thing, 
and  those  with  whom  he  trades  have  every  confi- 
dence in  him  as  a  straightforward,  trustworthy 
business  man,  and  in  his  judgment  in  everything 
pertaining  to  his  line  of  business. 

February  8,  1872,  Mr.  Galeener  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  India,  daughter  of  Capt.  AVill- 
iam  Perkins,  and  a  native  of  .Johnson  Count}'. 
Seven  children  were  born  of  their  ple.asant' mar- 
ried life:  Claude,  who  is  a  student  at  a  school 
at  Fairfield;  Amy,  at  home;  Freddie,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  two  years;  John  Ilalbert;  George  Ed- 
win; William  Kenneth  and  Mabel.  The  four  last- 
named  are  also  at  home,  and  all  the  children  are 
being  well  educated  and  trained  to  useful  lives. 

AVe  should  be  doing  but  scant  justice  to  our 
subject  did  we  omit  to  mention  his  patriotic  ser- 
vices as  a  soldier  when  our  country  stood  in  need 
of  help  of  the  bravest  and  best  of  her  citizens  to 
save  it  from  dishonor  and  disunion.  He  was  but 
nineteen  3'ears  of  age  when  he  enlisted  in  the 
Fifty-fourth  Indiana  Infantry  in  June,  1862,  for 
a  period  of   three  months,     lie  returned  home  at 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


239 


the  end  of  that  time  with  a  well-earned  record  for 
L  efflciency  and  fidelity  to  dnt^'  under  the  most  try- 
J  ing  conditions.  In  1864,  nothing  daunted  by  his 
former  experiences,  he  again  enlisted,  becoming  a 
member  of.  the  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-fifth  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  and  saw  some  hard  service  at  the 
front.  While  with  his  regiment  at  the  Red  River 
during  his  first  enlistment,  he  iiad  the  m.isfortune 
to  be  captured  by  the  enemy,  but  he  was  subse- 
quently paroled. 


^:=0. 


J''/  E.  BRONSON,  M.  P.,  a  leading  homeo- 
pathic phj-sician  and  surgeon  of  Metropolis, 
Massac  County,  is  a  son  of  Josiah  Bronson, 
^^_J/  who  was  born  in  New  York,  always  lived 
there,  and  died  there.  He  was  a  cabinet-maker  by 
trade,  and  was  a  man  of  fair  education  and  suc- 
cess in  life.  lie  was  married  in  New  York  to 
.liilia  E.  Hall,  whose  mother  was  a  Wadsworth,  be- 
longing to  a  family  of  Revolutionary  fame.  She 
is  still  living,  .it  the  age  of  one  hundred  years,  and 
remembers  seeing  the  Father  of  his  Countrj'  sev- 
eral times.  The  great-grandmother  of  Josiah 
Bronson  lived  to  the  remarliable  age  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  years.  The  father  of  .lulia  E. 
Hall  was  an  old  whaler  and  seafaring  man. 

To  the  marriage  of  .losiah  Bronson  and  Julia  E. 
Hall  there  were  born  six  children,  .lames  Josiah, 
Mary,  three  that  died  in  infancy,  and  Joseph  p]d- 
ward,  who  was  the  youngest  of  the  six,  and  is  the 
only  one  living.  He  was  born  Ma^'  8,  1842,  in 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.  His  youth  was  spent  mostly  in 
school  in  his  native  State,  where  good  schools 
abound.  After  completing  the  course  of  study  in 
the  common  schools,  he  attended  Onondaga  Acad- 
emy, and  thus  had  excellent  opportunities  for  se- 
curing an  education.  His  father  died  about  1847, 
and  his  mother  about  1850.  He  was  thus  early 
left  without  their  care  and  counsel,  and  was  reared 
by  an  uncle.  He  had  some  means,  which  he  re- 
ceived from  the  estate  of  his  father,  and  when  of 

12 


sufficient  age  he  determined  to  devote  himself  to 
the  practice  of  medicine.  However,  the  coming  on 
of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  when  he  was  nineteen 
years  old  interfered  with  his  studies,  for  like  most 
other  young  men  in  the  Northern  States,  he  de- 
termined that  as  far  as  his  assistance  could  pre- 
vent it,  the  Union  should  not  be  destroyed.  He 
therefore  left  the  academy  with  studies  unfinished, 
and  enlisted  in  Company  K,  Third  New  York 
Cavalry,  and  served  for  three  years.  At  first  he 
was  a  private  soldier,  but  he  was  subsequently 
promoted,  first  to  be  Orderly  Sergeant  and  then 
into  the  (Juarterraaster's  Department,  being  in  this 
department  when  he  was  discharged.  He  was 
at  Fortress  Monroe  when  the  telegraphic  news 
reached  there  of  the  assassination  of  President 
Lincoln.  He  saw  severe  service  in  the  army  at 
Kingston,  N.  C,  Whitehall,  Little  Washington, 
Hamilton  and  Tarboro,  N.  C,  besides  in  other 
battles  and  skirmishes  in  Virginia  as  well  as  in 
North  Carolina.  At  one  of  these  battles  he 
had  his  horse  shot  under  him,  but  escaped  without 
serious  injury  except  from  impaired  health  on  ac- 
count of  the  exposure  he  had  experienced.  He 
was  a  very  robust  and  strong  boy  when  he  enlisted, 
but  when  he  was  discharged  he  w.as  quite  broken 
down  in  health. 

Returning  home,  our  subject  resumed  his  med- 
ical studies,  graduating  from  the  academy  and  de- 
voting particular  attention  to  the  study  of  medi- 
cine. He  attended  the  Homeopathic  College  of 
Physicians  apd  Surgeons  at  St.  Louis  in  1867.  He 
had  previouslj'  studied  the  old  school,  or  regular, 
system  of  medicine  and  was  quite  familiar  with  its 
principles.  He  then  had  experience  in  the  Sol- 
diers' Hospital  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  and  afterward 
removed  to  Metropolis,  111.,  and  established  him- 
self there  in  the  practice  of  medicine.  He  was  ex- 
amined by  the  full  board  of  the  college,  both  fac- 
ulty and  trustees,  and  was  granted  his  diploma  in 
1877.  Being  thus  well  prepared  in  tlie  .science 
and  art  of  medicine,  he  early  took  a  prominent 
position  among  the  medical  fraternity.  While  he 
was  President  of  the  County  Medical  Association 
his  opinion  had  great  weight  and  influence  upon 
any  subject  connected  with  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine.    From    the  results  of    his  army    hardships 


240 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


he  is  now  not  ahle  to  ride  into  the  countiy  to  any 
great  extent,  yet  he  lias  an  extensive  office  prac- 
tice in  the  city,  and  makes  t'reqiicnt  calls  upon  his 
patients. 

Dr.  Rronson  was  married  m  1870  to  Miss  Adrian 
Higelow,  daughter  of  Horace  Bigelow;  she  was 
born  in  Ohio  and  died  in  1875.  He  was  married 
the  second  time,  in  1880,  to  Mary  M.  .Scott,  daugh- 
ter of  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Scott.  She  was  also  a  native 
of  Ohio.  By  his  first  marriage  he  had  three  chil- 
dren, sons,  all  of  whom  died  in  infancj^  By  his 
second  marriage  he  has  five  children,  Arthur,  Ed- 
ward Herbert,  Julia  Ellen,  Gilbert  Eugene,  and 
Frank,  all  of  whom  are  at  home.  Dr.  Bronson 
takes  great  interest  in  the  education  of  tiie  young, 
and  is  giving  his  children  the  best  educational 
facilities  the  times  will  admit.  Politically  the 
Doctor  is  a  Prohibitionist.  He  is  a  member  of 
Tom  Smith  Post  No.  345,  G.  A.  R.,  and  is  Past 
Commander  of  the  post.  He  is  one  of  the  oldest 
practitioners  in  the  cit^',  and  is  a  very  genial,  pop- 
ular and  highly  esteemed  citizen  of  the  county. 


•f^^-r'-"        -PS. 


"if^OHN  G.  CULLUM  lias  been  one  of  the  fore- 
most farmers  of  Pope  County,  1 11.,  for  over 
,  ^1  half  a  century,  and  during  this  time  he  has 
(J^^  made  many  friends  who  respect  him  for  his 
upright  character,  his  kindness  of  heart,  his  cliar- 
ity  for  tlie  faults  and  failings  of  others,  and  his 
broad  and  intelligent  views  on  all  subjects.  He 
was  born  in  Williamson  County,  Tenn.,  April  12, 
1835, his  father  being  AVilliam  H.  Cullum,  a  native 
of  North  Carolina,  who  was  born  September  12, 
1799.  The  latter  was  a  wagon- maker,  a  chair- 
maker  and  a  farmer,  and  although  he  never  learned 
any  trade  he  was  naturally  handy  with  tools. 
October  12,  1817,  he  married  Hixil  Simmons,  of 
Tennessee,  and  they  afterward  resided  in  Ruther- 
ford County,  of  that  State,  until  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  a  lad  of  seven  years,  when  thej- 
came  to  Illinois.  In  18*12  they  settled  in  Pope 
County, at  which  time  they  were  illy  supplied  with 


worldly  goods,  the  journey  to  this  section  having 
been  made  with  one  horse  and  cart,  a  man  being 
hired  to  bring  the  goods  to  Metropolis.  After  rent- 
ing land  one  year  they  pre-empted  some  property 
amounting  to  forty  acres,  and  to  this  they  added 
from  time  to  time  until  they  had  a  good  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  In  1858,  when  in 
his  sixtieth  year,  the  father  breathed  his  last,  his 
widow  surviving  him  four  years,  dying  in  the 
winter  of  18G2,  aged  sixty.  She  had  been  the 
mother  of  twelve  children,  three  of  whom  died  in 
childhood  of  whooping-cough,  two  dying  at  almost 
the  same  instant  and  the  third  about  two  weeks 
later.  The  remainder  lived  to  grow  up,  but  onl^- 
three  are  living  at  the  present  time:  Henry  H.,  a 
Kentucky  farmer;  James  F.,  a  farmer  and  contrac- 
tor of  Missouri;  and  John  G. 

The  last-mentioned  member  of  the  family  was 
married  in  March,  1856,  to  Miss  Sarah  Ann 
A'aughn,  daughter  of  Jackson  Vaughn.  (See  sketch 
of  Spencer  Vaughn.)  She  was  born  in  Pope 
County  in  1836  and  commenced  her  married  life 
on  an  almost  unimproved  farm  of  eightj' acres,  the 
purchase  price  of  which  was  about  $300,  and  for 
which  they  went  in  debt,  as  they  had  not  the 
wherewithal  to  meet  it.  After  making  a  number  of 
important  improvements  they  sold  it  for  ^500.  In 
January,  1886,  the}'  bought  ninetj'-six  acres  of 
their  present  farm  for  a  little  over  S600;  about 
three  years  later  they  bought  two  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  for  $700.  and  in  1892,  nine  acres  for 
155.  They  sold  eighty  acres  and  now  have  two 
hundred  and  seventj-five  acres,  on  which  thej' 
have  a  frame  residence,  34x16  feet,  and  an  L  16x18 
feet.  The  heavy  work  of  the  farm  devolves  on 
Mr.  Cullum 's  sons,  as  his  health  is  b^'  no  means 
good,  but  he  still  superintends  the  place.  He  and 
his  wife  have  four  daughters  and  three  sons. 
Nancy  Minerva  is  the  wife  of  James  A.  Ramsey. 
May  C,  wife  of  Casper  Cummins,  has  two  daugh- 
ters and  two  sons.  William  J.,  a  farmer  near  his 
father,  is  married  and  has  three  sons  and  one 
daughter.  Cora  A.  is  the  wife  of  Alfred  Rose,  a 
farmer  residing  near  her  parents,  and  has  one 
daughter.  Vkna.  A.,  .loliu  T.  and  Thomas  H.  are 
at  home. 

John   G.  Cullum   enlisted   in   Company  A,  One 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


241 


Hundred  and'Twentietli  Illinois  Infantry,  in  1862, 
and  for  over  three  years  was  in  the  service  of  his 
countr}'.  He  was  mustered  out  witii  his  regiment 
and  is  now  a  pensioner  to  the  extent  of  $24  per 
month  for  disability  contracted  while  in  the  ser- 
vice. His  two  living  brothers  were  also  in  the 
Union  army,  Henry  being  in  the  same  company  as 
himself  and  serving  one  and  a-half  years.  James 
F.  was  out  about  two  years,  being  a  member  of  Com- 
pany K,  Fifty-sixth  Illinois  Infantry.  Mr.  CuUum 
is  now  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 
and  has  always  been  a  very  strong  Republican,  be- 
lieving strongly  in  the  tenets  of  his  party.  He  is  a 
man  of  influence  in  the  community  in  which  he 
resides  and  is  considered  an  excellent  and  accom- 
modating neighbor,  a  firm  friend  and  a  strong  and 
earnest  supporter  of  wliat  he  considers  to  be  just 
and  right,  and  consequently  lias  numerous  friends 
and  few  enemies. 


'jl?  R.  HENRY.     No  nieniber  of    the    farming 

11  l?p.  class  that  forms  so  important  a  proportion 
jJ'-A,  of  the  citizens  of  Johnson  County  is  more 
worth}'  of  representation  in  this  biograpliical 
work  than  L.  K.  Henry,  who  has  reclaimed  a  valu- 
able farm  from  the  forest  wilds  that  once  abounded 
in  Cache  Township  and  elsewhere  in  this  region, 
now  a  smiling  and  well-imi)roved  agricultural 
country. 

Tlie  subject  of  this  life  record  is  a  native  of 
Morgan  County,  Ohio,  and  was  born  February  26, 
1848.  His  father  was  Charles  Henry,  who  was 
born  in  one  of  the  early  pioneer  homes  of  Ohio, 
and  was  reared  in  that  State.  He  had  but  little 
opportunity  to  attend  school,  as  he  had  to  en- 
counter the  stern  realities  of  life  when  but  a  child 
in  years,  but  he  had  a  keen  wit,  always  kept  his 
eyes  open,  and  in  later  ^^ears  learned  much  from 
his  contact  with  people  of  various  classes  while  in 
pursuit  of  his  business  on  the  rivers,  so  that  he 
wa>  \iiy  "ell  informed,  considering  his  environ- 


ments. He  was  a  cooper  by  trade  and  a  steamboat 
man.  While  yet  in  the  prime  and  vigor  of  man- 
hood his  career  was  brought  to  an  untimely  end 
by  his  death  from  cholera  at  New  Orleans  during 
the  epidemic  of  1854.  He  had  married  in  his  na- 
tive State  Emily  Dearborn,  who  continued  to  re- 
side in  Ohio  until  her  youngest  son,  our  subject, 
who  was  not  born  until  after  his  father  died,  was 
two  and  a-half  years  old,  and  then  she  concluded 
to  move  to  Illinois  with  her  family.  Coming 
down  the  Ohio  River  to  Copeland's  Landing,  she 
found  a  home  with  her  step-father,  Nathan  Side- 
well,  until  her  marriage  with  Alexander  Smith. 
She  is  now  spending  her  declining  years  with  her 
son  of  whom  we  write,  surrounded  by  every  com- 
fort and  tenderly  cared  for.  She  was  the  mother 
of  five  sons  by  her  first  marriage:  Luther,  who  was 
born  in  Ohio  and  is  deceased;  Ciiarles  M.,  who  was 
born  in  Ohio  and  gave  up  his  life  for  his  country, 
having  enlisted  while  the  war  was  raging  in  the 
One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry, 
and  dying  while  in  the  service;  I.  E.,  who  was 
born  in  Ohio  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Johnson 
County;  J.  F.,  a  resident  of  Johnson  Count}-,  who 
was  born  in  Ohio;  and  L.  R.,  our  subject. 

Mr.  Henry  has  passed  the  most  of  his  life  in  south- 
ern Illinois,  as  he  was  a  little  child  when  he  was 
brought  here  bj-  his  mother.  He  was  trained  to 
habits  of  industry,  and  when  his  mother  was  loft 
alone  bj'  the  enlistment  of  her  husband  and  sons 
he  became  her  mainstay  and  chief  sujiport,  boy  as 
he  was.  This  earl}'  assumption  of  the  responsibil- 
ities of  life  doubtless  strengthened  his  character, 
and  gave  him  manliness,  resolution  and  self-reli- 
ance with  which  to  fight  its  battles.  While  work- 
ing for  others  he  could  make  but  little  headwa}' 
towards  securing  an  independence,  but  after  his 
marriage,  in  1871,  he  set  vigorously  about  the  task 
of  building  up  a  home  for  himself  and  bride,  Sarah 
Worrell,  a  native  of  Johnson  County,  whose 
parents  are  both  dead.  F'arming  was  his  chosen 
calling,  and  in  due  time  he  was  enabled  to  buy  a 
tract  of  timberland  on  section  13,  in  the  township 
where  he  was  living  (Cache),  which  he  has  trans- 
formed into  one  of  the  best  farms  in  this  locality, 
felling  and  clearing  away  the  forest  trees  of  pri- 
meval growth  that  cumbered    it,   fencing   it   into 


212 


roRTKAlT  AND    P.IoORAPrilCAL    REVIEW. 


convenient  fields,  which  are  tilled  by  a  good  sj'S- 
tem  of  cultivation,  and  erecting  substantial  build- 
ings for  all  needful  purposes.  In  his  work  he  dis- 
plays an  intelligent  comprehension  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  agriculture,  is  full  of  vim  and 
vigor  in  carrying  out  his  plans  for  tilling  the  soil 
and  making  improvements,  and  is  regarded  as  one 
of  the  most  competent  farmers  in  the  precinct. 

Our  subject  has  been  abundantly  blessed  in  his 
domestic  life  by  a  good  wife,  who  has  cheerfully 
co-operated  with  him  in  his  labors,  and  by  chil- 
dren, of  whom  these  seven  still  brighten  their 
home:  William  ( who  married  Arista  (lurley),  Mar}' 
John  M.,  Annie B.,  Almeda,  Rachel  and  Thomas 
Arthur.  Death  has  bereft  our  subject  and  his 
wife  of  four  children. 

Mr.  Ilenrj-  is  endowed  with  the  characteristics  of 
a  true  Christian  gentleman,  who  is  steadfast  in  his 
adheranee  to  honor  and  truthfulness,  and  can  be 
depended  upon  to  follow  the  right  course  in  the 
performance  of  his  duties  as  a  man  and  a  citizen. 
Thus,  we  find  him  to  be  a  devoted  husband  and 
tender  father  who  has  the  dearest  interests  of  his 
wife  and  children  at  heart,  a  kind  and  considerate 
neighbor  and  friend,  and  in  his  citizenship  favor- 
ing whatever  will  raise  the  standard  of  morality, 
religion  and  education.  He  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
are  influential  in  the  good  work  in  which  it  is 
engaged. 


i^+^e 


ylLLIAM  II.  MOORE,  of  the  firm  of  Morris, 
Moore  &  Morris,  attorneys  at  Golconda,  is 
a  bright  and  able  young  lawyer  of  high 
professional  standing,  who  is  influential  in  the 
public  and  political  life  of  his  native  count}'.  He 
was  born  in  Alexander  Precinct,  April  14,  1862, 
and  is  a  son  of  Andrew  J.  INIoore,  an  enlightened 
and  prosperous  farmer  of  that  locality.  He  was 
born  in  IlopkinsviUe,  Christian  County,  Ky.  His 
father  wa.s  an  earl}'  settler  of  that  town,  and  spent 
liis  last  years  there,  engaged  at  his  trade  as  a  car- 


penter, lie  also  had  a  farm,  and  his  son  Andrew 
was  reared  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  continued 
to  live  in  his  native  county  until  1859.  when  he 
left  his  old  Kentucky  home  to  settle  in  Illinois, 
and  has  since  been  quite  extensively  engaged  in 
farming  in  Alexander  Precinct,  Pope  County, 
where  he  now  owns  two  valuable  farms,  which  are 
conducted  after  the  methods  of  modern  agriculture 
best  adapted  to  the  soil  and  environments.  The 
improvements  are  of  a  substantial  order,  and 
everything  is  well  kept  up  about  both  places.  Jlr. 
Moore  is  a  man  of  strong  character  and  progressive 
ideas,  is  a  firm  believer  in  education,  and  has  given 
bis  children  the  best  advantages  possible  in  that 
line.  His  wife  was  Nanc}-  A.  Castleman  in  her 
maiden  days,  and  was  born  in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  a 
daughter  of  William  and  Maria  (Bush)  Castleman. 
The  parents  of  our  subject  have  reared  nine  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  William  H.,  Robert  J.,  Aaron,  F. 
Murray,  Joe  W.,  Andrew  V.,  Emma,  Grace  and 
John.  Robert  is  a  farmer;  Aaron,  an  engineer; 
while  William,  Murray  and  Joe  are  law3-ers. 

Our  subject  laid  the  foundation  of  a  liberal  ed- 
ucation in  the  district  school,  and  was  afterward 
sent  to  select  schools  in  his  native  county.  He 
was  an  apt  scholar,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
was  well  equipped  for  the  vocation  of  teacher, 
which  he  pursued  some  eight  terms.  He  intended, 
however,  to  fit  himself  for  the  Bar,  and  spent  his 
leisure  time  in  reading  law.  In  1886  he  entered 
the  law  department  of  the  Weslcj'an  University, 
at  Bloomington,  and  had  the  benefit  of  a  course  of 
legal  studies  in  that  institution.  In  August,  1886, 
he  was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  and  March  1  formed 
a  partnership  with  the  Hon.  T.  H.  Sheridan,  of 
Golconda,  with  whom  he  practiced  until  October, 
1891,  when  he  became  a  member  of  the  firm  com- 
posed of  the  Hon.  W.  S.  Morris  and  his  son,  W.  B. 
Morris.  They  have  a  large  clientage,  and  enjoy  an 
enviable  reputation  for  the  successful  management 
of  the  various  cases  entrusted  to  them. 

In  1888  our  subject  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Eddie  W.  White,  a  native  of  Christian  County, 
Kj'.,  and  a  daughter  of  Pleasant  B.  and  Margaret 
(Carey)  White.  She  presides  with  true  grace  over 
their  cozy  home,  which  is  brightened  b}'  a  little 
daughter,  whom  they  have  named  Maggie  A. 


POETRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


243 


Mr.  Moore  Is  one  of  the  active  young  Republi- 
cans of  Ills  county,  and  is  prominent  in  part}' 
councils.  lie  cast  his  first  votcfor  James  G.  Blaine 
in  1884.  In  1888  he  was  a  candidate  before  the 
primaries  for  the  office  of  State's  Attorney,  but 
was  defeated  by  the  narrow  margin  of  seven  votes. 
He  has  been  delegate  to  numerous  district  conven- 
tions, and  has  also  been  Secretary  of  the  Republi- 
can Count}-  Central  Committee.  His  gifts  as  a 
lawyer  won  early  recognition,  and  for  four  years 
he  was  Master  in  Chancery.  Socially,  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  (Solconda  Lodge  No.  292,  I.  O.  O.  F. 


\^^ 


AVID  W.  REEVES,  a  merchant  of  Reeves- 
ji  ville,  is  a  live  business  man,  whose  energy, 
sagacity  in  the  management  of  his  affairs, 
and  enterprise  have  placed  him  among  the  lead- 
ing men  of  his  class  in  Johnson  County.  He  was 
born  in  Jefferson  County  July  19,  1849.  His  fa- 
tlier  was  Sampson  Reeves,  who  was  a  native  of 
Licking  County,  Ky.,and  a  son  of  George  Reeves, 
who  was  a  farmer  of  that  State  until  his  removal 
to  Jefferson  County,  111.,  in  1853.  He  had  owned 
a  farm  in  old  Kentucky,  but  he  carried  on  his 
occupation  on  a  rented  farm  after  he  took  up 
his  residence  in  Jefferson  County,  where  he  died 
at  a  ripe  age  in  1877.  His  wife  had  preceded  him 
to  the  grave. 

Sampson  Reeves  was  twenty-two  years  of  age 
when  lie  married  and  started  in  life  for  himself. 
His  bride  was  Miss  Annie  B.  Dirickson,  a  native 
of  Ohio,  whence  her  people  went  to  Kentucky  to 
live.  When  Mr.  Reeves  entered  upon  his  inde- 
pendent career  he  h&d  neither  land  nor  money, 
but  he  was  a  good  worker  and  did  not  lack  these 
traits  of  character  that  are  necessary  to  succeed  in 
any  walk  of  life.  He  first  rented  land,  which  he 
devoted  to  raising  tobacco  until  1852,  but  he  did 
not  find  that  profitable,  as  the  merchants  to  whom 
he  consigned  it  failed  to  pay  him,  and  in  that 
year  he  came  to  Illinois  with  his  family,  making 
the  removal  with   wagons.     After    his    arrival    in 


Jeflferson  County  he  farmed  as  a  renter  for  a  few 
years,  and  then  bought  some  forty  acres  of  rail- 
road land,  which  he  improved  into  a  desirable 
farm.  He  then  sold  it  at  a  good  price,  and  pur- 
chased a  place  in  AV'ashington  County.  He  disposed 
of  that  two  years  later,  and  his  next  move  was  to 
Duncan  County,  Mo.,  where  he  pursued  agriculture 
on  rented  land  during  his  residence  there  of  two 
years.  There  his  wife  died  and  was  laid  to  rest 
in  that  soil.  Returning  to  Illinois,  he  bought 
town  property  in  Hamilton  County,  and  lived  there 
retired  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1887, 
and  his  mortal  remains  now  repose  not  far  from 
his  last  home.  He  was  the  father  of  ten  children, 
as  follows:  Angeline,  who  married  G.  W.  C^uinn 
and  died  iu  Missouri;  Melissa,  who  died  when  a 
child;  Matilda,  who  died  in  Hamilton  County; 
(ieorge  W.,  who  is  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
lumber  at  Reevesville;  Seth  W.,  a  farmer  in  Ham- 
ilton County;  Daniel  A.,  a  merchant  of  Hamilton 
County;  Francis  Marion,  who  is  assisting  his 
brother  David  W.  in  his  business;  David  Win- 
chester; Charles  A.,  who  is  in  partnership  with 
his  brother  George;  and  Louisa  J.,  who  died  in 
Johnson  County  while  on  a  visit  and  was  buried 
in  Hamilton  County. 

David  Winchester  Reeves,  of  this  biographical 
review,  was  reared  a  fai-mer's  boy,  and,  of  course, 
had  to  make  himself  useful  as  soon  as  old  enough 
to  work.  He  obtained  such  an  education  as  the 
public  schools  afforded,  and  gave  his  father  his  ser- 
vices until  he  was  twenty -four  years  old.  At  that 
age  he  took  charge  of  the  engine  in  a  sawmill, 
which  he  had  previously  operated  eight  months. 
He  continued  in  that  employment  until  he  en- 
tered into  partnership  with  his  brother  Daniel 
for  the  sale  of  merchandise  in  Hamilton  Countv. 
They  carried  on  business  there  six  years,  and 
at  the  end  of  that  time  removed  to  the  present 
site  of  Reevesville,  which  then  had  no  existence, 
and,  though  on  the  railway  line,  had  not  even  a 
station  as  a  nucleus  of  a  village.  But  the  brothers 
shrewdly  foresaw  its  importance  as  a  future  trade 
center  and  were  not  slow  iu  taking  due  advan- 
tage of  such  an  opportunity.  They  built  a  box 
house,  put  in  a  stock  of  goods  and  started  on  their 
new  venture,  which   li.as   proved  a  great  success. 


244 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW. 


They  were  insinniu'iitul  in  having  the  town  pliil- 
ted,  and,  though  it  was  named  Wellington,  it 
is  usually  known  as  Reevesville,  which  is  the  post- 
oflice  name  and  was  conferred  in  their  honor. 
November  12,  1891, oursubjectboughthis  brother's 
interest  in  the  concern,  and  has  since  been  sole 
proprietor.  lie  carries  a  line  assortment  of  gen- 
eral stock,  and  commands  a  large  trade  both  in 
the  village  and  in  the  surrounding  county.  He 
is  a  young  man  of  exceptional  business  habits — 
alert  and  open-eyed  in  his  dealings,  and  at  the 
same  time  straightforward  and  square  in  all  his 
transactions,  prompt  in  his  payments  and  standing 
high  in  the  favor  of  his  patrons  and  fellow-busi- 
ness men.  Politically,  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  is 
sound  in  the  faith.  Religiously,  he  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  their  names 
being  associated  with  its  every  good  work,  and 
they  are  active  in  Sunday-school  matters. 

Mr.  Reeves  was  married  in  1882  to  Miss  John 
Emilj'  Upchurch,  who  is  from  Hamilton  County, 
where  the  mother  still  lives.  Her  parents  were 
originally  from  Saline  County.  Her  father  was  a 
brave  soldier  of  the  late  war  and  gave  up  his  life 
for  his  country  while  in  the  service.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Reeves  had  six  children,  namely:  Walter 
and  Omer,  at  home;  Eddie,  who  died  in  Ham- 
ilton County;  Louella,  who  died  in  Hamilton 
County;  Marion,  who  died  in  this  county  and 
was  buried  in  Hamilton  County;  and  Ollic,  at 
home. 


I^MI-^l-l^ll^^ 


J"'ERRY  A.  TROVILLION,  M.  D.,  in  part- 
nership with  his  brother,  C.  K.,  owns  a  drug 
store  in  Columbus,  and  has  a  large  prac- 
tice, extending  into  adjoining  counties.  He 
is  a  popular  physician,  being  considered  one  of 
the  ablest  men  of  his  profession  in  this  country, 
and  is  now  medical  examiner  for  the  ^Etna  Life 
Insurance  Company,  having  held  that  position 
since  1891. 

The  Doctor  was  born  in  Columbus,  this  county, 


.hme  25,  1863,  and  is  the  son  of  Daniel  P.  and 
Elizabeth  (l>ewis)  Trovillion,  the  former  of  whom 
was  born  in  Tennessee  and  was  a  son  of  .lames  Y. 
Trovillion.'  Our  subject's  mother  was  a  native  of 
Illinois,  and  spent  her  entire  life  in  this  State. 
Daniel  P.  Trovillion  was  a  farmer  by  occupation, 
and  emigrated  to  this  State  at  an  early  da}'  with 
his  parents.  He  purchased  land  in  this  county, 
and  for  nearly  twenty  years  eng.aged  in  its  culti- 
vation, his  farm  being  located  about  one  mile 
north  of  Columbus,  in  township  13,  range  6.  In 
1891  he  retired  from  active  life  and  removed  to 
Columbus,  where  he  purchased  a  residence,  and 
there  expects  to  pass  his  remaining  days  in  the 
enjoyment  of  the  well-earned  fruits  of  his  toil  in 
former  years. 

Our  subject  remained  at  home  until  reaching 
the  age  of  eighteen  j-ears.  He  attended  the  com- 
mon schools  of  the  county,  and,  being  of  a  very 
studious  disposition,  he  read  and  pondered  all 
the  information  obtained  from  various  sources 
and  wisely  selected  books.  For  about  five  terms 
he  taught  school  in  the  vicinity  of  liis  home,  and 
then  concluded  to  turn  his  attenticm  to  the  study 
of  medicine.  For  one  year,  under  the  tutorage 
of  Dr.  Ed  B.  Trovillion,  of  Columbus,  he  pursued 
his  studies,  and  then  entered  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Tennessee,  at  Nashville. 
There  he  took  two  courses  of  lectures,  was  gradu- 
ated with  honor  and  received  his  diploma  Feb- 
ruary 25,  1890.  Returning  to  Columbus,  he  put 
in  a  stock  of  drugs  and  groceries,  buj'ing  out  the 
firm  of  S.  F.  Hart,  but  after  some  six  months 
sold  out  thegrocerj'  department,  taking  his  brother 
into  the  firm,  since  which  time  they  have  dealt 
exclusively  in  drugs,  stationery  and  kindred  art- 
icles. The  brother  is  a  graduate  of  the  St.  Louis 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  both  he 
and  our  subject  have  their  time  fully  occupied 
with  the  numerous  demands  made  upon  them 
for  their  professional  services. 

A  wedding  ceremony  performed  June  2,  1891,  ^ 
united  the  fortunes  of  Dr.  Trovillion  and  Miss 
Carrie  M.  Compton,  who  is  a  native  of  Kentucky. 
By  her  marriage  she  has  become  the  mother  of 
a  bright  little  boy.  Hay  Allen,  who  was  born  May 
14,  1892.     Hoth    our  vvortliy  subject   and  his  es- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEAV. 


245 


teemed  wife  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Ciiiirch, 
and  are  active  in  all  good  works.  Dr.  Trovillion 
is  a  straightforward  Republiean,  and  is  justly 
iield  in  the  high  esteem  of  all  who  have  come  in 
contact  with  him.  His  genial  and  friendlj'  man- 
ner wins  friends  for  him  wherever  he  goes,  and  his 
acknowledged  ability  as  a  physician  is  bringing 
to  him  daily  a  larger  and  larger  practice.  The 
Doctor's  post-office  is  Brownfield,  Pope  County, 
wliich  until  September.  1892,  was  known  as  Wool 
Post-office. 


'^  AMES  SLACK,  who  is  one  of  the  substan- 
tial farmers  of  Vienna  Township,  and  is  a 
man  much  respected  for  his  sterling  charac- 
ter b3"  the  people  among  whom  his  life  has 
been  passed,  was  born  in  one  of  the  pioneer  homes 
of  Johnson  County,  in  what  is  now  Bloomfield 
Township,  October  10,  1835.  His  father,  William 
Slack,  who  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  came  to  Illi- 
nois when  a  young  man  and  selected  his  future 
home  in  Johnson  County,  thus  becoming  one  of 
tlie  earl}'  settlers  of  this  region.  He  bought  a 
tract  of  wild  land  from  the  Government  in  Bloom- 
field  Township,  pa^-ing  the  regular  price  at  that 
time  of  81.25  an  acre.  He  shared  the  labors  of  his 
fellow-pioneers  in  opening  up  the  country,  and 
will  ever  be  remembered  as  a  factor  in  the  early 
growth  of  the  township  where  he  passed  his  re- 
maining days  after  coming  to  this  State.  His  good 
wife,  who  also  died  in  Bloomfield  Township,  was 
Mary  Finney  in  her  maiden  days,  and  was  a  na- 
tive of  Virginia.  Her  parents  came  from  that 
State  to  this,  and  were  pioneers  of  Johnson  County. 
She  was  the  mother  of  thirteen  children. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  his  native  township.  The  schools  of  his 
day  were  conducted  on  the  subscription  plan,  each 
family  paying  according  to  the  number  of  scholars 
sent.  The  schoolhouses  were  built  of  logs  and  were 
rudely  furnished  with  home-made  furniture,  manu- 


factured by  splitting  logs,  hewing  one  side  smooth 
and  inserting  wooden  pins  for  support,  and  the 
seats  thus  I'oughly  made  had  no  backs,  nor  were 
there  any  desks  in  front  of  them.  A  board  laid 
on  wooden  pegs  inserted  in  holes  bored  in  the 
logs  on  one  side  of  the  room  was  used  as  a  writ- 
ing desk  by  the  large  scholars.  The  buildings 
were  heated  by  fire-places,  the  chimneys  being 
made  of  earth  and  sticks,  and  a  section  of  log  cut 
out  of  the  wall  served  to  admit  the  light  in  lieu  of 
a  window. 

When  our  subject  was  young  there  were  no  rail- 
ways here  nor  any  convenient  markets,  and  the 
people  were  obliged  to  live  mostly  on  home  prod- 
ucts and  wild  game,  such  as  venison  and  turkej'. 
The  mother  of  our  subject,  in  common  with  other 
pioneer  women,  used  to  card,  spin  and  weave  wool 
and  Has  to  make  cloth  for  garments  for  her  chil- 
dren. The  father  tanned  all  the  leather  that  he 
needed  for  shoes  for  his  famil}'  or  for  other  pur- 
poses, digging  out  a  trough  from  a  log  in  which  to 
tan  it,  and  gathering  bark  to  use  in  the  process, 
and  in  addition  to  this  he  made  his  own  shoes. 
He  was  a  man  of  resources,  who  could  turn  bis 
hand  to  almost  anything,  and  was  an  excellent 
farmer  in  spite  of  the  primitive  tools  with  which 
he  was  often  obliged  to  work. 

Mr.  Slack  resided  with  his  parents  until  his  mar- 
riage, teachiug  school  and  also  affording  his  father 
valuable  assistance  in  farm  work,  at  the  same  time 
gaining  the  practical  experience  necessary  to  make 
him  a  good  farmer.  After  his  marriage  he  rented 
land  for  two  j'ears,  and  then  his  father  gave  him 
fifty  acres  three  miles  north  of  Vienna,  and  he 
bought  other  land  adjoining.  He  lived  there  five 
years,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  bought 
the  place  where  he  now  resides  in  Vienna  Town- 
ship, which  comprises  seventy-seven  and  one-half 
acres  of  choice  land.  He  has  made  many  improve- 
ments since  the  farm  came  into  his  possession,  has 
us  fields  under  good  tillage,  and  has  ample  build- 
ings and  good  machinery  with  which  to  conduct 
his  agricultural  operations. 

Our  subject  was  first  married  April  26,  1857,  to 
Miss  Amanda  M.  Jennett,  a  native  of  Johnson 
County,  and  a  daughter  of  Nathan  and  Mary  Jen- 
nett.    After  a  wedded  life  of  twelve  years  she  was 


24C 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


removed  by  the  hand  of  death,  December  21,  1869. 
There  are  five  cliiklrcn  living  born  of  tiiat  mar- 
riage: Mr.s.  Kiorcnce  A.  Shawbridge,  Jlrs.  MaryM. 
Chrislensen,  .lames  A.,  Alice  K.  and  Amanda  O. 
Mr.  Slack  was  married  a  second  time,  Oclolier  26, 
1873,  tailing  as  his  wife  Mrs.  Mary  K.  llaivick,  a 
native  of  Marshall  County,  Tenn.,  a  daughter  of 
John  T.  and  Elizabeth  (Wolf)  Hogg,  and  widow 
of  Granville  15.  llaivick.  Mrs.  Slack  had  two  chil- 
dren by  iier  first  marriage,  both  of  whom  are  dead. 
Her  son,  John  A.,  who  was  a  young  man  of  much 
promise,  and  was  a  graduate  of  a  school  of  phar- 
macy, died  at  the  age  of  twent3'-eight.  Her  daugh- 
ter, Cynthia,  was  just  blossoming  into  womanhood 
when  site  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen  3'ears.  Our 
subject  and  his  wife  arc  members  in  high  standing 
of  the  Methodist  Ei)iscopal  Church.  He  is  a  firm 
believer  in  temperance,  is  himself  strictly  temper- 
ate, and  has  carried  his  views  into  i)olities  by  iden- 
tifying liimself  with  the  Prohibition  party. 


\][^~^  IRAM  H.  WISE,  who  has  lived  on  his  pres- 
i|)y;  ent  farm  of  one  hundred  and  fiftj^-seven 
^)^  acres  in  section  2,  township  11,  range  4, 
^^  for  the  past  thirty-two  years,  was  born  in 
Hardeman  County,  Tenn.,  December  20,  1827, 
and  is  a  son  of  William  J.  Wise,  born  in  North 
Carolina  in  1803.  Tiie  latter  was  a  son  of  William 
Wise,  of  the  same  place,  wlio  was  a  farmer  and 
cooper,  and  followed  his  trade  7nuch  of  his  time. 
He  was  in  comfortable  circumstances,  owning  a 
small  farm  and  a  cooper-shop.  He  married  Nanc}' 
Howard,  of  Nortii  Carolina,  daughter  of  Isaiah 
Howard,  and  reared  a  family  of  five  sons  and  three 
daughters,  of  whom  AVilliam  J.  was  the  second 
child  and  first  son.  Tiie  great-grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  Isaac  AVise,  who  was 
born  and  reared  in  England,  and  came  to  the 
United  States  with  two  brothers,  when  a  young 
man,  settling  in  Xortli  Carolina  before  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  broke  out.  He  was  not  a  soldier  in 
that  war,  but    was  drafted   tiiree  times,  and   fur- 


nished a  substitute  each  time,  and  also  furnished 
tliirleen  horses  as  his  contribution  to  American 
independence.  He  reared  a  large  family-,  and  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  The  grandmother  of 
our  subject  died  at  tlic  age  of  fifty-five,  leaving 
the  eight  children  mentioned  above. 

AVilliara  J.  Wise  married  Rebecca  Lawhon,  of 
Wa3'ne  County,  N.  C,  and  removed  to  Illinois  in 
the  fall  of  182,0,  coming  in  the  old-st^'le  cart,  with 
a  two-horse  tandem  team.  Thej-  were  some  six 
weeks  on  the  way,  and  arrived  in  Illinois  in  Octo- 
ber, aiid  as  many  other  families  came  over  the  road 
with  them,  the}^  all  had  an  enjo^'able  journe3'.  but 
about  one  year  later,  they  returned  South  to 
Hardeman  Count}',  Tenn.,  where  they  bought  a 
farm  and  resided  eleven  years.  In  the  spring  of 
1837  the}'  again  came  to  Illinois,  locating  in  John- 
son County,  having  sold  their  possessions  in  Ten- 
nessee. At  first,  in  Johnson  Count}',  he  settled  on 
fort}^  acres,  but  before  his  death  he  owned  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Burnside  Township, 
which  was  one  of  the  finest  farms  in  the  township. 
Some  years  later  he  sold  out  and  made  other  pur- 
chases and  moves,  and  at  length  died  at  his  home 
farm  in  Williamson  County,  November  9,  1873, 
nearly  seventy  years  of  age.  His  wife,  the  mother 
of  all  his  children,  had  died  in  1871,  aged  sixty- 
seven.  The}'  had  had  ten  children,  one  of  whom 
Mary  A.,  died  at  three  years  of  age,  and  another, 
Thomas  C,  died  at  seven.  The  children  living  at 
the  time  of  her  death  were  as  follows:  Lewis  E., 
who,  when  last  heard  from,  was  a  resident  of 
Louisiana,  and  if  alive  would  be  sixty-six  years 
old,  served  in  the  Confederate  army  in  the  late 
rebellion  as  a  member  of  the  Black  Horse  Cavalry; 
Hiram  is  next  in  order;  William  J.  is  a  retired 
farmer  of  Union  County;  Elizabeth  J.  was  the 
widow  of  William  R.  Mounce,  who  died  in  Ander- 
sonville  Prison;  Sarah  Ann,  Mrs.  Hall,  is  deceased; 
Robert  H.  resides  in  New  Burnside;  Curtis  is  a 
farmer  of  Saline  County;  and  Oliver  died  in  1892, 
at  New  Burnside,  aged  forty-eight  years. 

Hiram  H.  Wise  was  reared  a  farmer  boy  in  Ten- 
nessee and  Illinois.  He  had  excellent  opportuni- 
ties for  securing  an  education  for  the  times  in 
which  he  then  lived,  and  not  only  attended  the 
district  schools,  but  also  attended  a  High   School 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


247 


kept  by  William  H.  Minnix,  now  of  Washington, 
1).  C,  in  the  general  land  office.  Our  subject  iiim- 
self  taught  scliool  in  earl}'  life  for  some  fifteen 
years.  He  was  married  November  26,  1848,  to 
Miss  Polly,  daughter  of  George  W.  and  Cynthia 
(Job)  Chapman,  who  came  with  their  respective 
parents  to  Illinois  at  an  early  day.  George  W. 
Chapman  was  born  in  New  York  in  1809,  and  was 
a  son  of  Daniel  Chapman,  a  Revolutionar\'  soldier, 
wlio  came  to  Illinois  before  it  was  a  State,  and 
wlio  died  here  at  a  great  age.  He  was  the  father 
of  eleven  children.  Mrs.  Wise  is  one  of  her  moth- 
er's six  children,  two  sons  and  four  daugliters. 
She  was  the  first-born,  the  date  of  her  birth  hav- 
ing been  December  25,  1832,  and  she  is  now  the 
only  one  living  of  the  family.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wise 
were  married  at  the  hom'e  of  the  bride  b}'  Will- 
iam Barnwell,  and  iiave  resided  ever  since  in  this 
eountrv.  Mr.  Wise  left  his  wife  and  six  children 
at  home  on  his  farm  then  a  wilderness,  and  went 
to  the  front  in  the  Sixth  Illinois  Cavahy,  Com- 
pany B,  .September  10,  1861,  and  served  until  No- 
vember o,  1865.  He  reached  home  November  26 
following,  on  the  seventeenth  anniversary  of 
liis  wedding.  He  was  in  the  Quartermaster's  de- 
partment, and  was  Chief  Clerk  of  the  Quarter- 
master's department  of  Alabama,  and  acted  as  Ad- 
jutant about  one  }'ear.  He  was  not  in  good  health, 
and  but  for  his  ability  as  a  clerk  and  scribe,  he 
would  have  been  discharged  in  April,  1864.  He 
has  practiced  law  considerablj',  having  upon  ex- 
amination been  licensed  to  practice  October  17, 
1853. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wise  have  buried  six  children,  one 
son  and  one  daugliter  in  iufanc}".  William  J.  died 
at  twenty-five  j'ears  of  age,  in  Kansas  in  1882; 
Victoria,  wife  of  Henrj^  F.  Good,  died  at  Stone 
Fort  in  1879,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  leaving  one 
daughter;  Riley  M.  died  at  ten  j-ears  of  age. 
Those  living  are  as  follows:  Thomas  C,  Count}' 
Surveyor,  who  resides  in  New  Burnside,  and  has  a 
wife  and  seven  children;  F.  M.,  a  farmer,  living 
adjoining  upon  four  hundred  acres  of  land,  who 
has  a  wife  and  one  daughter;  George  O.,  single; 
N.  O.,  a  traveling  salesman;  and  Charles  H.,  single 
and  a  farmer  near  by.  George  W.  Chapman,  the 
father  of  Mrs.  Wise,  served  in  the  Mexican  War  as 


a  teamster,  and  was  also  in  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, but  was  discharged  on  account  of  disal)ilily, 
after  serving  six  months.  He  was  thrown  from 
his  horse  and  was  kicked  besides.  He  was  sixty 
years  old  when  he  volunteered,  and  he  died  at 
Vienna  at  the  age  of  sixty-six. 


^^>^^<m 


OHN  LEADBETTER  is  one  of  the  intelli- 
gent, thrifty  farmers  who  are  tilling  the 
^^,  I  soil  of  Johnson  County,  and  thus  adding 
^^'  to  its  wealtli,  and  the  farm  that  he  operates 
in  Vienna  Township  is  well  cared  for.  He  was 
born  in  Tennessee  July  22,  1851,  a  son  of  Lewis 
and  Nancy  (Shelton)  Leadbetter,  who  were  born, 
reared  and  married  in  North  Carolina,  his  father 
being  a  farmer  by  occupation.  They  moved  from 
their  native  State  to  Tennessee,  where  they  lived 
until  they  came  to  Illinois  to  settle,  journeying 
hither  with  a  team.  The  father  had  been  here 
previously  and  had  selected  a  tract  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-three  acres  of  land  in  Simpson 
Township.  He  completed  the  payment  upon  Ids 
place,  which  was  a  little  improved,  and  he  and  his 
family  took  possession  of  the  log  house  that  had 
been  built  by  the  former  owner.  Mr.  Leadbetter 
transformed  his  land  into  a  good  farm  by  diligent 
and  well-directed  toil,  and  finally  exchanged  it 
for  property  in  Metropolis,  where  be  resided  until 
he  again  made  an  exchange,  whereby  he  acquired 
the  farm  on  which  he  made  his  home  until  his  de- 
mise. He  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  graveyard  on  the 
farm  in  Simpson  Township  that  he  first  owned 
after  coming  to  Johnson  County.  The  mother 
died  about  a  year  before  the  father,  and  the  farm 
on  which  tliey  passed  their  Last  years  was  sold. 
Those  worthy  people  had  a  family  of  six  children, 
as  follows:  Elizabeth,  Mrs.  A.  Shelton,  deceased; 
one  who  died  in  infancy;  Samuel,  deceased;  Pcn- 
ina,  a  resident  of  Bloomfleld  Township;  Mary,  wife 
of  Thomas  Hogg,  of  Tennessee;  and  John,  our 
subject. 

John  Leadbetter,  of  whou)  this  sketch  is  written. 


248 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer,  his  boyhood  be- 
ing passed  on  a  farm  and  in  attendance  at  the  com- 
mon schools.  He  was  young  when  his  parents 
brought  him  to  Johnson  County,  and  he  remained 
an  inmate  of  the  old  home  until  he  was  twenty- 
four  years  old,  utilizing  his  education  b3-  teaching 
two  terms  of  school  in  Johnson  County  prior  to 
that  age.  He  selected  farming  for  a  permanent 
occupation,  however,  and  at  the  age  mentioned 
rented  a  farm,  which  he  managed  with  a  good  de- 
gree of  success,  and  has  since  been  living  on  dif- 
ferent places  in  Jolmson  County.  He  has  been  a 
resident  of  this  county  for  thirty-four  years,  and 
for  the  last  three  years  has  made  his  home  at  his 
present  place  of  residence.  He  is  a  sagacious, 
thorough-going  farmer,  who  understands  the  "ins 
and  outs"  of  his  calling,  and  has  gained  an  assured 
place  among  the  substantial,  industrious  and  far- 
sighted  men  of  his  class,  who  control  the  agricul- 
tural interests  of  Johnson  County.  He  also  stands 
well  in  the  community  as  a  gentleman  whose 
honest,  upriglit  nature  and  exemplary  habits  make 
him  respected  and  trusted  by  all  who  associate 
with  him. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-four  our  subject  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Emma  Jobe,  from 
Iowa.  Their  home  is  a  pleasant,  cheerful  abiding- 
place,  and  is  graced  by  the  three  children  that  have 
blessed  their  married  life,  whom  they  have  named 
Allie,  Daisy  and  Nellie. 


!)IIOMAS  W.  McCOY,  who  represents  one  <if 
the  oldest  families  in  the  State,  is  a  native 
'('  of  Golconda,  born  here  October  4,  1838, 
and  is  proprietor  of  the  oldest  established  business 
house  in  the  city,  founded  by  his  father,  J.  W. 
McCoy. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Ezekiel  McCoy, 
emigrated  from  Virginia  late  in  the  year  1807  to 
seek  a  new  home  in  the  wilds  of  the  Northwestern 
Territory,  and  penetrated  as  far  Westward  as  that 
part  of  the  country  now  included  in  Hardin  County-, 


this  State,  arriving  at  his  destination  in  Ihiih.  At 
that  time  Illinois  had  not  been  set  off  fioni  the 
Territory  of  Indiana,  and  was  practically  uninhab- 
ited, except  by  Indians  and  wild  beasts.  Kzekiel 
secured  a  tract  of  land  in  the  afore-mentioned 
county,  and  there  ended  his  days,  leaving  behind 
him  a  worthy  record  as  a  useful  pioneer.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Nancy  Davis. 

The  father  of  our  subject  passed  his  boyhood  in 
Hardin  County,  and  in  early  manhood  began  to 
deal  in  horses  .and  mules,  buying  his  stock  in  Illi- 
nois, and  taking  it  down  the  river  to  some  of  the 
lower  Mississippi  River  towns,  Natchez  being  his 
principal  market.  In  1837  he  came  to  Golconda 
and  opened  one  of  the  first  stores  here  and  became 
one  of  the  pioneer  merchants  of  the  place.  He 
built  up  a  flourishing  business,  and  aided  in  laying 
a  solid  foundation  for  the  city's  prosperity,  and 
his  death  was  a  loss  to  its  mercantile  interests. 
His  widow,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1837,  is 
still  living  in  Golconda  at  an  advanced  age.  Her 
maiden  name  was  Eliza  Richey,  and  she  was  born 
ill  Tennessee,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  William  K.  Richey. 

The  subject  of  this  life  record  was  educated  in 
the  [Hiblic  schools  of  Golconda,  and  at  the  age  of 
sixteen  the  stalwart,  independent  youth  started 
out  into  the  world  to  seek  his  fortune.  He  began 
as  a  boat-hand  on  the  Ohio  Rriver,  but  he  acted  in 
that  capacity  for  only  a  short  time,  however,  and 
then  went  into  his  father's  store  as  a  clerk.  Soon 
after  he  attained  his  majority  his  father  gave  him 
an  interest  in  the  business,  and  he  has  continued 
with  the  house  since.  He  has  a  neat  and  com- 
modious establishment,  in  which  he  carries  an  ex- 
tensive stock  of  general  merchandise.  He  is  a 
well-trained  business  man,  looks  after  his  interests 
closeh',  and  enjoys  an  extensive  patronage,  as  he 
IS  so  well  known  in  the  city  and  county,  and  is 
trusted  by  the  people,  who  feel  sure  that  he  is 
strictly  conscientious  and  straightforward  in  his 
dealings,  and  that  they  can  rely  upon  his  word. 
He  is  warmly  interested  in  all  that  pertains  to  his 
native  cit}',  and  besides  promoting  its  material  wel- 
fare, does  all  he  can  for  its  adv.ancement  in  a 
higher  sense.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  are  active  in  religious 
matters.     Politically,  our  subject  is  a  Republican. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


249 


In  1861  Mr.  McCo3''s  marriage  with  Miss  Lucy  A. 
Rohinson  was  celebrated,  and  it  has  brought  them 
mucli  happiness.  They  have  been  blessed  with 
five  children,  of  whom  these  are  living:  Hattie  C, 
Berkley,  Etlie  R.  and  Fred.  Their  first  child,  Ma- 
mie E.,  died  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years  and  three 
months.  Mrs.  McCoy  is  of  New  England  birth  and 
origin,  born  in  Middlesex,  Vt.,  and  a  daughter  of 
Henry  and  Mary  E.  (Smith)  Robinson. 


jtlLLIAM  F.  SillTII  for  nearly  thirty  years 
has  been  engaged  in  running  a  flour  and 
grist  mill  at  Columbus,  Pope  Count3', 
and  has  a  large  patronage,  his  trade  extending  for 
miles  around.  Mr.  Smith  is  the  owner  of  twentj'- 
flve  acies  of  land  connected  with  his  mill,  which 
he  cultivates  during  such  intervals  as  lie  has 
left  from  his  other  business.  His  property  is  lo- 
cated on  section  30,  township  13,  range  C.  The 
tlourmill,  which  has  a  capacity  of  forty  barrels  a 
day,  is  fitted  up  with  modern  machinerv,  having 
the  best  roller  process.  Since  the  jear  1858  our 
subject  has  been  a  resident  of  Illinois,  at  which 
time  he  landed  at  Golcouda,  there  following  his 
trade  of  a  carpenter  for  some  four  or  five  years, 
when  he  went  into  the  sawmill  business,  in  which 
he  continued  until  1865.  At  that  time  he  re- 
moved his  machinery  to  Columbus,  and  has  since 
been  successfully  engaged  in  his  present  occupa- 
tion. 

Our  subject's  paternal  grandparents  emigrated 
to  Butler  County,  Pa.,  in  the  year  1802  from 
the  Fatherland,  with  a  number  of  other  German 
settlers,  forming  a  colony.  They  took  up  a  large 
tract  of  land,  and  there  built  a  town  which  is  now 
very  famous  and  of  which  much  has  been  written 
in  the  leading  papers  of  late  years.  This  town 
was  called  by  them  Harmony,  and  the  system  pur- 
sued by  the  members  is  a  notable  example  of  the 
community  plan.  The  peculiar  sect  to  which  they 
belonged  is  known  as  the  Economist,  and  one  of 


their  most  remarkable  towns  is  called  Economy-. 
It  is  a  model  one  in  every  respect,  a  quaint  and 
most  peculiar  city,  the  houses  being  built  in  an 
old-fashioned,  jet  picturesque,  style,  and  every- 
thing within  the  limits  of  the  town  is  kept  in  the 
most  neat  and  thrifty  manner.  The  society  is  one 
of  the  most  wealth}^  of  an\'  of  the  numerous  sects 
which  have  sprung  up  all  over  the  countiy,  though 
but  few  of  the  original  members  are  left,  and  few 
during  late  years  have  been  added  to  the  commu- 
nity. One  of  their  primary  principles  is  that  of 
sharing  all  property  in  common.  After  residing 
in  Harmony  for  about  seven  or  eight  years  our 
subject's  grandparents,  with  a  number  of  other  set- 
tlers, disposed  of  their  property  and  removing  to 
Posey  County,  lud.,  there  purchased  a  large  tract 
of  land  and  liuilt  another  town,  which  the\"  called 
New  Harmon}'.  Thej-,  however,  did  not  prosper 
so  well  in  that  State,  and  at  the  end  of  a  few  years 
they  sold  out.  returning  to  the  Keystone  State, 
where  tliey  purchased  lands  in  Beaver  County. 
There  was  built  the  famous  town  just  mentioned, 
Economj-,  where  the  remaining  days  of  tlie  grand- 
parents of  Mr.  Smith  were  passed.  The  colonists 
go  bj-  the  name  of  Rappites  or  P^conomists,  one 
George  Rapp  being  the  founder  and  leader  of  the 
community. 

William  F.  Smith  was  bom  in  Phillipsburg, 
Beaver  County,  Pa.,  Februaiy  7,  1840.  his  parents 
being  Augustus  and  Frederica  Francos  (Aigner) 
Smith,  both  natives  of  Wurtemberg,  Germanj-. 
The  former  remained  with  the  Harmon 3-  colon v 
until  thirtj'-two  yeai-s  of  age,  when  witli  a  lar"-e 
company  of  others  he  left  the  community,  woino- 
about  ten  miles  down  the  Ohio  River,  where  thev 
built  the  city  of  Phillipsburg,  and  eventually  gave 
up  their  former  mode  of  living,  each  one  owniug 
his  own  ])roperty.  The  father  was  a  master  mason 
and  stone  cutter,  following  those  trades  for  an  oc- 
cupation a  portion  of  his  time.  The}'  continued  to 
live  in  Phillipsburg  until  they  were  called  to  their 
final  rest,  the  father  in  1852,  and  the  mother  three 
yeai-s  later. 

Our  subject  remained  under  the  parental  roof 
until  eighteen  jears  of  age,  acquiring  such  educa- 
tion as  could  be  obtained  in  the  common  schools, 
and  then    learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  wliich  he 


250 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


followed  until  1863.  At  that  time,  lie  left  his  na- 
tive Slate,  coming  to  Illinois  down  the  Ohio  by 
hoatand  locating  at  Golconda,  as  previously  men- 
tioned. He  owns  a  beautiful  residence  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Columbus,  where  he  enjoj-s  life  witli  his 
familj'.  His  home  is  graciously  presided  over  Ijy 
his  estimable  wife,  who  was  before  her  marriage 
Miss  Lovina  Clanahan,  their  union  being  celebrated 
April  y.  It<75.  Mrs.  Smith  is  a  native  of  Pope 
County,  her  birth  having  occurred  April  5,  1855. 
Iler  father  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  while 
iier  mother's  birthplace  was  in  Tennessee.  To  our 
worthy  subject  and  wife  have  been  born  four  in- 
teresting and  bright  little  ones,  who  are  as  follows: 
William  C,  Clco  A.,  Elsie  E.  and  Stella  A.  The 
parents  are  members  of  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Ikthany,  and  are  devoted  workers 
in  the  same.  Mr.  Smith  uses  his  right  of  franchise 
in  favor  of  the  Republican  party,  and  well  merits 
the  high  regard  in  which  he  is  held  by  his  many 
friends  and  neighboi-s  in  this  locality.  In  his 
business  dealings  he  is  known  to  be  reliable  and 
tliorousjhlv  fair  in  liis  treatment  of  all. 


ORRICK  F.  BEAIMAN,  who  has  resided 
on  his  four  hundred  acre  farm  on  section  3G, 
(gJ)i^  Tunnel  Hill  Township,  Johnson  County, 
for  the  past  twenty  years,  was  born  in 
Canada,  in  the  District  of  Three  Rivers,  St.  Pet- 
er's Parish,  June  22,  1827.  Mis  father,  Alexander 
Beauman,  was  a  native  of  France,  and  was  born  in 
1857.  He  emigrated  from  France  to  Canada  when 
a  young  man  of  about  eighteen  years,  with  but  a 
few  hundred  dollars' cash  capital,  and  a  part  of 
this  was  the  buttons  on  his  coat,  which  were  of 
gold  covered  with  cloth.  He  was  a  farmer  by  oc- 
cupation, but  he  was  the  son  of  a  colonel  in  the 
French  army. 

Dorrick  F".  Beauman  is  one  of  twelve  children, 
seven  sons  and  five  daughters.  He  is  the  sixth 
son  of  his  father  and  the  third  child  of  his  mother, 
who  was  his  father's  second  wife.     She  was  Mary 


Ann  Frazier,  a  Scotch  l-ady,  who  had  four  chil- 
dren, two  sons 'and  two  daughters:  Sopliia,  Clara, 
Dorrick  F.  and  Jeffrey.  Mr.  Beauman  is  the  only 
one  survivingof  these  four  children.  The  parents 
removed  from  Canada  to  ^'ermont  about  1850, 
where  they  lived  with  their  children  until  their 
death,  tlie  father  d3Mng  in  1852,  at  the  age  of 
ninety-five,  and  his  widow,  who  was  much 
younger  than  he,  dying  in  the  year  1871,  at 
about  the  age  of  eighty  years.  Dorrick  F.  Beau- 
man was  reared  in  Canada,  but  went  to  Vermont 
about  1848,  and  came  to  Illinois  in  Noveinber. 
1853,  first  locating  in  Union  County.  He  was 
Roadmaster  on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  for 
eight  j-cars,  up  to  1861.  He  then  followed  farming 
in  that  county,  and  was  married  there  in  Decem- 
ber, 1861,  to  Miss  Carrie  Corgau,  who  was  born  in 
Franklin  County,  111.,  in  1843,  and  is  the  daugh- 
ter of  John  Corgau.  He  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina  and  of  Irish  descent. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beauman  resided  in  I'nion  County 
three  years,  when  they  sold  their  small  farm  and 
began  merchandising  at  Anna,  and  afterward  at 
Lick  Creek,  in  the  same  county.  He  was  successful 
until  1873,  when  he  sold  out  and  moved  to  his  pres- 
ent home.  His  well-cultivated  farm  he  bought 
for  %il5  per  acre,  and  since  that  time  he  has  been 
farming  and  merchandising  at  Tunnel  Hill,  except 
that  from  1880  to  1890  he  w.as  engaged  exclus- 
ively in  farming.  While  he  has  always  carried 
on  mixed  farming,  yet  his  specialty  has  been  a 
high  grade  of  Shorthorn  cattle.  He  has  kept 
as  many  as  eighty  head  at  a  time  and  has  shipped 
a  carload  to  market  each  year.  Soon  after  coming 
to  his  present  farm  he  planted  out  a  fine  orchard 
of  eight  or  ten  acres  of  apple,  trees,  and  his  apple 
crop  wasa  success  eveiy  year  until  1892,  when  the 
crop  was  a  total  failure  in  all  this  portion  of  Illi- 
nois. He  has  also  grown  small  fruits,  such  as  straw- 
berries and  raspberries,  but  is  now  only  raising 
these  fruits  for  his  own  use. 

Mr.  Beauman  built  his  present  fine  house  in 
1889,  but  that  built  by  him  in  1880  was  a  finer 
one  than  this.  He  also  had  a  fine  large  barn,  the 
finest  one  in  the  county-,  but  it  and  the  house 
were  burned  down  in  the  spring  of  1889,  the  loss 
being    §4,500.      All    their   household   goods   were 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   RliVIEW. 


251 


rlestro^'ed  and  the  insurance  was  only  pai-tial.  He 
liad  buried  his  wife  in  February,  1889,  and  his 
house  and  barn  burned  in  Ma}'.  Mrs.  Beauman 
was  fort3--six  years  old  and  left  ten  children,  five 
sons  and  five  daughters,  all  of  whom  arc  living, 
as  follows:  Emma,  wife  of  R.  A.  Dinwiddle,  who 
is  engaged  in  merchandising  at  Tunnel  Hill; 
Louis,  a  civil  engineer,  who  is  married  and  living 
in  Texas;  Frank,  single,  and  engaged  in  merchan- 
dising in  Tunnel  Hill  with  his  brother-in-law;  Guy, 
a  traveling  salesman,  single;  Harry,  a  3'oung  man 
residing  on  the  home  farm;  John,  who  is  attend- 
ing school  in  Quincy,  111.;  Maud,  a  young  lady  at 
home;  Madge,  a  young  lady  of  sixteen,  at  home  and 
in  school;  Carrie  M.,  eight  years  old  and  in  school; 
and  Clara,  a  lovely  little  child  four  years  old. 
These  children  have  had  and  are  having  the  best 
educational  facilities  that  the  country  affords.  Mr. 
Beauman  felt  the  loss  of  his  wife  very  greatly,  but 
he  has  been  greatly  favored  in  his  children  and  in 
his  business  career,  for  though  beginning  poor, 
he  has  accumulated  a  handsome  competency,  and 
has  reared  all  of  his  children.  He  is  a  Master 
Mason  and  a  Republican.  Our  subject  has  been 
peculiarly  unfortunate  in  the  matter  of  fires,  as  in 
April,  1893,  his  business  house  in  Tunnel  Hill  and 
all  its  contents  were  destroyed,  and  his  insurance 
was  onlv  light. 


SALIJFARRO  A.  IIAMMACK,  who  resides 
on  section  19,  township  12,  range  6,  Pope 
_  County,  is  one  of  the  brave  veterans  of  the 
late  war  and  lost  that  inestimable  blessing,  good 
health,  while  in  the  service  of  his  countrj'.  He 
enlisted  in  the  army  September  7,  1862,  in  the 
Fourteenth  Illinois  Cavalry, as  a  private  soldier  in 
Company  G,  being  mustered  into  service  at  Eddy- 
ville.  He  was  actively'  engaged  during  the  siege 
of  Atlanta,  and  was  all  through  Kentucky,  Missis- 
sippi and  Alabama  on  various  important  campaigns. 
In  October,  1864,  he  was  sent  to  the  hospital  and 


passed  many  months  of  severe  suffering  in  that 
place.  He  was  honorably  discharged  at  Spring- 
field, III.,  July  7, 1865.  Thus  briefly  can  be  summed 
up  years  of  privation,  toil  and  hardship  borne  by 
thousands  of  our  brave  soldiers  in  the  late  con Hict, 
but  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  tlie  Nation  owes 
them  IS  one  that  can  never  be  repaid.  It  is  in  our 
power,  however,  to  give  them  some  portion  of  tri- 
bute and  honor  in  perpetuating  their  memories 
and  the  history  of  their  well-spent  lives  in  written 
records,  therefore  it  is  with  the  greatest  pleasure 
that  we  turn  our  attention  to  the  history  of  this 
brave  man  and  loyal  soldier. 

In  Virginia  on  the  11th  of  November,  1834, 
occurred  the  birth  of  Mr.  Hammack.  His  parents 
were  (.'oleman  and  Frances  (Jacops)  Hammack,  who 
were  both  likewise  natives  of  the  Old  Dominion, 
where  the  father  followed  the  occupation  of  a 
farmer  for  some  years,  and  while  still  a  }'Oung  man 
removed  to  Tennessee,  where  he  was  united  in 
marriage.  He  afterward  returned  to  the  State  of 
his  birth  and  reared  his  family  there,  but  when 
well  advanced  in  years  went  back  to  Tennessee, 
where  he  resided  until  his  death  at  the  good  old 
age  of  sevent3'-five  years.  Our  subject-'s  mother 
is  still  living,  making  her  home  with  one  of  her 
daughters  in  Kansas.  She  is  now  in  her  ninety- 
fifth  year,  having  been  born  August  31,  1798. 

Mr.  Hammack  was  twenty-four  years  of  age  when 
he  left  the  parental  roof,  and  never  had  the  ad- 
vantages of  an_y  schooling  whatever.  He  is  there- 
fore en  tirelj'  self-educated,  but  is  a  man  who  is 
quick  to  comprehend,  and  active  and  untiring  in  his 
zeal  for  making  the  best  of  such  opportunities  and 
chances  which  he  has  had,  however  meagre.  He 
rented  land  in  Tennessee  for  a  j'ear,  and  then  re- 
moved to  this  State  in  1858  with  his  young  wife, 
to  whom  he  had  been  married  that  year.  She  was 
formerly  Miss  Millie  Cowden,  her  birth  having  oc- 
curred in  Allen  County,  Kj\  She  only  lived  a 
short  time  after  coming  to  Illinois,  being  called 
from  the  shores  of  time  to  her  eternal  home  Decem- 
ber 4, 1860.  Mr.  Hammack  when  first  coming  to  this 
county  settled  within  a  fourth  of  a  mile  of  where 
he  now  resides.  In  1885  he  purchased  his  present 
farm,  a  fertile  and  highly  cultivated  tract,  con- 
sisting of  eighty-three  acres.     He  has  been  blessed 


252 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


witli  rsignal  success  in  his  methods  of  conducting 
his  farm,  and  in  spite  of  his  ill  health,  has  acquired 
a  comfortable  competence  for  his  declining  days. 
This  is  well  merited, as  he  has  been  unllagging  in  his 
energy,  and  unremitting  in  the  attention  lie  lias 
given  to  his  various  interests. 

Mr.  IlaramacU  was  united  in  marriage  in  1860, 
with  Miss  Miiry  Jacops,  who  de|)avted  this  life  Sep- 
tember 8,  1882.  Our  subject  was  again  united  in 
wedlock,  April  18,  1883,  at  which  time  Miss  Eliza 
Cole  became  his  wife.  She  was  born  in  this  county 
in  1812,  while  her  parents  were  both  natives 
of  Tennessee.  Their  marriage  has  been  blessed 
with  a  family  of  three  children,  who  are  all  resid- 
ing at  home,  and  who  in  order  of  birth  are  as  fol- 
lows: Daniel,  Millie  and  Henry  Coleman.  Our 
subject  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  good 
standing,  has  alwaj's  voted  the  Democratic  ticket 
and  has  served  his  fellow-citizens  in  various  posi- 
tions of  trust  and  honor,  filling  the  office  of  Road 
Commissioner  for  two  terms  and  School  Director 
for  nine  years.  He  is  held  in  the  highest  regard 
b}'  the  man}'  friends  and  neighbors  who  have 
known  him  for  over  forty  years,  as  for  that  length 
of  time  he  has  been  a  resident  of  this  township. 


1*+^1 


1 


0 11 N  O.  FEEZOU  has  been  engaged  in 
operating  his  present  farm  of  two  hundred 
^^^,  and  twenty  acres  on  section  .32,  township 
'f^f'  11,  range  5,  for  the  past  fort}'  years,  and  is 
well  and  favorably  known  throughout  this  commu- 
nity' as  an  enterprising  farmer  and  honorable  busi- 
ness man,  and  one  who  is  public-spirited.  Since 
1861  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  having  been  Cl.ass-lcader  for  manj' 
years,  and  in  1881  was  licensed  to  exhort  and  soon 
after  was  regularly  ordained  as  local  preacher.  He 
has  served  the  township  as  Constable,  and  special 
Deputy  Sheriff  for  eight  years. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Marshall  County,  Ky., 
in  1833,  and  is  a  son  of  George  Feezor,  who  was 
born   in  Randolph  County,  N.  C,  in    1801.     Tlie 


paternal  great-grandfather  of  our  subject  took 
part  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  in  which  he 
rose  to  the  rank  of  Captain,  lighting  on  the  side 
of  the  Colonists.  lie  came  from  German}-  before 
the  war,  but  was  not  one  of  the  imported  soldiers 
of  the  Ih'itish  Government,  who  were  sworn  to 
support  the  crown.  The  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject married  Elizabeth  Cole,  a  lady  of  Irish  de- 
scent, who  was  born  about  1780.  The  young 
couple  removed  from  North  Carolina  to  Bedford 
County,  Tenn.,  taking  up  Government  land  on 
Duck  River,  when  the  country  was  entirely  wild. 
The}-  reared  a  family  of  three  sons  and  five 
daughters,  of  whom  our  subject's  father  was  the 
eldest.  The  latter  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
years,  his  widow  surviving  him  until  1869,  dying 
at  their  old  home  when  about  eighty  years  old. 

George  Feezor  was  married  in  Tennessee  to 
Miss  Mary  Ivy,  of  North  Carolina,  the  latter  only 
seventeen  years  of  age.  They  remained  on  the 
old  home  farm  until  1831,  when  they  removed  to 
Graves  County,  Ky.,  and  about  one  year  later  to 
Marshall  County,  in  the  same  .State,  where  they 
bought  a  settler's  improvement  and  entered  one 
hundred  and  sixt}'  acres.  Later  Mr.  Feezor  pur- 
chased two  other  quarter-sections  of  land,  thus 
becoming  the  owner  of  four  hundred  and  eighty 
acres.  He  cleared  a  large  farm  of  some  three  hun- 
dred acres,  where  he  resided  until  1869,  when  he 
departed  this  life  aged  sixty-eight  years.  His 
widow  survived  him  for  about  eight  years,  and 
was  then  laid  to  rest  by  the  side  of  her  husband 
and  her  parents  in  a  burial-ground  which  Mr. 
Feezor  had  set  a  part  on  his  farm  for  the  |)ur- 
pose. 

Our  subject  is  the  fifth  in  order  of  birth  in  a 
family  of  six  sons  and  four  daughters.  Three 
brothers  and  two  sisters  are  yet  living,  as  fol- 
lows: Martha,  wife  of  Isaac  Shemwell,  a  farmer 
in  Graves  County,  Ky.;  Nathan,  a  wealtliy  farmer 
and  speculator  in  stock,  and  a  prominent  man  in 
Marshall  County,  Ky.;  George,  who  is  also  a 
farmer  in  the  same  neighborhood;  Eliza  J.,  wife  of 
Rufus  Stafford,  a  well-known  farmer  of  Union 
Precinct,  Pope  County;  and  William  C,  who  is 
engaged  in  carrying  on  a  farm  in  Ballard  County, 
Kv. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RK^•IEW. 


253 


Our  subject's  childhood  and  boyhood  daj's  wei-e 
spent  on  his  father's  farm,  where  lie  had  but 
limited  cliances  to  obtain  an  education.  The 
selioolhouse  of  that  daj^  was  of  a  very  primitive 
kind,  being  built  of  logs  and  rudely  furnished. 
After  he  had  arrived  at  his  majority,  in  1854,  his 
father  sent  him  to  school  for  two  mouths,  in  one 
of  the  first  free  schools  in  the  district.  During 
this  limited  time  he  mastered  Smiley's  arithmetic 
and  helped  the  teacher  in  the  large  school,  there 
being  over  sixty  pupils  in  the  building,  which  was 
only  20x22  feet.  Leaving  home  in  his  twent3'- 
second  j-ear,  he  landed  in  this  county  in  Decem- 
ber, 1854,  and  raised  a  crop  on  land  owned  by  his 
uncle,  Martin  Cowgill.  In  1855-56  he  taught  in 
Massac  County-  for  eight  and  a-half  months,  in  the 
first  free  school  in  that  district.  He  received  for 
las  services  »30  a  month,  and  in  spite  of  his  de- 
ficient education,  he  was  quite  a  successful  teacher. 
He  was  a  good  penman  at  that  time,  and  delighted 
to  wield  the  quill. 

On  the  1st  of  July,  1856,  Mr.  Feezor  mar- 
ried Mar3'  R.  E.  McNew,  who  was  born  in  Tennes- 
see. Tbe  young  couple  settled  on  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  near  his  present  home. 
In  March,  1854,  he  had  taken  up  forty  acres  of 
this  from  the  Government  at  $1.25  per  acre.  A 
few  months  later  this  land  came  into  the  market 
at  a  shilling  an  acre.  In  the  spring  of  1855  he 
purchased  eight}-  acres  of  a  settler  for  ^1.75  per 
acre.  As  before  stated,  he  resided  on  this  property 
until  1872,  when  lie  removed  to  his  present  farm. 
March  7,  1877,  he  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the 
loss  of  his  wife,  who  died  in  her  forty-first  year. 
Slie  bore  him  five  sons  and  five  daughters,  three 
of  whom  died  in  infancy.  The  living  members  of 
the  family  are  as  follows:  Dora  A.,  wife  of  Will- 
iam Cliristman,  of  Jackson  County,  111.;  George 
C,  who  is  engaged  in  farming  on  the  place  adjoin- 
ing the  homestead;  Thomas  15.,  who  is  a  fanner, 
and  has  been  Constable  and  Collector  of  this  town- 
^hi[)  for  several  years;  Mar}'  A.,  wife  of  AVilliam 
Steiger,  a  farmer  of  this  township;  Lewis  W.,  who 
has  been  a  teacher  in  Ballard  County,  Ky.,  for  the 
past  three  years;  Martha  C,  who  resides  at  home, 
as  does  also  the  youngest  of  the  family,  Lizzie, 
now  eighteen  years  of  age  and  attending  school. 


Mr.  Feezor  was  again  united  in  marriage,  on 
October  5,  1879,  Mrs.  Mary  Reagan,  nee  Ogden, 
then  becoming  his  wife.  She  was  reared  in  Callo- 
way County,  K}'.,  and  came  to  Illinois  when  in 
her  young  womanhood,  in  ihe  year  1858.  Our 
subject  has  been  a  Freemason  since  1870,  and 
though  formerly  a  Republican,  he  is  now  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Prohibition  party.  For  many  terms  he 
was  a  School  Director,  and  has  always  taken  great 
interest  in  educational  matters. 


^0  ASWKLL  BARNtrrT,  who  had  a  good  rec- 
ord as  a  soldier  during  the  late  war,  is 
numbered  among  the  industrious  farmers 
who  are  carrying  on  the  agricultural  interests  of 
Johnson  County,  of  which  he  is  a  native.  He  was 
born  January  6,  1836,  and  his  home  is  on  a  part 
of  the  old  farm  in  Eilvira  Township  that  was  his 
birthplace,  and  which  is  now  in  his  possession. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  William  A.  Bar- 
nett,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee  September  10, 
1808,  a  son  of  Robert  Fields  Barnett,  who  was  an 
early  settler  of  Tennessee,  and  served  in  the  War 
of  1812.  He  came  from  Tennessee  to  Illinois  in 
1830,  traveling  on  the  Tennessee  and  Ohio  Rivers, 
and  landing  at  Cairo.  He  settled  in  what  is  now 
Alexander  County  at  first,  but  a  3'ear  later  he 
came  to  Johnson  Count}',  and  made  his  home  with 
his  son  William  in  Elvira  Tuwn.-ihip  until  his  de- 
mise. 

William  Barnett  passed  his  early  life  in  his  na- 
tive State,  and  was  in  the  vigor  of  early  manhood 
when  he  came  to  Illinois  in  1830.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  Arkansas  early  in  1835,  and  returning  to 
this  county  with  his  bride,  he  located  on  a  tract  of 
Government  land  in  Elvira  Township.  He  at 
once  commenced  the  hard  task  of  clearing  and  de- 
veloping a  farm,  and  in  the  comfortable  home 
he  built  up  he  closed  his  earthly  career  December 
6,  1869,  and  thus  passed  away  a  useful  and  greatly 
respected  pioneer  of  this  county.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Charlotte  T.  Mangum.     Stie 


251 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


was  1)1)111  April  21,  1817,  two  and  one-half  miles 
vvust  of  Monna,  a  daughter  of  Henry  L.  and  Disa 
Ann  (Kain)  Mangum,  and  she  departed  this  life 
July  23,  1892.  She  reared  eiglit  children:  Cas- 
well, Sarah  V.,  Gilbert,  Martha  A.,  Willi.uii  .1., 
Margaret  E.,  Rlioda  J.  and  Mary. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch  was 
reared  and  educated  in  liis  native  township.  lie 
attended  the  primitive  pioneer  schools  of  the  time, 
that  were  rudely  furnished  with  seats  made  by 
splitting  logs  and  hewing  one  side  smooth  and  in- 
serting wooden  pins  for  support,  and  the  buihUng 
was  heated  by  means  of  an  open  fireplace.  For 
manj'  years  after  the  family  settled  here  deer  and 
other  kinds  of  game  were  very  plentiful  and 
roamed  at  will  through  the  country,  which  was 
sparsely  settled.  Our  subject  resided  with  his 
parents  until  he  was  twenty-one,  and  tlien  com- 
menced for  himself  in  a  steam  sawmill.  He  after- 
ward ran  a  steam  engine  until  his  enlistment, 
which  occurred  August  22,  1861,  when  he  became 
a  member  of  Company  D,  Thirty-first  Illinois  In- 
fantrj'.  He  went  to  the  front  with  his  regiment, 
and  in  the  terrible  years  of  strife  that  followed,  his 
patriotism  and  valor  stood  well  the  test  of  many  of 
the  hard-fought  battles  in  which  he  bore  his  part. 
He  was  on  the  field  at  Belmont  when  the  Union  and 
Confederate  troops  met  in  deadly  encounter,  and 
at  Ft.  Henry  and  at  the  siege  of  Corinth.  At  Burnt 
Bridge,  Tenn..  he  was  wounded,  and  still  carries  a 
rebel  bullet  in  his  body  as  a  mementDof  the  occas- 
ion. He  did  his  duty  as  a  soldier  at  Champion  Hills 
and  Jackson,  Miss.  While  en  route  for  Vicks- 
burg  he  was  captured  and  taken  to  Libby  Prison. 
A  few  weeks  later  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  be  ex- 
changed, and  he  joined  his  regiment  at  Vicksburg 
in  season  to  bear  his  part  in  the  siege  and  down- 
fall of  the  city.  The  next  important  battle  in 
wliich  he  participated  was  at  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
and  he  was  an  actor  in  the  siege  and  capture  of 
Atlanta,  and  in  the  battles  at  Jonesboro  and  Flint 
River,  and  with  his  comrades  pursued  Hood's 
army  to  Rome,  Ga.  In  October,  1861,  he  was 
honorably  discharged  at  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  service  at  Chattanooga. 

After  his  return  from  the  seat  of  war  Mr.  Bai- 
nett  resumed  his  former  occupation  of   o|)cr:iting 


an  engine,  and  was  liais  employed  until  his  mar- 
riage. He  then  turned  his  attention  to  farming, 
which  he  carried  on  on  rented  land.  In  1882  he 
bought  the  part  of  the  old  homestead  that  he  now 
owns  and  occupies,  and  has  here  a  productive 
and  well-tilled  farm  of  sixty  acres. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  with  Miss  Zary  V. 
A.  Evans  was  celebrated  in  November,  1866.  Mrs. 
Barnett  was  born  in  Tennessee  February-  14,  1845, 
a  daughter  of  AYilliam  H.  and  Eliza  Evans,  and 
was  but  an  infant  when  her  parents  brought  her  to 
Illinois.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barnett  are  blessed  with 
six  children:  FAizn  C,  William  A.,  Mary  F.,  Sarah 
J.,  John  O.  and  Albert  C.  Mr.  Barnett  is  a  stal- 
wart Republican  in  politics.  He  is  a  'worthy 
member  of  Vienna  Post  No.  221,  G-.  A.  R.,  ind  of 
Goreville  Lodge  No.  528, 1.  O.  O.  F. 


^^?=^ULFORD  PIPPINS,  a  veteran  of  the  late 
il  ,=,  war,  in  which  he  won  an  honorable  military 
"^^ill  record,  and  now  engaged  in  farming  in 
Bloomfield  Township, was  born  in  Jlarshall  County. 
Ky.,  in  1 843.  His  father,  whose  name  was  the  same 
as  his  own,  was,  so  far  as  known,  a  life-long  resi- 
dent of  Kentucky,  his  death  occurring  while  he  was 
in  the  prime  of  manhood,  when  our  subject  was  but 
two  years  old.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Sarah  Mosely.  By  his  untimely  death  she  was  left 
a  widow  with  thirteen  children,  and  in  very  limited 
circumstances.  Soon  after  his  death  she  removed 
with  her  family  to  this  State,  and  after  a  residence 
of  ten  years  in  Union  County,  came  to  this  county 
and  spent  her  remaining  days  here. 

Our  subject  commenced  when  very  \oung  to 
make  iiis  own  way  in  the  world.  At  the  first  call 
for  troops  to  enlist  for  three  3'ears  after  the  break- 
ing out  of  tlie  war,  he  volunteered,  and  went  to 
the  front  as  a  member  of  Company  I, Twenty-ninth 
Illinois  Infantry.  Early  in  1864  he  veteranized, 
and  being  given  a  furlougii  took  advantage  of  it 
to  get  married.  Returning  then  to  his  regiment 
he  served  with  unswerving  tidelit}-  until  after  the 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIi;W. 


257 


close  of  the  war.  Among  the  more  important  of 
the  many  battles  in  whiuh  he  took  part  we  mention 
the  following:  Shiloh,  Ft.  Donelson,  siege  and  cap- 
ture of  Vicksburg,  Spanish  Fort  and  Ft.  Blakely. 
He  was  honorably  discharged  with  his  regiment 
after  peace  was  declared,  returned  home  and  com- 
menced farming  on  rented  land.  A  short  time 
afterward  he  bought  forty  acres  in  Bloom  field 
Township,  occupied  that  a  few  years,  and  then 
moved  to  Grantsburg,  where  he  bought  a  tract  of 
land,  and  resided  until  1880,  when  he  purchased 
property  near  Sanburn,  in  Hloomfield  Town- 
ship. He  lived  there  until  1887,  and  then  bought 
the  farm  that  he  now  occupies,  in  the  same  town- 
ship, which  is  pleasantly  situated  a  mile  and  a-half 
from  Vienna.  This  farm  contains  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  over  one-half  being  cultivated. 

Our  subject  was  first  married  in  1864  to  Miss 
JNIartha  Clymer,  daughter  of  .John  C.  and  Sarah 
(Shires)  Clymer.  She  died  in  June,  1872,  leaving 
the  following  children:  Mary  Frances,  David,  and 
John  W.,  deceased.  Mr.  Pippins  was  again  mar- 
ried, in  1873,  this  time  to  Miss  Jane  Porter.  Mrs. 
Pippins  was  born  in  Vienna  Township  December 
24,  1848.  Her  father,  Jesse  L.  Porter,  was  born  in 
Rowan  County,  N.  C,  and  was  a  son  of  Lawrence 
Porter,  who  was  of  English  birth,  and  came  to  this 
country  when  a  young  man.  He  was  married  in 
North  Carolina  to  Elizabeth  Parks,  a  native  of  the 
State,  and  a  daughter  of  Noah  and  Martha  Parks. 
He  reared  bis  family  in  North  Carolina,  whence  he 
came  to  Illinois  in  1847.  He  settled  in  this  county, 
buying  a  tract  of  timber  land  in  Vienna  Township, 
and  cleared  a  productive  farm,  upon  which  he  and 
his  wife  spent  their  remaining  years. 

Mrs.  Pippins'  father  accompanied  his  parents  to 
their  new  home  in  this  count}-,  the  removal  being 
made  with  teams,  and  soon  after  coming  here  he 
was  married  and  for  a  time  rented  land.  He  then 
settled  on  a  tract  of  timber  land  in  Pulaski  County 
that  his  father  gave  him.  A  year  and  a-half  later 
he  returned  to  Johnson  County,  and  now  lives  near 
the  village  of  Vienna.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Melvina  Standard,  was  born  in  Vienna 
Township,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Priscilla  (Mer- 
cer) Standard.  John  Standard  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  was  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Nancy  Stand- 

13 


ard.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  county, 
but  his  last  years  were  passed  in  Jonesboro,  Union 
County.  His  wife  was  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and 
was  a  daughter  of  Ilezekiah  Mercer.  He  was  born 
in  South  Carolina,  and  married  Temperance  West. 
They  came  to  Johnson  County  at  an  early  day, 
and  lived  here  their  remaining  years.  Mrs.  Pippins' 
grandmother  died  at  Anna,  Union  County. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pippins  are  worth}^  members  of  the 
Christian  Church.  They  have  eight  children  liv- 
ing: Ada,  Ella,  Laura,  James,  Melvina,  Jesse,  Viola 
and  Cora.  Mr.  Pippins  is  a  man  of  excellent  re- 
repute,  and  is  well  regarded  by  his  neighbors  and 
his  fellow-members  of  Vienna  Post  No.  221,  G.  A. 
R.;  and  of  Lodge  No.  617,  L  O.  O.  F. 


V  ♦^♦s 


Z' 


T/OHN  S.  CUMMINS,  M.  D.  Considering 
the  healthy  situation  of  Pope  County,  the 
Ozark  Mountains  not  being  calculated  to 
make  the  Doctor  rich,  our  subject  has  a  good 
practice.  He  is  one  of  the  leading  physicians  of 
this  locality,  where  he  commenced  the  practice  of 
Ins  profession  November  16,  1881. 

The  Doctor  was  born  in  Washington  County, 
Ind.,  December  8,  1848,  and  is  the  son  of  Benja- 
min R.  and  Mary  E.  (Esslinger)  Cummins.  The 
father,  a  native  of  Saline  County,  111.,  was  a  farmer 
by  occuiJation,  as  was  his  father  before  him.  Our 
subject's  mother  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina, 
where  she  was  married,  her  husband  having  made 
her  acquaintance  while  driving  a  stage  to  that 
part  of  the  country.  Removing  to  Saline  County, 
111.,  shortly  after  their  marriage,  they  resided 
there  for  a  few  months,  thence  going  to  Indiana. 
Remaining  in  that  State  a  few  years,  they  then 
settled  in  Pope  County,  eight  miles  north  of  Gol- 
conda,  where  they  purchased  settlers'  land  of  the 
Government.'  At  one  time  Mr.  Cummins  owned 
four  hundred  acres,  and  the  old  homestead  upon 
which  his  death  occurred  comprised  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  and  is  now  occupied  by  Willis 


258 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


Cosl)y.  Dr.  C'miimins,  of  this  sketch,  is  one  of 
six  fhihlroii,  four  sons  and  two  flaughters.  He  is 
the  second  in  order  of  birth  of  the  four  who  sur- 
vived. Reared  on  tiie  farm,  lie  worked  and  as- 
sisted his  father  in  carrying  on  the  home  place 
until  his  twenty-second  year.  Though  his  school 
advantages  were  very  limited,  he  was  amhitious 
and  determined  to  adopt  the  medical  profession. 
In  1870  he  commenced  bis  studies,  and  during  the 
winter  of  1873-71  took  a  course  of  lectures  in 
Cincinnati  and  received  a  diploma  from  the  medi- 
cal college  of  Evansvillc,  Iiid.,  the  document  being 
dated  February  23,  1883.  His  certificate  of  grad- 
uation from  the  State  Board  of  Health  bears  the 
dale  .Alarch  5,  1883. 

In  Hardin  Count}'  Dr.  Cummins  was  married 
to  Miss  Mary  J.  Parkinson,  on  September  30, 1875. 
Her  parents,  W.  F.  and  Lucinda  (Anderson)  Park- 
inson, were  natives  of  Hardin  and  Pope  Counties, 
respective!}'.  Mrs.  Cummins  was  born  in  this 
county,  and  soon  after  her  marriage  commenced 
housekeeping  at  Shuttlerville,  in  Hardin  County, 
where  the  Doctor  began  practice  with  Dr.  Mc- 
Ginnis.  In  the  fall  of  1872  and  the  follow- 
ing spring,  our  subject  had  taken  a  course  of 
lectures  in  Cincinnati,  and  in  1873  opened  an 
oflice  six  miles  northeast  of  Cave  in  Rock,  Hardin 
County.  In  the  spring  of  1875  he  bought  out 
Dr.  Butler,  of  Shuttlerville,  and  was  tliere  en- 
gaged in  practice  until  his  marriage.  To  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Cummins  have  been  born  two  sons:  Lewis 
Franklin,  born  November  4, 1876,'on  the  old  home 
farm,  where  the  parents  resided  for  two  j'ears;  and 
Julius,  whose  birth  occurred  near  their  present 
home,  November  28,  1881.  They  are  both  attend- 
ing school  and  making  good  progress  in  their 
studies,  being  at  the  head  of  their  classes. 

Dr.  Cummins  has  a  pleasant  little  home  situa- 
ted on  two  acres  of  ground  at  Raum,  the  building 
being  erected  by  him  in  the  summer  of  1885. 
Both  lie  and  his  amiable  wife  arc  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  at  the  present 
time  our  subject  is  a  School  Director.  Politically, 
he  is  a  Republican,  and  is  one  of  the  Examining 
Board  of  Pensions  at  Golconda.  The  Doctor 
started  in  life  without  means  and  has  held  his  own 
remarkably    well.     Mrs.   Cummins'   father   is  still 


living  on  his  farm  in  this  count}*  at  the  age  of 
fifty-six  3'ears.  In  1865  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Cum- 
mins died  while  in  the  prime  of  life,  leaving  six 
children,  of  whom  four  are  now   living. 


€YRUS  C.  RIDENHOWER  was  born  in  Ca. 
barrus  County,  N.  C,  March  21,  1831.  He 
is  a  son  of  Aaron  Ridenhower,  who  was 
born  in  Stanly  Count}-,  N.  C,  in  1796.  His  father 
was  John  Ridenhower,  of  the  same  county,  and 
both  the  latter  and  his  son  Aaron  were  farmers. 
John  Ridenhower  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Elizabeth  File,  and  they  reared  a  family  of  six  sons 
and  four  daughters.  He  died  at  his  home  nearly 
ninety  years  of  age,  and  she  died  a  few  years  later 
at  about  the  same  age.  Aaron  Ridenhower  mar- 
ried Caroline  Miller.  He  was  a  farmer  and  a 
wheelwright  by  trade,  but  the  latter  he  followed 
only  occasionally.  He  and  his  wife  reared  three 
sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom  Cyrus  C.  was 
the  fourth  child  and  third  son.  Only  three  of 
these  children  are  living  at  the  present  time,  viz: 
John,  a  farmer  of  Tunnel  Hill  Township;  Mary, 
widow  of  W.  Ilarkey,  and  residing  in  Arkansas; 
and  Cyrus  C.  The  others  were  Barbara  A.,  de- 
ceased, wife  of  John  Farro,  and  who  died  in  the 
prime  of  life;  and  Harris  M.,  who  died  in  this 
county  in  1867,  at  the  age  of  flfty-two.  The 
father  of  these  children  died  in  1835,  in  the  prime 
of  life,  and  his  widow  died  in  1866,  at  the  present 
home  of  Cyrus  C,  at  the  age  of  sixty  years.  Har- 
ris Ridenhower  came  to  Illinois  in  1848  or  1850, 
and  Cyrus  C.  came  m  the  fall  of  1860,  having 
pretty  clear  premonitions  of  the  then  coming  civil 
strife.  He  sold  his  farm  in  North  Carolina  and 
brought  his  wife  and  three  children  by  w'agon 
drawn  all  the  way  by  a  team  of  mules.  When  he 
came  here  he  had  about  §300  besides  his  outfit. 
At  first  he  rented  a  farm  for  two  years  near  Gore 
ville,  and  then  settled  in  the  woods  where  is  sit- 
uated his  present  fine  farm.  He  bought  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and   five  acres  for  ^260,  and  he  con- 


POKTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


259 


siders  it  was  dear  at  that.  He  built  a  little  log 
house  in  1862,  moved  into  it,  and  about  three 
3'ears  later  he  built  his  present  hewed-log  house, 
which  makes  a  comfortable  home,  being  ceiled  in- 
side. Our  subject  was  united  in  marriage  in  Maj', 
1855,  to  Miss  Lundry  S.  Peck,  daughter  of  John 
and  Leahr  (Eagle)  Peck.  Of  this  marriage  there 
were  thirteen  children,  three  sons  and  ten  daugh- 
ters, of  whom  they  have  buried  three,  viz:  one 
infant  daughter;  Luico  B.,  who  died  when  thir- 
teen years  of  age;  and  Mary  D.,  who  died  at 
twelve.  Those  living  are  as  follows:  Frances  E., 
wife  of  Tliomas  Johns,  and  who  has  two  sons  and 
one  daughter;  Locke  C,  aged  thirty-four,  who  has 
a  wife  and  four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters; Martha  A.,  wife  of  Thomas  Gordon,  who 
has  one  son  and  four  daughters;  Ida  S.,  wife  of 
Cannon  Johns,  and  vvho  is  twenty-four  j'ears  old 
and  has  one  son;  OUie  J.,  a  3'oung  lady  at  home, 
aged  twenty-one;  Loney  Agnes,  a  young  lady  at 
Ijome  aged  eighteen;  Cyrus  C,  Jr.,  a  young  man 
cif  sixteen,  at  home;  Nettie  May,  thirteen;  Maud 
L.,  ten ;  and  Essie  G.,  seven  years  old.  All  of  these 
children  have  learned  to  read  and  write,  but  like 
their  parents  are  not  of  a  literary  turn  of  mind. 

Mr.  Ridenhower  has  always  been  a  Simon-pure 
Republican.  He  keeps  himself  well  informed  on 
national  afifairs,  and  is  steadily  growing  in  the 
faith.  He  carries  on  general  farming  and  keeps 
all  the  horses,  cattle  and  sheep  the  farm  will  sup- 
port. He  keeps  his  farm  well  cultivated  and  well 
improved,  and  is  one  of  the  best  farmers  in  the 
county. 


-=^^>^^<l 


RS.  SOPHRONA  A.  RAGAINS,  widow  of 
Capt.  David  Ragains,  resides  in  the  north- 
ern suburbs  of  Vienna,  Johnson  County, 
on  the  Ragains'  farm  on  section  32, 
Bloomfield  Township.  She  is  a  daughter  of  John 
Tune,  who  was  a  Virginian  by  birth,  and  was  a 
soldier  in  the  War  of  1812.  When  young  he  was 
taken  by  his  parents  to  Tennessee,  where  he  was 


brought  up  on  a  farm.  His  education  was  limited, 
as  his  boyhood  was  passed  amid  pioneer  environ- 
ments, and  he  had  but  little  means  with  which  to 
start  in  life.  He  was  successful,  however,  and  ac- 
cumulated a  comfortable  propert3'.  He  married 
Mary  Cooper,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  they 
reared  a  famil}'  of  fifteen  children:  Frances  H., 
who  married  Thomas  P.  Wells,  a  resident  of  Pope 
County,  and  died  in  that  county;  William  T.  and 
James  C,  both  of  whom  died  in  Tennessee;  Robert 
Bedford,  who  died  in  Pope  County;  John  B.,  a 
farmer  in  Tennessee;  Jane,  who  married  Brown 
Knott,  and  died  in  Tennessee,  her  husband  also 
djdng;  Charles  W.,  wlio  died  on  the  old  home- 
stead in  Tennessee;  Mary,  widow  of  John  Bomar, 
and  a  resident  of  Oklahoma;  Kester,  a  farmer  of 
Tennessee;  Marcus,  living  in  Tennessee;  Melin- 
da,  who  died  in  Tennessee;  Sarah,  wife  of  Wat- 
son Williams,  a  farmer  of  Tennessee;  Sophrona; 
Caleb, a  farmer  of  Pope  County;  and  Evaline,  who 
died  in  Tennessee. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  review  was  the 
thirteenth  child  of  the  family,  and  was  born  in 
Bedford  County,  Tenn.,  September  7,  1836.  She 
was  well  trained  at  home  in  all  that  goes  to  make 
a  good  housewife,  and  in  her  girlhood  she  attended 
the  primitive  pioneer  schools  of  the  time,  which 
were  taught  in  rudely  built  log  houses.  In  the 
fall  of  1858  she  was  married  to  Thomas  Collins, 
who  was  from  the  neighboring  State  of  Georgia. 
She  accompanied  him  to  Pope  County,  this  State, 
where  he  obtained  and  settled  on  a  tract  of  wild 
land,  erecting  a  log  cabin  for  a  habitation.  He 
there  worked  energeticallj^  at  his  pioneer  task  of 
clearing  his  land,  and  had  made  good  progress  in 
improving  a  farm  when  the  war  broke  out.  In 
October  of  that  year  he  left  his  little  family  to  go 
forth  and  fight  and  die  for  his  countiy,  enlisting 
in  Company  G,  Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry,  and  for 
nearly  three  years  he  did  good  service  at  the 
front,  and  at  Memphis  he  died.  All  that  was 
mortal  of  the  heroic  soldier  was  brought  back  to 
Pope  County  for  burial. 

Thus  left  a  widow  in  early  womanhood,  our 
subject  remained  on  the  farm  her  husband  had  left 
her,  and  was  assisted  in  its  management  b}^  a 
young  brother  of   hers  until  her  second  marriage. 


•^6U 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


whicli  iiiiil('(l  licr  with  David  Kag.iins,  from 
K:isl  TuiiiiL'ssce.  and  wliicii  took  jilace  on  the 
Kith  of  June,  1870.  She  sold  the  old  place  and 
removed  to  the  farm  that  she  still  lives  upon, 
which  was  owned  by  Mr.  liagains,  and  was  well 
improved  at  the  time  of  lier  maniage.  11  com- 
prises foi'ty-tiiree  acres  of  line  land,  ami)ly  sup- 
l)licd  with  buildings,  including  a  comfortable, 
woll-lniill  house  erected  by  Mr.  liagains  j^ears  be- 
fore Ills  death.  The  farm  is  now  in  charge  of 
one  (if  his  sons,  and  is  kept  in  good  condition. 
Mrs.  liagains  has  here  a  cozy  home,  and  her  davs 
arc  passed  serenely  and  in  comfort,  in  the  full  en- 
jo^ment  of  the  respect  dne  to  her  sterling  quali- 
ties of  head  and  heart.  By  her  first  marriage  she 
had  three  children:  Mary  and  Marilda,  both  of 
whom  died  in  I'ope  Count3';  and  William  Thomas, 
who  is  railway-  agent  at  IJivens,  Tex.,  and  was  mar- 
ried in  that  State  to  Miss  Maud  IMiller,  of  Michi- 
gan; they  have  one  child,  Edith. 

David  Ragains  was  mainly  a  self-educated  man, 
having  attended  school  onl}^  about  six  months  in 
all,  but  he  had  a  clear,  active  brain,  and  b3'  study 
and  intelligent  observation  he  made  up  in  later 
life  for  his  early  deficiencies  in  the  acquirement  of 
knowledge.  When  he  came  here  from  Tennessee  in 
1852,  he  was  poor,  but  he  possessed  the  I'equisite 
energ3s  thrift  and  ability  to  work,  seconded  b}' 
good  habits  and  sound  judgment,  necessary  to  win 
him  success.  He  had  those  traits  of  character  that 
make  a  man  influential,  and  he  became  a  well- 
known  and  prominent  citizen  of  Johnson  County. 
He  held  the  offices  of  Deputy  Clerk  and  Deputy 
Sheriff  of  the  county,  and  his  genial  manners, 
coupled  with  frankness  and  a  generous  spirit,  made 
him  popular  and  gained  him  a  host  of  friends,  who 
lamented  with  his  family  his  death,  February  17, 
1887.  He  was  ever  loyal  in  his  citizenship 
to  his  country,  and  while  fighting  in  its  defense 
won  a  military  record  of  which  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren may  well  be  proud.  In  the  spring  of  1862 
he  raised  a  company  of  citizen-soldiers  in  response 
to  a  call  for  troops,  which  was  incorporated  in  the 
Sixtieth  Illinois  Infantry  as  Company  H,  and  he 
went  to  the  front  with  it  as  its  Captain.  He  made 
an  excellent  ollicer,  who  was  always  at  his  post, 
and  never  flinched  when  his  duty  led  him  into  the 


most  dangerous  and  trying  situations.  He  was 
actively-  engaged  in  a  number  of  important  bat- 
tles, including  that  at  Stone  River,  and  look  part 
in  various  skirmishes  around  Nashville.  Thir- 
teen months  in  the  field,  on  the  long  and  weary 
marches,  or  in  miasmatic  camps, nearly  ruined  his 
health,  and  he  was  discharged  at  the  end  of  that 
time  on  account  of  disability,  and  never  fully  re- 
covered from  the  effects  of  his  army  life. 


THOMAS  B.  GORE,  M.  D.,  of  Elvira,  is  prom- 
inently identified  with  both  the  professional 
and  mercantile  interests  of  Johnson  County 
as  a  pbj'sician  of  high  repute  and  as  a  merchant 
of  marked  enterprise  and  business  capacity.  He 
comes  of  the  fine  old  pioneer  stock  of  this  section 
of  Illinois,  and  is  a  true-born  son  of  the  soil. 
Vienna  Township  is  his  birthplace  and  March  1, 
1847,  the  date  of  his  birth.  AValton  Gore,  his  fa- 
ther, was  a  native  of  Georgia,  and  was  a  son  of 
John  Gore,  who  was  also  born  in  that  State  for 
aught  known  to  the  contraiy.  AVhen  Illinois 
was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  pioneers  he  emi- 
grated hither  with  his  family  and  was  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  of  Johnson  County.  He  secured 
a  tract  of  Government  laud  in  Vienna  Township, 
and  fortified  by  industrious  habits,  a  good  knowl- 
edge of  farming,  and  a  courageous  heart,  calmly 
faced  the  privations  and  hardships  that  attend  the 
struggle  with  Nature's  forces  in  reclaiming  a  farm 
from  the  wilderness.  The  remainder  of  his  life 
was  spent  here  in  the. home  that  he  built. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  young  when  his 
parents  brought  him  to  this  State.  He  grew  to  a 
stalwart  manhood  amid  primitive  surroundings, 
became  a  proficient  farmer  under  his  father's 
guidance,  and  when  he  entered  upon  his  indepen- 
dent career  in  that  calling  secured  a  tract  of 
Government  land  in  what  is  now  Goreville  Town- 
ship, which  he  transformed  into  a  good  farm, 
erecting  first  a  set  of  log  buildings.  When  old 
age  approached,  death  stayed  his  hand,  and  he  fell 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


261 


into  the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking  amid  the 
scenes  of  his  labors  of  man^'  ji^ears.  His  wife,  to 
whom  he  was  much  indebted  for  her  ever-ready 
helpfulness  and  wise  counsel,  still  resides  on  the 
iiome  farm.  She  bore  the  maiden  name  of  ^lary 
Bain,  and  a  sketch  of  her  appears  elsewhere  in 
this  work.     She  reared  six  children. 

Jir.  Gore  received  his  earl}'  education  at  the  dis- 
trict schools.  The  first  that  he  attended  was  in  a 
log  building,  furnished  in  a  most  primitive  fashion, 
the  seats  being  made  of  logs  split  and  four  pins 
put  in  for  legs,  while  there  were  no  backs  to  the 
seats  and  no  desks  in  front  of  them.  The  I'oom 
was  heated  by  means  of  a  rude  fireplace.  Wiien 
not  in  school  our  subject  assisted  on  the  farm,  and 
resided  with  his  parents  until  he  attained  his  ma- 
jorit}-.  At  that  age  he  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine,  entered  the  College  of  Ph3'sicians  and 
Surgeons  at  St.  Louis,  and  was  graduated  from 
that  medical  institution  well  grounded  in  the 
fundamental  principles  of  his  profession.  He  first 
opened  an  office  at  Gorcville,  but  after  a  few 
}-ears'  practice  there  he  went  to  Beebe,  Ark.,  where 
he  pursued  his  calling  some  five  years.  Since  then 
he  has  engaged  in  practice  at  Elvira,  coming  here 
to  take  advantage  of  an  excellent  opening  for  a 
good  physician.  He  has  secured  his  full  share  of 
patronage,  as  the  people,  who  already  knew  him 
by  reputation,  early  found  him  to  be  a  wise  and 
safe  counselor  when  consulted  in  his  professional 
capacity,  and  one  who  is  sound  and  sensible  in  his 
methods  of  treatment. 

The  Doctor's  energies  are  by  no  means  limited 
to  the  practice  of  his  profession,  as  since  1888  he 
has  been  Postmaster  at  Elvira,  and  since  1890  has 
indulged  in  his  taste  for  business  in  a  mercantile 
way,  owning  and  managing  a  neatly  appointed  es- 
tablishment for  the  sale  of  merchandise,  and  this 
also  yields  him  a  good  income.  He  is  a  man  of 
genial  presence  and  generous  nature,  of  an  active, 
vigorous  mind,  and  has  fine  business  qualifica- 
tions, and  these  traits  have  made  him  a  valued 
citizen.  Socially,  he  is  prominent  as  a  member  of 
Goreville  Lodge  No.  528,  L  0.  O.  F. 

Our  subject  has  been  twice  married.  In  1867 
he  was  wedded  to  Miss  Virginia  A.  McGeehe,  who 
was  born  in  Vira;inia  and   was  a  daughter  of  .Sim- 


eon and  Susan  (McMahon)  McGeehe.  She  died 
in  1880,  leaving  four  children:  Norma,  Addison, 
George  and  T.  Jefferson.  The  Doctor's  second  mar- 
riage took  place  in  1887,  and  was  with  Miss  Ten- 
nie  Halliburton,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  a 
daughter  of  L.  S.  Halliburton.  To  them  have 
been  born  two  children,  Charles  and  Bertha. 


yn.LIAM  H.  COVER  was  born  in  Pulaski 
County,  111.,  in  1850.  He  is  a  son  of 
Abraham  Cover,  of  Maryland,  who  was 
born  in  1826,  and  who  was  brought  to  Union 
Count}',  111.,  by  his  widowed  mother  in  the  j'ear 
1838,  when  he  was  twelve  years  of  age.  Her  mai- 
den name  was  Hahn,  and  she  was  also  from  Mary- 
laud.  Ilei-  husband  died  in  middle  life,  leaving 
her  with  seven  children,  six  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter, but  without  property.  Al)raham  was  the  sixth 
child.  The  eldest  of  these  children,  D.aniel,  was 
then  a  man  of  family.  When  Mrs.  Cover  came  to 
Illinois  she  came  down  the  Ohio  River  and  then 
up  the  Mississippi  to  Jonesbo rough.  Abraham  Cover 
had  been  a  farmer  and  miller,  but  his  brothers  Daniel 
and  Alson  were  plasterers  and  stone  masons,  and 
worked  at  their  trade  after  coming  to  Illinois. 
Mrs.  Cover  died  at  Jonesborough  in  her  eightieth 
J'ear.  Ephraim  and  Catherine,  the  latter  the  widow 
of  Henry  Miller,  are  the  only  living  children. 
Abraham  Cover  married  Sophia  Miller,  daugh- 
ter of  David  and  Sophia  Miller,  who  were  very 
early  settlers  in  this  State.  Abraham  followed 
farming  in  Pulaski  County  two  years,  when  he 
sold  his  farm  and  moved  to  Western  Saratoga, 
Union  County,  111.,  where  he  lived  the  most  of  his 
life,  and  where  he  accumulated  considerable  prop- 
erty' in  the  shape  of  a  good  farm  of  over  three 
hundred  acres  and  an  interest  in  a  mill.  His  first 
wife,  the  mother  of  William  H.,died  therein  1876, 
leaving  seven  children,  four  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters, William  H.  being  the  first  born.  Mr.  Cover 
then  married  Miss  Emeline  Grimes,  by  whom  he 


262 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


had  one  daughtor.  He  died  at  Tunnel  Hill,  Sep- 
tember 21,  1892,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three.  lie 
left  to  his  widow  and  children  a  handsome  estate 
of  about  $15,000.  The  widow  still  lives  at  her 
home.  Eight  ehildren  of  Mr.  Cover  are  still 
living;  one,  Albert,  by  his  first  wife,  died  in 
Texas,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  There  was 
also  a  daughter  that  died,  Isabella  S.,  at  the 
age  of  fourteen.  The  eight  living  are  as  fol- 
lows: William  II.  and  David  M.,  engaged  in 
the  milling,  grain,  seed  and  live-stock  business. 
They  also  own  over  six  hundred  acres  of  land  and 
carry  on  farming.  The  business  in  which  they  are 
now  engaged  was  established  by  their  father  over 
thirty  3-ears  ago,  and  William  11.  became  con- 
nected with  it  in  1871.  Caleb  W.  is  a  farmer  of 
ITmon  County.  O.  A.  is  next  in  order.  Katie  is  a 
maiden  lad}'  at  home.  .Teannette  is  the  wife  of 
Benton  Green,  a  farmer  of  Union  County.  Effie 
May  and  a  half-sister,  Delia  May,  twelve  years  old, 
are  at  home.  The  father  of  these  cliildren  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Mexican  War  and  also  in  the  Civil 
War.  lie  was  First  Lieutenant  in  Company  M, 
Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry.  He  gave  his  family  a  good 
common-school  education,  and  three  of  them  have 
taught  school.  He  was  an  ardent  Republican  dur- 
ing his  entire  life,  and  in  his  old  age  he  was 
sure  to  vote.  His  sons  are  all  of  the  same  politi- 
cal faith.  William  H.  Cover  is  still  single.  He  is 
a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  and  is  also  an  Odd  Fellow. 
He  is  a  verj'  industrious  man,  as  the  business  which 
he  and  his  brother  conduct  is  a  very  large  one. 
Mr.  Cover  is  of  a  literary  turn  of  mind,  and  con- 
fidenth'  looks  forward  to  the  time  when  he  can  de- 
vote more  attention  than  is  now  possible  to  liter- 
ary pursuits. 


J'OHN  M.  STONE,  who  entered  tiic  army 
shortly  after  the  war  broke  out,  ere  he  had 
attained  man's  estate,  and  served  his  coun- 
try long  and  well  on  the  terrible  battle- 
fields of  the  South,  is  a  potent  factor  in  sustaining 
and  extending  the  agricultural  interests  of  John- 


son County.  His  farm,  lying  on  section  23,  El- 
vira Township,  is  finely  improved,  and  is  one  of 
the  most  desirable  places  in  the  neighborhood. 

Mr.  Stone  was  born  in  Lincoln  County,  Tenn.. 
November  27,  1842.  His  father,  .lames  Stone,  was 
a  native  of  the  same  county,  while  his  grand- 
father, Moses  Stone,  is  thought  to  have  been  a  na- 
tive of  North  Carolina,  and  was  an  early  settler  of 
Lincoln  County,  where  he  spent  his  last  }'ears. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  and  mar- 
ried in  Tennessee.  He  served  in  the  Indian  War 
in  Florida,  and  received  a  land  warrant  for  one 
hundred  and  sixt}-  acres  of  land  for  his  services. 
After  his  marriage  he  settled  in  his  native  State 
on. a  tract  of  land  that  his  father  gave  him.  In 
1843  he  decided  to  try  his  fortunes  in  Missouri, 
and  emigrated  thither  with  his  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren, traveling  with  a  team,  and  cooking  and 
camping  on  the  way  at  nightfall  for  a  period  of 
seven  weeks.  Arriving  at  his  destination  in  Hick- 
ory Count}',  he  entered  a  tract  of  Government 
land,  and  his  first  work  was  to  build  a  log  cabin 
to  shelter  his  famil}'.  In  1858  he  went  into  Ar- 
kansas prospecting,  but  did  not  find  a  location 
that  suited  him,  and  continuing  his  journe}',  he 
came  to  Illinois  and  selected  Johnson  County  for 
his  future  home.  He  rented  land  and  resided  here 
until  his  death,  April  1,  1868.  His  worthy  wife 
survives  him,  and  makes  her  home  with  her  chil- 
dren. Her  name  was  Mildred  Reese  before  mar- 
riage, and  she  was  born  in  Bedford  Count}',  Va., 
October  1,  1820.  Her  father,  Robert  Reese,  was 
likewise  a  native  of  that  county,  and  was  a  son  of 
Berry  and  Sarah  Reese.  He  removed  from  Vir- 
ginia to  Tennessee  in  1832,  bought  land  in  Lin- 
coln County,  Tenn.,  and  improved  a  farm,  upon 
which  he  dwelt  until  his  life  was  rounded  out  by 
his  death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Nancy  Minor.  She  was  born  in  the  same  Virginia 
county  that  he  was,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Will- 
iam and  Mildred  (St.  John)  Minor.  The  parents 
of  our  subject  had  eight  children,  two  sons  and 
six  daughters. 

John  M.  Stone,  of  this  sketch,  was  an  infant 
when  the  family  removed  to  Missouri.  There 
were  no  free  schools  whatsoever  where  they  lived, 
and  all  were  taught  on  the  subscription   plan,  the 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


263 


one  that  our  subject  attended  being  held  in  a  log 
house  that  had  no  floor,  and  was  heated  by  a  fire- 
place, while  the  furniture  was  of  the  most  primi- 
tive home  manufacture.  The  seats  were  made 
l)y  splitting  logs,  hewing  one  side  smooth,  and 
inserting  wooden  pins  for  legs,  and  they  had 
no  backs  and  no  desks  in  front.  Tlie  family 
being  poor,  young  Stone  began  at  an  early  pe- 
riod of  his  career  to  assist  in  its  support.  He 
made  his  home  beneath  the  parental  roof  until 
1861.  In  August  of  that  3-ear  he  volunteered  his 
services  to  help  save  the  Old  Flag  from  dishonor, 
enlisting  in  Company  B,  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infan- 
try-, commanded  by  John  A.  Logan.  He  acted 
well  his  part  as  a  soldier  in  the  many  battles  in 
which  he  took  part,  among  which  we  may  men- 
tion the  following:  Belmont,  where  he  received  a 
flesh  wound  in  the  arm,  which  was  the  only  mark 
of  the  enemy's  skill  in  shooting  of  which  he  could 
boast  throughout  his  long  experience  in  the  army; 
after  Belmont,  Ft.  Heurj^,  Ft.  Donelson,  Shiloh, 
siege  of  Corinth,  Champion  Hill,  Ra3'mond,aud  the 
siege  and  capture  of  Vicksburg.  He  veteranized 
in  January,  1864,  and  was  granted  a  furlough  of 
thirty  da3's.  He  then  rejoined  his  command  at 
Clifton,  Tenn.,  in  season  to  take  part  in  the  battle 
waged  at  that  point,  and  subsequently  accom- 
panied Gen.  Sherman  on  his  famous  campaign  to 
Atlanta,  and  from  .that  citj'  to  the  sea  with  the 
victorious  army,  and  still  onward  to  Washington 
througli  the  Carolinas  and  b}'  way  of  Petersburgh 
and  Richmond  to  the  capital  of  the  Nation,  where 
our  subject  and  his  comrades  participated  in  the 
Grand  Review  of  the  Union  forces.  From  there  his 
regiment  was  sent  to  Louisville,  and  thence  to 
Springfield,  where  it  was  honorably  discharged  in 
July,  1865,  after  a  long  and  bitter  experience  of 
the  horrors  of  war,  extending  over  a  period  of 
four  years. 

vSoon  after  his  return  Mr.  Stone  bought  fort}^ 
acres  of  land  in  Elvira  Township,  which  he  occu- 
pied until  1878,  when  he  purchased  his  present 
farm  on  section  23,  of  the  same  township.  It  is  a 
well-kept  farm  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres, 
of  which  one  hundred  and  fift}'  acres  are  in  a  fine 
state  of  cultivation,  and  it  is  amply  provided  with 
good   buildings   for  every  needed   purpose.     Our 


subject  has  his  place  well  stocked  with  a  good  class 
of  cattle,  horses  and  hogs.  Mr.  Stone  is  a  worth}' 
member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  be- 
longing to  Vienna  Post  No.  221.  He  and  his  wife 
are  also  closelj^  identified  with  the  religious  eleva- 
tion of  the  community  as  active  members  of  the 
Missionarj'  Baptist  Church. 

Mr.  Stone  was  first  married  to  Miss  Mary  Ken- 
nedy, in  November,  1866.  She  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  was  a  daughter  of  Jefi'erson  and  Polly 
Kennedy.  She  died  in  June,  1871,  leaving  two 
children,  Clementine  and  Austin.  The  second 
marriage  of  our  subject  was  with  Christiana  Doudy, 
who  was  born  in  Stoddard  Count}',  Mo.,  June  7, 
1851,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Eliza 
(Riddle)  Doud}',  who  were  natives  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  were  pioneers  of  Stoddard  County.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Stone  have  eight  children  living:  Min- 
nie Belle,  Frank,  Florence,  RoUin,  Edgar,  Lemuel, 
Bessie  and  Doll}'. 


/4^,  APT.  PETER  BELFORD  is  one  of  the  hon- 
fl(  orcd  veterans  of  the  late  war,  having  en- 

^^^J  listed  among  the  first  brave  men  to  come 
to  the  rescue  of  the  Union,  and  serving  until  Sep- 
tember, 1864.  He  saw  a  great  deal  of  the  hardest 
and  most  active  service,  was  captured  at  Holly 
Springs,  Miss.,  on  December  20,  1862,  and  was  a 
prisoner  over  six  months,  being  released  on  parole 
in  July,  1863,  at  St.  Louis.  He  participated  in 
the  battles  of  Ft.  Donelson,  Shiloh,  siege  and  cap- 
ture of  Vicksburg,  and  various  other  minor 
battles  and  engagements.  He  enlisted  July  15, 
1861,  in  Company  F,  Twenty-ninth  Illinois  In- 
fantry, at  Golconda,  and  was  honorabl}-  discharged 
at  Natchez,  Miss.  Owing  to  the  exposure,  fatigue 
and  hard  usage  which  were  his  lot,  as  that  of  most 
of  the  valiant  soldiers  during  the  War  of  the  Re- 
bellion, he  has  never  been  able-bodied  or  possessed 
of  that  priceless  blessing,  good  health,  since 
those  days  of  carnage.    Soon  after  his  return  from 


2(;i 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


the  aniiv  lie  oanie  lo  Pope  County,  purchasing 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  where  lie  re- 
sided for  twelve  years,  and  then  sold  the  property, 
buying  the  place  where  he  now  lives  in  1885. 
This  is  a  well-improved  and  ver^'  fertile  farm  of 
two  hundred  and  twent.y-three  acres  on  sections  5, 
7  and  12,  in  township  12,  range  6. 

The  Captain  was  born  in  Pope  Count\'  No- 
vember 13,  1838,  his  father  being  John  Belford,  a 
native  of  South  Carolina,  and  his  mother  Keziah 
Belford,  nee  Storm,  born  in  Indiana.  Our  sub- 
ject's paternal  grandfather,  who  was  a  native  of 
England,  emigrated  from  his  ancestral  shores  to 
South  Carolina,  where  he  was  an  honored  settler 
and  prosperous  business  man.  John  Belford  came 
to  Illinois  in  1804,  and  followed  the  occupation  of 
farming,  first  in  Pulaski  County,  and  afterward  in 
this  portion  of  the  State,  being  one  of  the  first  white 
settlers  of  Pope  County,  where  he  entered  a  tract 
of  land  from  the  Government.  His  marriage  was 
celebrated  here,  and  he  reared  his  family  of  five 
children  to  be  good  and  useful  citizens.  Our  sub- 
ject when  quite  young  went  to  live  with  an  uncle, 
William  Belford,  also  of  this  county,  and  re- 
mained with  him  until  seventeen  years  of  age,  when 
he  commenced  working  on  the  river  at  various 
occupations  until  reaching  his  majority.  He  then 
concluded  to  settle  down,  and  for  a  time  eng.'iged 
in  teaching  as  well  as  farming.  His  own  educa- 
tion was  acquired  in  a  log  schoolhouse,  14x16  feet 
in  dimensions,  with  a  chimney  made  of  clay  and 
sticks,  and  desks  and  benches  made  of  roughly- 
hewed  logs  with  pins  for  legs.  The  window  was 
merely  a  hole  in  one  side  of  the  wall,  which  was 
not  furnished  with  window-glass  or  protection  of 
any  description,  thus  affording  excellent  ventila- 
tion, during  the  winter  time  especiall}'.  Mr.  Bel- 
ford had  tauglit  one  term  of  school  previous  to 
entering  the  army,  and  Avas  quite  successful  in  tlie 
educational  field. 

On  Januarj'  28,  1863,  was  celebrated  the  mar- 
riage of  Capt.  Belford  and  Miss  Nancy  Storm, 
who  was  born  in  this  county  March  16,  1840.  To 
them  were  born  twelve  children,  six  of  whom 
are  living.  The  three  elder  are  married  and  have 
homes  of  their  own,  while  the  younger  members 
of   the   family  still  reside  with  their  parents.     In 


order  of  birth  they  are  as  follows:  Emma,  Charles 
L.,  Jessie,  Eflie  A.,  Henry  N.  and  Lena  L.  The  fam- 
ily holds  membership  with  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterian Church  at  New  ]^iberty,and  are  interested 
workers  in  the  same.  The  Captain  is  a  member  of 
Lodge  No.  672,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  at  Eddyville.  For 
a  great  many  j^ears  he  has  been  a  School  Director, 
and  is  a  thorough  believer  in  our  present  admir- 
able school  system.  As  is  the  duty  of  every  true 
American  patriot  and  citizen,  he  is  greatly  inter- 
ested in  politics,  and  votes  the  Republican  ticket. 
He  is  a  man  of  exemplary  life,  one  whose  record 
may  well  be  pointed  out  as  worthy  of  emulation. 
He  has  always  manifested  the  utmost  honor  and 
integrity  in  his  business  dealings,  and  it  is  to  this 
that  he  owes  the  enviable  rei)utation  he  has  with 
all  who  know  him. 


e^H^i 


LNEY  II.  ELKINS,  who  belongs  to  one  of 
the  old  families  of  Johnson  County,  of 
whom  an  account  is  given  in  the  sketch 
of  Joshua  Elkins,  was  a  boj'  when  war  was 
declared  between  the  North  and  South,  but  before 
its  close,  ere  he  had  attained  manhood,  he  showed 
himself  to  be  a  patriotic  lover  of  his  country  by 
enlisting  as  a  soldier  in  defense  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  and  acted  well  his  part  while  in  the  army. 
He  is  now  perfoi'iiiing  his  duty  with  equal  fidelity 
in  hiscapacity  as  a  practical,  thrifty  farmer,  who  is 
contributing  his  quota  to  the  general  prosperity  of 
this  his  native  county  as  a  rich  agricultural  centre, 
owning  and  occupying  a  carefully  tilled  and  well- 
equipped  farm,  pleasantly  situated  on  section  8, 
Elvira  Township. 

Our  subject  was  born  and  reared  within  the 
precincts  of  Johnson  County,  as  was  also  his  father, 
Waton  Elkius,  the  latter  having  first  opened  his 
eyes  to  the  light  in  one  of  the  earl}' pioneer  homes 
of  this  section  founded  by  his  parents,  Richard 
and  Sallie  Elkins.  Waton  Elkins  grew  to  a  stal- 
wart manhood  amid  the  primitive  environments  of 
a  sparsely  settled  country,  and   manfully   did  his 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


265 


share  of  hard  labor  in  reclaiming'  land  from  its 
natural  state  and  in  developing  the  agricultural 
resources  of  the  region  where  he  lived  for  man3' 
j'ears.  He  devoted  the  most  of  his  life  to  farming, 
but  finally'  removed  to  Cobden  to  spend  his  last 
days  in  retirement,  and  there  death  came  to  him  at 
a  serene  old  age. 

The  subject  of  these  lines  was  well  drilled  in  the 
occupation  of  a  farmer  ere  he  was  seventeen  years 
old,  working  on  the  home  farm  until  that  time, 
when  he  enlisted  in  Companj'  D,  Thirty-first  Illi- 
nois lufantr}',  in  February,  1864.  He  was  well  en- 
dowed with  courage,  resolution  and  coolness  in  ac- 
tion and  with  other  good  soldierlj-  qualities,  and 
during  his  many  months'  experience  of  army  life 
was  always  at  his  post.  He  took  part  in  some  hard 
fighting, especiallv  at  the  engagement  at  Atlanta, 
Ga.,  and  in  numerous  other  battles  that  occurred  on 
his  march  with  Sherman  to  the  sea.  He  also  accom- 
panied his  revered  leader  through  the  Carolinas 
and  Virginia  b}'  the  wa}-  of  Petersburgh  and  Rich- 
mond, and  on  to  Washington,  where  he  marched 
in  the  grand  review  of  all  the  Federal  troops,  and 
was  honorably  discharged  with  his  regiment  at 
Louisville,  Ky.,  July  19,  186.5. 

Returning  to  his  home,  the  battle-worn,  though 
j'outhf  ul,  veteran  quietly  resumed  his  agricultural 
labors,  in  which  he  has  been  engaged  very  success- 
fully ever  since,  and  he  has  a  good  farm  of  one 
hundred  acres  of  fertile  soil  that  he  cultivates  in- 
telligently, with  due  regard  to  the  methods  of  ag- 
riculture best  adapted  to  this  region.  He  is  con- 
stantly making  improvements  of  a  substantial  or- 
der, and  from  the  products  of  his  farm  he  derives 
a  desirable  income. 

In  all  these  3-ears  of  his  life  as  an  independent 
farmer,  ^Ir.  Flkins  has  had  the  valuable  assistance 
of  an  active  and  competent  wife,  who  looks  care- 
fully after  the  affairs  of  the  household,  and  is  re- 
gardful of  the  comfort  of  its  membei-s.  She  was 
united  in  marriage  to  our  subject  in  1867-.  Her 
former  name  was  Mary  Stone,  and  she  was  born  in 
Missouri  in  1847.  She  is  a  daughter  of  .James  and 
Millie  Stone,  natives  respectively  of  Tennessee  and 
Virginia.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Elkins  are  blessed  with 
six  children,  who  are  named  John,  Clinton,  Rich- 
ard. James,  Samantha  and  Harrison. 


Mr.  Elkins  is  a  most  estimable  man,  of  exemplarj'^ 
habits  and  upright  conduct,  and  merits  the  regard 
which  the  people  have  for  him,  among  whom  his 
life  has  been  entirely  spent,  with  the  exception  of 
that  trying  period  when  he  was  at  the  front  bat- 
tling for  his  country.  His  memories  of  the  days 
and  nights  on  Southern  battlefields  are  kept  alive 
by  his  membership  in  Vienna  PostNo.  221,  G.  A.  R. 
Politically,  he  is  a  stanch  Republican. 


'■— ^— ^1 


(^^HOMAS  R.  F.URRIS,  M.  D.  In  the  death  of 
,//^  Dr.  Thomas  R.  Burris  his  profession  was 
Vg^  deprived  of  an  honored  member  and  the 
citizenship  of  Johnson  Count}^  met  with  a  sad 
loss.  He  was  a  native  of  Kentuck}^,  born  near 
Lexington,  November  30,  1832.  His  father,  Hi- 
ram H.  Burris,  who  was  also  a  Kentuckian  by 
birth,  came  from  his  native  State  to  Illinois  in 
18.50,  and  first  settled  on  land  that  he  bought  in 
Johnson  County.  Some  years  later  he  removed 
to  Vienna  and  there  passed  the  remainder  of  his 
life. 

Our  subject  was  well  educated  in  his  youth  and 
for  a  time  taught  school.  He  learned  the  trade  of 
a  shoemaker  and  engaged  at  that,  and  also  in  the 
furniture  business  for  a  while.  He  was,  however, 
drawn  to  the  medical  profession,  for  which  he  was 
well  adapted  hy  taste  and  temperament,  and  some 
time  after  marriage  he  began  to  prepare  himself 
for  a  physician.  He  studied  hard,  thoroughly' 
mastering  the  principles  of  medicine,  and  after  at- 
tending a  course  of  lectures  at  a  medical  college 
at  Cincinnati,  established  himself  in  his  chosen 
calling,  which  he  pursued  with  eminent  success 
until  his  death,  August  29,  1889,  ere  yet  old  age 
had  come  upon  him.  The  life  thus  brought  to 
an  end  had  been  full  and  rich  in  all  that  goes  to 
make  life  worth  living,  as  the  Doctor  was  a  man  of 
unblemished  character,  of  high  principles  and  cor- 
rect habits, .who  was  capable  and  conscientious  in 
his  care  of  the  sick  who  sought  relief  from  suffer- 
iiii;-  at  his  hand.    He  was  an  attentive  husband  and 


2(;() 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


father,  was  kindly  in  liis  relations  witii  his  neigii- 
l)ors,  and  was  a  good  citizen,  who  had  the  interests 
of  the  community  at  heart.  In  his  political  senti- 
ments the  Doctor  was  a  Republican.  Religiously, 
he  was  a  believer  in  the  IJaptist  faith,  and  was  a 
valued  member  of  tlie  liaptist  Church. 

Dr.  Burris  was  first  married  to  Miss  Ruth  M. 
IVhdkey,  who  was  born  August  24,  1838,  in  Illi- 
nois, and  died  September  1,  1870,  leaving  a  family 
of  children,  four  .sons  and  a  daughter,  all  residents 
of  this  county.  The  Doctor's  second  marriage, 
which  took  place  August  6,  1871,  was  to  Miss 
Marj'  A.  Scott,  who  survives  him,  and  is  living 
with  their  children  on  the  farm  in  Bloomfield 
Township  on  which  the3'  settled  at  the  time  of 
their  marriage.  Mrs.  Burris  is  a  woman  well  en- 
dowed with  those  qualities  of  head  and  heart  that 
command  respect  and  esteem,  and  the  Baptist 
Church  finds  in  her  a  consistent  member.  She  is  a 
native  of  Bloomfield  Township,  born  May  15, 
1851.  She  has  six  children  living,  namely:  Es- 
tella  M.,  Lucinda  E.,  Tiiomas  S.,  Arthur  B.,  Mabel 
and  Elsie. 

The  father  of  INIrs.  Burris  was  John  J.  Scott,  a 
native  of  Kentucky.  His  father  was  of  Scottish 
birth  and  antecedents.  He  came  to  America  ac- 
companied by  his  family,  and  settled  inKentuck3', 
where  he  died  a  few  years  later.  His  son  John 
came  to  Illinois  when  a  young  man,  and  married 
in  Bloomfield  Tow-nship,  where  he  bought  land. 
In  1853  his  wife  died,  and  he  removed  to  the 
northwestern  part  of  Missouri,  and  was  there  mar- 
ried to  Lucy  Jones.  A  few  years  later  he  re- 
turned to  Johnson  County,  and  in  two  years'  time 
took  up  his  abode  in  Fannin  County,  Tex.,  where 
he  remained  until  his  death,  which  was  caused  by 
a  kick  from  a  vicious  horse. 

Mrs.  Burris'  mother  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
Lucinda  E.  Dooley.  She  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Jacob  Dooley, 
who,  as  far  as  known,  was  also  born  in  that  State, 
wliither  he  emigrated  to  Illinois  in  the  early  days 
of  its  settlement,  accompanied  by  his  family,  and 
was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Bloomfield  Township. 
He  entered  liere  a  tract  of  Government  land,  and 
made  it  his  home  as  long  as  he  lived.  ]Mrs.  liur- 
ris'  mother  was  first  married  to    Patterson   Bain, 


brother  of  Blewett  Bain,  and  settled  on  the  farm 
that  her  daughter  of  whom  we  write  now  owns 
and  occupies.  Mr.  Bain  died  here  a  few  \'ears  af- 
ter marriage.  Mrs.  I5urris  was  but  two  years  old 
when  her  mother  died,  and  she  was  reared  by  her 
step-mother.  At  the  age  of  fifteen,  having  a  good 
education,  she  returned  to  Bloomfield,  and  at  the 
age  of  seventeen  became  a  teacher,  and  followed 
that  profession  with  marked  success  until  her  mar- 
riage, at  the  age  of  twenty,  turned  her  thoughts 
and  interests  to  the  work  of  a  hnine-makei-,  for 
which  she  is  so  well  fitted. 


i^.GBERT  W.  HUTCHISON,  M.  D.,one  of  the 
ablest  and  most  successful  physicians  and 
surgeons  of  Massac  County,  has  for  many 

^^  years  enjoj'ed  an  extended  practice  in 
Joppa  and  the  surrounding  country,  devoting  him- 
self uuweariedly  to  the  cares  of  his  profession,  and 
alike  in  sunshine  and  tempest  going  his  dail3'  round, 
his  presence  being  a  familiar  one  in  the  homes 
of  wealth  as  well  as  in  those  of  abject  destitution. 
The  father  of  our  subject,  Nathaniel  Hutchison, 
was  born  and  educated  for  the  ministry'  in  Eng- 
land, where  he  studied  to  become  a  divine  of  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  Emigrating  to 
America  in  compan3-  with  his  father  and  mother, 
he  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  a  sailing-vessel,  and  ar- 
riving in  New  York,  speedily  found  his  wa}-  to 
Clarksville,  Tcnn.,  where  the  father,  mother  and 
son  located,  and  being  almost  destitute  of  means, 
Nathaniel  worked  upon  a  farm,  and,  as  he  could, 
attended  school  until  he  was  about  twenty  j'ears 
of  age,  when  he  began  teaching,  and  continued  in 
that  vocation  for  about  seven  \'ears,  the  scenes  of 
his  scholarly  labors  being  confined  to  Montgomery 
County,  Tenn. 

Father  Hutchison  was  a  most  successful  teacher, 
but  the  desire  of  his  heart  was  to  preach  the  Word, 
and  to  this  ultimate  end  all  his  efforts  were 
directed.  He  therefore  at  the  expiration  of  the 
seven  years  began  his  ministrations  as  a  preacher, 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


267 


and  for  the  succeeding  five  years  labored  in  the 
vineyard  of  the  Master,  and  as  a  pastor  was  con- 
tinually employed.  By  the  most  persistent  and 
self-sacrificing  economy  he  had  in  the  meantime 
gained  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  which 
he  afterward  disposed  of  to  excellent  advantage, 
and  invested  in  the  "Jackson  Purchase,"  where  he 
bought  two  hundred  acres  in  an  unimproved  farm, 
for  which  he  paid  §3,000,  and  where  he  spent  his 
last  days,  passing  away  March  19,  1861,  after  a 
life  of  useful  influence  and  devotion  to  the  cause 
of  Christianity.  He  was  married  in  Tennessee  to 
Miss  Martha  Roark,  born  in  Hanover,  Germany, 
and  who  died  in  Clarksville  in  1866.  She  had 
emigrated  in  her  youth  to  America  with  her  grand- 
mother, and  was  a  most  estimable  wife  and  mother. 
Nathaniel  Hutchison  is  yet  remembered  by  many 
as  a  generous,  whole-souled  and  Christian  gentle- 
man, who,  thoroughly  loyal  to  the  Union,  suffered 
persecution  during  the  impending  shadow  of  the 
Civil  AVar,  which  was  already  darkening  the  land 
when  he  died.  He  lived  to  lose  by  his  constancj" 
to  the  Government  every  dollar  of  property  he 
liad  gathered  with  such  self-sacrificing  care,  and 
his  death  was  undoubtedly  hastened  by  his  keen 
anxieties  for  his  loved  ones  and  his  adopted  coun- 
try. 

Nine  children  gathered  in  the  old  Tennessee 
homestead,  of  whom  Huston,  the  eldest,  is  de- 
ceased; .James  is  now  living  in  Johnson  County, 
near  Vienna,  farming;  Charles  W.  is  a  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  minister,  and  resides  at  present  in 
Kansas  City;  William  is  deceased;  Nathaniel  gave 
his  life  for  his  countrj^  and  served  nearly  five 
years  in  the  army,  enlisting  in  1862  in  the  Sixth 
Illinois  Cavalry,  and  remainingin  active  duty  un- 
til the  close  of  the  war,  being  subsequentl}^  killed 
by  a  rebel;  Thomas  is  a  resident  of  Metropolis; 
Sarah  is  the  wife  of  Jacob  Albright,  of  Clarksville, 
Tenn.;  Robert  W.  was  the  eighth  child;  Martin 
Van  Buren  is  a  Massac  County  farmer,  and  served 
bravely  in  the  war,  first  enlisting  in  the  Eighth 
Kentucky  Cavalry,  and  one  year  later  entering  the 
ranks  of  the  Fifty-first  Indiana  Cavalr3',  with  which 
regiment  he  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war, 
experiencing  most  severe  and  dangerous  duties. 

Robert    W.,  our  subject,  was  born   in   Simpson 


County,  Ky.,  October  10,  1841,  and  worked  upon 
his  father's  farm  from  his  twelfth  to  his  seven- 
teenth year,  meantime  attending  the  district  schools 
and  receiving  higher  instruction  in  an  academy  at 
Hopkinsville.  He  began  the  study  of  medicine 
witli  Dr.  William  Parriam  as  preceptor  in  Simp- 
son County,  and  during  his  last  two  j'ears  in 
school  had  shaped  his  course  with  a  view  to  his 
subsequent  profession.  After  spending  three  years 
with  Dr.  Parriam  and  attending  lectures  at  the 
Nashville  Institute,  lie  engaged  in  office  work  and 
in  the  practice  of  the  medical  profession  with  his 
preceptor,  until,  for  the  purpose  of  perfecting  him- 
self in  certain  specialties,  he  entered  the  Louisville 
Medical  College.  He  later  returned  to  his  original 
field  of  practice,  but  at  the  expiration  of  a  twelve- 
month was  obliged  to  go  to  the  assistance  of  his 
father,  and  remained  with  him  for  two  years. 
When  the  war  broke  out  both  parties  were  recruit- 
ing, and  it  was  then  his  father's  property  was  lost. 
About  this  time  our  subject  enlisted  in  the 
Eighth  Kentucky  Cavalry,  and  gallantly  served 
one  year,  being  then  honorably  discharged  from 
the  army.  He  was  in  a  hot  fight  at  Nashville 
and  participated  in  various  skirmishes,  returning 
home  unwounded,  but  with  impaired  health.  Dr. 
Hutchison  next  made  his  home  in  Metropolis,  111., 
and  there  was  associated  in  practice  with  Dr.  E.  M. 
Melton  for  two  years,  removing  thence  to  Mis- 
souri, where,  on  accountof  heart  trouble,  he  found 
it  impossible  to  remain  longer  than  one  year.  He 
again  established  himself  in  Metropolis,  but  in 
1867  located  in  Joppa,  where  he  has  since  con- 
tinuously practiced  with  great  success.  His  field 
of  duty  is  large,  eral)racing  an  extended  territory, 
and  frequently  obliging  him  to  ride  many  miles 
over  rough  roads,  but  an  earnest  and  conscientious 
physician,  he  neglects  no  demand  of  his  profession, 
to  whose  noble  work  he  has  devoted  his  life.  Dr. 
Hutchison  was  married  in  1873,  to  Miss  Rebecca 
Wimberly,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  from  which  State 
her  parents  removed  to  Massac  County,  111.,  where 
they  both  passed  away.  Our  subject  and  his  es- 
timable wife  were  the  parents  of  four  children.  Hal- 
lie,  Edna  and  Robert  W.  are  at  home;  Letha,  tiie 
third  child,  is  deceased.  Mrs.  Hutchison  is  a  val- 
ued member   of    tlie  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 


268 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


and  with  her  husband  is  active  in  ail  good  work. 
Dr.  Hutchison  is  a  Democrat,  and  an  ardent  sup- 
porter of  the  part^'  of  tiie  people,  but  his  time  is 
given  entirely'  to  a  life  of  honored  usefulness, 
which  has  given  him  a  high  place  in  the  esteem 
and  ctmfidencc  of  liis  follow-men. 


<«  IVILLIAM  i;.  TODD,  who  was  in  the  army 
\/iJ/i  ^^'''^"  ^''®  gi'eat  conflict  was  waging  be- 
W^  tween  the  North  and  the  South,  is  an  in- 
dustrious farmer  of  Johnson  Count}-,  and  has  a 
good  farm  in  Bloomlield  Township.  A  native  of 
Hopkins  County,  K}-.,  he  was  born  December  5, 
1837,  a  son  of  John  Todd,  who  is  thought  to  have 
been  a  native  of  Tennessee.  Tie  in  turn  was  a  son 
of  Jesse  Todd,  wlio  was  a  soldier  in  the  Way  of  the 
Revolution. 

The  father  of  our  subject  learned  the  trade  of  a 
cooper  in  his  3'outh,  but  usually'  followed  farming. 
He  died  in  AVebster  County,  Ky.,  just  before  the 
war.  His  wife  was  Angelina  Brown  in  her  maiden 
days.  She  was  born  in  Tennessee,  a  daughter  of 
Richard   Ihown,  and   died    in    Iloi)kins    Country, 

Ky. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  but  an  infant 
when  his  mother  died,  and  he  was  reared  by  a 
stepmother,  growing  to  man's  estate  on  his  fa- 
ther's faim.  He  was  engaged  in  farming  until  the 
year  1863,  when  he  laid  aside  his  work  to  enter  the 
army,  enlisting  in  the  Thirty-fifth  Kentucky  In- 
fantry, which  was  under  the  command  of  Capt. 
Ed  Campbell  and  Col.  Ed  Starling.  He  remained 
in  the  service  until  the  Union  forces  were  victori- 
ous and  peace  was  declared.  He  saw  some  hard 
fighting,  and  gallantl}'  bore  his  part  in  it.  His 
regiment  was  for  the  most  of  the  time  in  Ken- 
tucky, but  for  a  while  was  in  Virginia,  where  the 
men  were  despatched  for  salt,  for  which  thej-  had 
to  light,  and  our  subject  had  a  hand  in  the  battle 
that  took  place  at  the  salt  works. 

Mr.  Todd   was  honorably  discharged  from   the 


service,  with  an  excellent  reputation  as  a  brave 
and  patriotic  soldier.  He  soon  after  located  in 
Union  County,  this  State,  and  worked  at  tlie  trade 
of  a  carpenter,  wiiich  he  followed  two  years. 
After  that  he  farmed  in  the  same  place  for  several 
years.  In  1887  he  came  to  Johnson  County,  and 
bought  the  farm  in  Bloomlield  Township  which 
he  is  still  carrying  on  with  good  profit. 

Our  subject  and  Miss  Sarah  Linn  were  married 
in  18.'58,  and  they  are  blessed  with  two  children, 
John  P.  and  Susan.  Mrs.  Todd  is  an  estimable 
Christian  woman  and  an  earnest  member  of  the 
F'ree-will  Baptist  Church,  while  her  son  and 
daughter  belong  to  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church.  Mr.  Todd  is  a  man  of  sound  character 
and  standing  in  tiie  community,  and  the  Repub- 
lican party  finds  in  him  a  faithful  supporter.  His 
record  .as  a  soldier  is  kept  in  remembrance  by  his 
connection  with  the  Grand  Army  as  a  memhcr  «if 
Vienna  Post  No.  221. 


OSEPH  P.  WOODSIDE  was  hoin  in  Cnl- 
lowaj'  County,  Ky.,  Jul}'  6,  1821.  He  is  a 
son  of  William  Woodside,  a  Virginian 
'  farmer,  whose  father  was  an  Irishman. 
William  Woodside  w.as  born  in  1775,  and  was 
married  in  Kentucky  to  Marj-  Rowlet,  of  that 
State,  in  180.5.  Miss  Rowlet's  father  was  a 
wealthy  Kentucky  planter,  owning  more  than 
twenty  slaves,  and  William  Woodside  was  his 
overseer.  Mr.  Rowlet  died  in  Shelbj'  County, 
Tenn.,  and  left  a  valuable  estate  to  his  five  chil- 
dren, four  sons  and  one  daughter.  The  wife  of 
William  Woodside  died  in  1832,  in  the  prime  of 
life,  leaving  nine  children.  She  had  had  eleven,  but 
two  of  them  died  before  her  death.  In  all,  there 
were  nine  sons  and  two  daughters,  and  Joseph  P. 
was  the  ninth  child  and  seventh  son.  Of  the  nine 
that  survived  their  mother  two  died  in  early 
childhood,  and  seven  reached  adult  age. 

Joseph    P.,   our    subject,  was    reared   from   the 
age    of    six    to    sixteen    years    b}-    his    mother's 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


269 


sister.  He  was  brought  up  on  the  farm,  with- 
out opportunities  to  secure  an}*  education  that 
are  worth  mentioning.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
began  life  for  himself  as  a  flatboatman  on  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers.  While  this  was  for 
liim  a  hard  life,  yet  it  brought  good  pay,  as  high 
as  130  per  month.  He  followed  this  life  about 
six  years,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  was  mar- 
ried to  Mrs.  Dicy  Snider,  nee  Griffin,  a  daughter  of 
Cannon  and  AViuaford  (Wamac)  Griffin,  who  were 
natives  of  North  Carolina  and  Georgia  respectively, 
lie  came  to  Illinois  in  the  spring  of  1845,  reaching 
here  April  3,  and  remaining  about  three  mouths, 
when  he  went  back  to  Memphis,  Tenn.,  and  also 
to  his  former  occupation,  that  of  boating.  In  the 
spring  of  1848  he  returned  to  Illinois,  locating  in 
.lohnson  County,  and  was  married,  as  above  stated, 
.July  23,  1848.  He  began  life  then  on  a  rented 
farm,  remaining  on  this  place  one  year.  He  then 
bought  a  claimant's  improvements  and  remained  on 
this  farm  until  1852,  after  which  he  sold  out  and 
removed  to  the  home  where  he  now  lives,  taking 
up  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  which  he 
deeded  in  1865.  His  first  house  was  a  double  log 
cabin,  16x16  feet  in  size,  Avith  a  large  stick  and 
clay  chimney  in  the  middle.  This  chimne}'  he 
replaced  with  a  good  stone  one  within  a  few 
years,  and  in  1869  he  built  his  present  large  one- 
story  frame-house,  18x44  feet,  and  of  five  rooms, 
with  two  good  stone  chiranej^s. 

Mr.  AVoodside  has  been  a  servant  of  the  peo- 
ple nearl3'  all  the  time  he  has  lived  among 
them,  serving  as  a  school  officer  and  Justice  of 
the  Peace  twelve  years,  and  in  the  latter  capa- 
citj-  he  has  tried  manj'  a  case,  and  has  tied  many 
hymeneal  knots.  He  has  held  office  under  both 
Democratic  and  Republican  regimes,  but  in  the 
main  he  votes  the  Democratic  ticket.  He  is  not, 
however,  radical  in  his  views.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
AV^oodside  have  buried  five  children:  John,  who 
died  March  15,  1870,  aged  thirteen  years;  Julia 
who  died  December  5,  1873,  aged  twelve;  and 
Thomas  Benton,  who  died  February  2,  1891,  aged 
thirtv-six,  and  left  six  orphan  children,  who  have 
been  cared  for  by  their  grandparents.  Besides 
these  they  lost  an  infant  son  and  daughter.  The 
remaining  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  AVoodside  arc 


two  sons  and  two  daughters,  viz.:  AVilliam,  a  Bap- 
tist preacher,  who  has  a  wife,  two  sous  and  four 
daughters;  Alexander  L.;  Mary  E.,  now  Mrs. 
Rushing;  and  Lucy,  now  Mrs    Yandle. 


i>'^^<c^ 


RS.  MARIA  (A'EATCH)  SALA^N,  a  life- 
long resident  of  Johnson  County,  was 
born  in  A'ienna  Township  April  5,  1853,  a 
daughter  of  Ishmael  and  Pamelia  (Chap- 
man) A'eatcb.  She  was  reared  and  educated  in  her 
native  township,  and  at  the  age  of  twent\--one 
was  married  to  Franklin  Salvin,  who  was  greatly 
indebted  to  her  cheerful  and  able  co-operation  in 
making  his  life  successful. 

Mr.  Salvin  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and 
his  father  was  George  AVashingtou  Salvin,  who  is 
supposed  to  have  been  born  in  the  same  State.  He 
resided  there  until  1854,  when  he  came  with  his 
family  to  Illinois,  and  located  in  Johnson  County. 
Franklin  Salvin  was  reared  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits, and  became  a  thoroughly  practical,  wide- 
awake, enterprising  farmer.  He  was  engaged  at 
his  calling  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  and  in 
1862  he  laid  aside  his  work  to  enlist  in  the  service 
as  a  member  of  Company  K,  One  Hundred  and 
Twentieth  Illinois  Infantiy.  He  continued  in  the 
army  until  the  dreadful  war  was  finally  brought 
to  a  close,  standing  firmly  b^'  the  Old  Flag  and 
always  at  his  post  of  dut}',  although  his  health 
was  shattered  by  the  hardships  and  exposure  that 
make  a  soldier's  life  so  tr^ying,  and  he  never  fully 
regained  his  old-time  vigor  after  his  return  home 
with  his  regiment. 

After  marriage  Mr.  Salvin  resided  on  his  father- 
in-law's  farm  three  years,  and  then  located  on  the 
farm  in  Bloomfield  Township  which  is  now  in  pos- 
session of  his  famil3\  At  the  time  of  his  settle- 
ment on  it  a  set  of  log  buildings  and  a  few  acres 
cleared  constituted  the  entire  improvements.  He 
went  to  work  with  characteristic  energy  to  further 
develop  his  property,  and  besides  clearing  up- 
wards   of   seventy'  acres  of  land   and  placing  it 


270 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


under  jjood  cultivation,  lie  erected  a  substantial 
set  of  frame  buildings,  planted  fruit  trees,  and 
otherwise  increased  the  value  of  the  place.  He 
also  purcliased  another  farm  of  eighty  acres  ad- 
joining the  iiomestead,  tlie  greater  part  of  which  is 
well  improved. 

Mr.  Salvin  was  actively  engaged  in  tiif  niaii- 
agement  of  his  farm  until  death  staj-ed  his  hand 
from  his  labors,  December  22,  1889,  and  thecount.y 
was  thus  deprived  of  one  of  its  most  useful  and 
honorable  citizens.  He  was  a  Christian  gentleman, 
and  the  Haptist  Church  sustained  a  severe  loss  in 
his  demise.  The  community  mourned  him  as  a 
loyal  citizen  who  was  true  to  every  trust  and  as  a 
kind  and  considerate  neighbor;  and  his  family 
miss  the  presence  of  a  devoted  husband  and  father. 

To  Mr.  Salvin  and  his  wife  were  born  six  chil- 
dren: Mary,  Charlie,  Jennie,  Melissa,  Minnie  and 
Kttie.  Jennie  died  at  the  age  of  two  years  and 
eight  months.  Charlie,  the  only  son,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  gave  promise 
of  a  noble  manhood,  died  at  the  age  of  seventeen. 
Melissa  is  the  wife  of  Clinton  Chapman,  and  re- 
sides in  Ennis,  Ellis  Countj',  Tex.  Mrs.  Salvin 
possesses  those  womanly  attributes  that  win  con- 
fidence and  esteem,  and  these  are  accorded  to  her 
by  all  who  know  her.  She  and  her  daughter  are 
among  the  active  working  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  and  are  interested  in  all  that  concerns  the 
moral  and  religious  welfare  of  the  community. 


\lr^iORDAN  WALTERS,  a  resident  of  township 
jlt;^^  13,  range  6,  Pope  Count}',  owns  a  well- 
!('©)')  "Pl'f>'nted  and  carefully  cultivated  farm  on 
^•5#^  section  23.  lie  was  born  in  this  county 
January  10,  1843,  and  has  passed  the  most  of  his 
life  in  this  locality.  His  parents  were  Thomas 
M.  and  Mary  (Tristian)  Walters,  the  father  a  na- 
tive of  North  Carolina  and  the  mother  of  Tennes- 
see. The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject, 
Thomas  Walters,  was  an  early  settler  of  Illinois 
and  was  in    the    Jackson    War.     'J'homas  Walters, 


Jr.,  emigrated  to  Illinois  at  an  early  day,  taking 
up  land  in  this  county,  and  participated  in  the 
Black  Hawk  War  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 
He  is  numbered  among  the  worthy  pioneers  who 
paved  the  way  to  the  present  prosperity  of  this 
region,  and  who  suffered  untold  privations  and 
dangers  that  their  children  and  their  descendants 
might  comeMnto  a  peaceful  and  happ^-  inheritance. 
He  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  until  his  death, 
in  1870,  at  which  time  he  owned  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  acres,  on  which  his  wife,  though  now  at 
an  advanced  age,  is  still  living. 

Our  subject  assisted  his  father  on  the  old  home- 
stead until  reaching  mature  years,  and  received 
such  educational  advantages  as  he  could  obtain  in 
the  schools  of  the  district.  When  only  twenty- 
one  he  enlisted  in  the  army,  becoming  a  member 
of  Company  K,  One  Hundred  and  Thirt^'-sixth 
Illinois  Infantry,  in  May,  18()4,  being  mustered  in 
at  Golconda  and  being  honorably  discharged  at 
Springfield  in  October  of  the  same  year,  on  ac- 
count of  failing  health.  He  sustained  disabilities, 
occasioned  by  exposure  and  the  severe  experi- 
ences of  army  life,  from  which  he  has  never  re- 
covered. Coming  home,  he  rented  land  for  about 
five  years  in  this  county,  and  then  concluded  to 
try  his  fortune  in  Missouri.  Proceeding  there,  he 
pre-empted  a  homestead  of  eight}-  acres,  where  he 
lived  for  three  3'ears,  when  he  sold  it  and  returned 
to  Illinois.  After  staying  a  part  of  a  year  in  his 
old  home  he  returned  to  Missouri,  rented  land 
and  this  time  lived  in  the  State  for  seven  j-ears. 
Though  some  things  impressed  him  favorably  in 
that  portion  of  the  countrj',  he  has  ever  returned  L 
to  his  first  love,  the  State  of  his  nativity,  and  ■ 
firmly  believes  now,  if  he  ever  doubted  it  before,  T 
that  Illinois  is  unsurpassed  as  an  agricultural  State. 
Selling  his  stock  and  farming  implements  in  Mis- 
souri. Mr.  AValters  returned  to  Illinois,  and  at  the 
end  of   two  years,  during  which   time    he   rented  _ 

land,  he  purchased  the  farm  where  he  now  resides.         ■ 
This  is  a  tract  of   forty  acres,  which  is  under  good  • 

cultivation,  and  on  which  is  a  substantial  residence 
and  good  farm  buildings. 

Mr.  Walters,  January  17,  1861,  was  married  to 
Miss  Sarah  Ann  Baker,  who  w.as  born  in  Pope 
County  July  2,  1847,  and  was   called  to  her  final 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


271 


rest  July  16,  1887,  having  just  passed  her  fortieth 
_year.  She  left  a  family  of  six  children,  who  are  as 
follows:  William  II.  and  Martha  J.,  both  of  whom 
are  married;  James  W.,  Rosa  A.,  Albert  B.  and 
Levi.  Mrs.  Walters  was  a  thoroughlj'  estimable 
woman,  a  lad3'  of  exemplary  Christian  character, 
a  faithful  wife  and  devoted  mother,  one  who 
made  a  host  of  friends,  who  hold  her  mcmov}' 
among  their  most  cherished  recollections.  Mr. 
Walters  and  his  family  are  all  consistent  members 
of  the  Baptist  Church,  in  the  work  of  which 
they  are  very  active,  and  politicall}'  our  sub- 
ject casts  his  ballot  in  favor  of  the  Democracy. 


ELISHA  REAGAN  w-as  born  in  Ruck  Castle 
County,  Ky.,  November  30,  1853,  to  Pres- 
'  ton  and  Melinda  (Walters)  Reagan,  both  of 

Kentucky,  who  removed  to  Sangamon  County,  111., 
in  1854,  thence  to  Johnson  County  in  1857.  Thej' 
were  farmers  in  straitened  circumstances,  and 
m.ide  their  removals  by  means  of  teams,  and  pur- 
chased their  first  farm  in  Union  Township,  Pope 
County,  where  the  subject  of  this  sketch  now  lives. 
They  died  there,  leaving  an  estate  of  eighty  acres 
of  land  and  a  family  of  nine  children,  of  whom 
Elisha  is  the  30ungest.  In  1872  the  parents  buried 
two  infant  daughters,  a  married  son  aged  forty 
years,  whose  name  was  Charlton,  and  a  daughter, 
Elizabeth,  aged  twenty-two  years,  and  the  wife  of 
Orange  Jackson,  of  Metropolis.  Mrs.  .Tackson  left 
two  children  to  mourn  her  demise.  The  children 
still  living  are  as  follows:  Matilda,  wife  of  J.  W. 
Cobb;  Jane,  wife  of  AV.  B.  Parsons;  Eliza  Ann, 
wife  of  L.  A.  Ogden;  Parmelia,  wife  of  L.  W.  Ep- 
person; and  Elisha. 

The  life  of  Elisha  Reagan  from  his  infancy  up 
was  spent  on  the  farm,  hence  he  obtained  a  good 
knowledge  of  all  things  pertaining  to  agriculture. 
When  in  his  nineteenth  year  he  was  married,  Au- 
gust 11,  1872,  to  Martha  Kirby,  who  bore  him 
three   sons   and    three    daughters,    of  whom   one 


daughter  died  in  infancy.  Those  living  are  as 
follows:  Albert,  nineteen  years  old, at  home;  Cyn- 
thia A.,  wife  of  J.  W.  Boulden,a  farmer  of  Union 
Township,  Pope  County;  Elmore,  fifteen  years 
old;  Rosella,  aged  thirteen  years;  and  AVesley, 
twelve.  Mr.  Reagan  married  after  the  death  of 
his  first  wife  Alice  J.,  daughter  of  S.  T.  Browning, 
of  the  same  township.  She  became  the  mother 
of  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  viz:  Virda  L., 
Raymond  A.,  Opal  Q.  and  Harlem  L.,  aged  six, 
four  and  two  years  respectively;  and  an  infant. 

Mr.  Re.agan  has  been  a  Justice  of  the  Pe.ice 
since  1885,  and  has  served  many  years  as  School 
Director  and  Trustee.  He  is  a  Republican  in 
politics,  and  steadilj^  stands  by  that  party.  His 
brother  Charlton  volunteered  in  the  Fourteenth 
Illinois  Cavalry,  and  served  three  years.  He  was 
a  prisoner  at  Andersonville,  but  was  exchanged, 
and  so  considers  himself  fortunate  to  have  escaped 
alive,  which  he  accomplished  by  the  practice  of  a 
little  strategy.  Having  kept  a  list  of  tlie  dead, 
he  answered  to  the  name  of  one  of  the  detailed 
and  got  out  on  parole.  Mr.  Reagan  is  a  Master 
Mason,  and  is  a  member  in  good  standing  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


4^ 


i-IIEOPHILUS  SCOTT  is  one  of  tlie  foremost 
agriculturists  of  township  13,  and  at  differ- 
ent times  has  been  quite  an  extensive  owner 
of  land  in  Pope  County.  At  one  time  he  possessed 
six  hundred  and  fifteen  acres,  and  at  present 
owns  four  hundred  and  fifty-five  acres  on  section 
32,  where  he  is  engaged  in  general  farming.  He 
has  a  fine  home  residence,  substantial  and  com- 
fortable, and  good  outbuildings.  Personally,  lie 
is  a  genial  and  pleasant  man  to  do  business  with, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  popular  men  in  this  town- 
ship. He  has  a  number  of  times  been  called  upon 
to  serve  in  more  or  less  important  official  places, 
and  though  he  has  not  been  desirous  to  obtain  the 
same,  he  has  cheerfully  discharged  the  duties  of 
the  position  to  which  he  w.as  elected.     For  the  past 


272 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


twelve  yeiir-s  lie  lias  been  Supervisor  of  Roads,  and 
it  is  largely  through  his  efforts  in  this  direction 
that  the  county  is  the  li:ii>|)y  possessor  of  snch 
good  roadway's. 

Our  subject  is  a  native  of  Pope  Count}',  born 
April  10,  1836,  liis  parents  being  Isaac  li.  and 
Klizabeth  (Ellis)  Scott.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
whose  Christian  name  was  Robert,  emigrated  from 
North  Carolina  to  the  Prairie  State  as  early  as 
1812,  and  is  numbered  among  the  honored  pioneers 
who  did  so  much  in  the  founding  of  this  county.  He 
helped  to  build  the  first  court  house,  which  was 
constructed  of  logs,  and  in  many  ways  was  identi- 
fied with  the  first  movements  towards  civilization 
which  were  made  by  those  sturdy  pioneers.  He 
lived  in  this  neighborhood  for  many  years,  finally 
returning  to  Tennessee,  where  he  died  at  the  age 
of  seventy-five  years.  Our  subject's  father  was 
born  in  North  Carolina,  Maj'  13,  1794,  and  came 
to  Illinois  with  his  father,  assisting  him  in  prepar- 
ing a  home  and  clearing  a  farm  in  the  wilderness 
until  twenty-tliree  j'ears  of  age.  He  purchased 
land  in  this  county ,where  he  resided  until  his  death 
in  1875,  at  the  good  old  age  of  eighty-two  years. 
His  wife,  who  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  died 
in  1885,  aged  eighty-three  years. 

Mr.  Scott,  of  whom  we  write,  was  one  in  a  family 
of  twelve  children,  who  grew  to  mature  _vears.  He 
started  out  to  make  his  own  way  in  the  world  at 
the  age  of  twenty.  His  educational  privileges 
were  those  of  the  early  subscription  schools  of  Pope 
Count}-,  which  he  attended  for  nine  months,  pay- 
ing for  the  instruction  received  at  the  rate  of  §2  per 
month.  In  his  early  days  wild  game  of  all  kinds 
was  ver}^  plentiful  in  this  region,  and  his  mother 
carded,  wove  and  spun  the  cloth  for  her  children's 
garments  and  the  necessities  of  the  family.  On 
March  16,  1856,  Mr.  Scott  wedded  Miss  Sarah  Ann 
Wallace,  a  native  of  this  countj'^,  where  her  birth 
occurred  January  17,  1838.  She  departed  this 
life  January  25,  1878,  having  just  passed  her  for- 
tieth birthdaj'.  For  his  second  wife,  Mr.  Scott 
chose  Miss  Sarah  Ann  Cletcher,  a  native  of  Ten- 
nessee, born  July  27,  1847.  He  is  the  father  of 
seven  children,  who  areas  follows:  Addie  M.,  May 
II.,  Isaac  H.,  Ida,  James  R.,  Lillie  A.  and   Rebecca. 

In  February,  1862,  Mr.  Scott  joined  the  Sixtieth 


Illinois  Infantry  at  Camp  Dubois,  Union  County, 
becoming  a  member  of  Corajjany  H.  He  was  in 
the  battles  of  lUizzard's  Roost,  Ivenesaw  Mountain, 
Jonesboro,  Ga.,  and  (ioldsboro,  N.  C.  He  was 
honorabl}'  discharged  at  Springfield  February  17, 
1865,  just  exactly  three  years  after  the  dale  of  his 
enlistment.  During  his  hard  service,  forced  marches 
and  exposure,  he  sustained  injuries  to  his  health 
from  which  he  has  never  fully  recovered.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Christian  Church  at  Allen  Springs. 
For  the  past  four  years  he  has  been  a  School  Direc- 
tor, and  politically,  he  votes  the  Republican  ticket. 
He  is  a  member  of  Temple  Hill  Lodge  No.  701, 
A.  F.  (fe.  A.  M.  and  is  well  worthy  the  high  regard 
in  which  he  is  held  by  those  who  have  known  him 
for  many  j'ears  and  are  in  a  position  to  judge  of 
his  intrinsic  worth  and  kindly  disposition. 


^1j%s  AXIEL  H.  RENDLEMAN,  who  has  lived 
jl  Jj]  upon  his  present  farm  for  the  past  thirty- 
f^A^  two  years,  which  farm  contains  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  is  situated  in  section 
24,  Goreville  Township,  and  was  born  in  North 
Carolina  in  1828.  His  father,  .John  Rendleman, 
was  a  native  of  Cabarrus  County,  N.  C,  and  was 
a  son  of  Drake  H.  Rendleman,  also  of  North  Caro- 
lina and  a  farmer.  About  1831  he  went  to  Louisi- 
ana, leaving  his  wife  and  son,  an  only  child,  and 
resided  there  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1888,  when  about  eighty-three  years  old.  His 
wife  and  child  then  lived  with  his  father,  Drake 
II.  Rendleman. 

Daniel  H.  when  seventeen  years  old  began  to 
learn  the  blacksmith's  trade,  and  worked  at  it  for 
two  years.  On  July  12,  1848,  when  he  was  nine- 
teen years  old,  he  was  married  to  Elizabeth  M. 
Peck,  of  the  same  place  as  himself.  They  be- 
gan their  married  life  on  his  mother's  farm  and 
his  own  little  place  of  thirtj'-seven  acres,  running 
both  the  farm  and  the  blacksmith  shop,  the  latter 
l)eing  on  his  own  land.     The}'  lived  there  for  seven 


f 


"%•' 


jfri.^^-j^^'^^ 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


275 


yea.y»,  and  in  the  meantime  tliree  sons  and  one 
daughter  were  born  to  them,  one  of  whom,  George 
II.,  died  at  the  age  of  two  years.  They  then  re- 
moved to  Davidson  County,  N.  C,  in  18.55,  and 
lived  there  for  five  years.  In  the  year  1860  they 
removed  to  Joimson  C'ount}^  III.,  to  their  present 
home,  coining  in  true  emigrant  style,  in  a  covered 
wagon  drawn  by  a  good  team,  and  bringing  with 
them  a  good  tent.  They  were  five  weeks  on 
the  waj',  camping  and  cooking  as  they  came. 
They  reached  Johnson  County  October  15,  1860. 
The  family  then  consisted  of  Mr.  Reudleman,  his 
wife  and  their  three  children.  When  he  started 
he  had  a  shotgun  and  a  dog,  but  the  dog  he  lost 
in  crossing  a  river.  Besides  these  he  had  a  cross- 
cut saw  and  a  fiddle,  and  other  articles  which 
were  equally  valuable.  In  monej',  he  had  1750, 
and  with  this  he  bought  of  H.  M.  Ridenhower 
eighty  acres  of  land,  with  a  log  cabin  upon  it  and 
five  acres  cleared.  For  this  eightj^  acres  he  gave 
$200.  The  family  lived  in  the  little  log  house  for 
four  years,  and  then  moved  into  a  good  hewed- 
log  house,  which  has  been  their  home  ever  since. 
This  house  has  been  weatherboarded  outside  and 
ceiled  inside,  and  now  is  to  all  appearances  a  frame 
house,  and  fully  as  comfortable  as  if  it  were  frame. 
Our  subject's  wife  died  on  the  25th  of  July,  1891, 
aged  sixty-two  years.  She  had  borne  him  six  sons 
and  six  daughters,  of  whom  but  two  sons  and  three 
daughters  are  now  living:  Mary  A.,  wife  of  Wil- 
son Gower,  of  Tunnel  Hill,  and  who  has  three  sons 
and  three  daughters;  A.  P.,  a  farmer  and  black- 
smith near  by,  who  married  Elida  Evans,  and  who 
has  four  sons  and  four  daughters;  Thomas  L.,who 
is  managing  his  father's  farm,  and  who  married  Miss 
Pink  Stone;  they  have  one  son  and  one  daughter; 
Martha  Jane,  wife  of  Frank  Hubbard,  a  farmer  of 
Goreville  Township,  and  who  has  two  sons  and 
one  daughter;  and  Delia  May,  twelve  years  old, at 
home.  Mr.  Kendleman  has  buried  John  L.,  who 
died  at  his  father's  house  June  13,  1872,  aged 
twenty-two  years;  Laeher  Isabella,  wife  of  James 
Harris,  who  died  in  February,  1888,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three,  leaving  her  husband  and  one  son; 
Rufus  M.,  who  died  May  7,  1889,  a  single  man, 
aced  nineteen;  Julia  Ann,  wife  of  R.  H.  White, 
who  died  June  9,  1885,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four, 

14 


leaving  her  husband  and  two  daughters;  Josephine, 
wife  of  James  Harris,  who  died  in  March,  1892,  at 
the  age  of  eighteen;  and  Winfield  Scott,  who  died 
at  Goreville,  in  April,  1892,  aged  thirty-three, 
leaving  a  wife  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 
Mr.  Rendleman  was  married  February  4,  1892,  to 
Mrs.  Benjamin  Pritchett,  nee  McCorraack,  daughter 
of  William  D.  and  Martha  (Moke)  McCormack, 
the  former  of  whom  was  from  Virginia,  and  the 
latter  from  Tennessee.  Thej'  came  to  Illinois  in 
1845,  and  died  in  this  State,  she  in  1878,  at  fifty-six 
years  of  age,  and  he  in  1889,  when  seventj'-eight 
3'ears  old.  Mrs.  Rendleman  lost  her  husband  in 
1889,  and  has  buried  three  children:  Martha  Mc- 
Intrieff,  at  four  years  of  age;  Ida  Mclntrieff,  at 
six  and  a-half  years,  and  George  W.  Mclntrieflf.  She 
has  five  children  living:  Marj'  Ann  Kimble,  Jacob 
Mclntrieff,  Samuel  Mclntrieff,  William  T.  Mcln- 
trieff and  Rosella  Mclntrieff.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ren- 
dleman are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  He  has  been  a  Republican  all  his  life,  and 
expects  to  be  as  long  as  he  lives.  He  is  a  man 
of  much  more  than  ordinary  talent  and  genius. 
Nature  endowed  him  with  rare  mechanical  in- 
genuity and  skill,  and  he  can  repair  and  adjust  the 
parts  of  a  watch  or  clock  or  musical  instrument 
readily  and  perfectly  without  having  served  an 
apprenticeship,  except  at  the  blacksmith  trade. 
Had  he  been  educated  to  some  of  the  nobler  pro- 
fessions he  must  have  risen  to  a  high  rank.  He  is 
one  of  the  men  that  revere  God  and  love  their 
fellow-men. 


]^+^[ 


ylLLIAM  B.  THOMPSON,  who  was  for  sev- 
eral years  a  valued  teacher  in  Pope  County, 
and  has  also  been  actively  identified  with 
its  agricultural  interests,  has  entered  the  broader 
field  of  journalism  as  editor  of  the  Weekly  Press, 
published  at  Golconda,  and  his  friends  predict  his 
success  in  this  new  venture,  for  which  his  educa- 
tion and  taste  for  literature  seem  to  fit  him.  Our 
subject  was  born   in  Talbot  Countj',  Md.,  October 


276 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEAV. 


21,  1H3II,  wliilc  liis  father,  Jesse  Tlicmpson,  and 
his  giaiulfalher  were  natives  of  Delaware.  Tlic 
latter  was  a  fanner  in  that  State  until  he  became  a 
pioneer  settler  of  Clermont  County,  Ohio,  where 
he  died. 

The  fathi'r  of  our  subject  was  reared  on  u  farm 
and  early  became  familiar  with  agricultural  pur- 
suits. He  went  from  Delaware  to  Ohio,  and  from 
there  to  JIaryland,  where  he  resided  a  few  years 
prior  to  his  removal  to  Kentucky  in  1855.  His 
home  while  there  was  in  Livingston  County, 
whence  he  came  to  Illinois  after  the  war.  He 
settled  in  Pope  County,  in  Jackson  Precinct,  and 
there  he  serenely'  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days. 
His  wife  had  previously  died  in  Livingston  County, 
Ky.  Her  maiden  name  was  Ann  Landreth,  and 
she  was  born  in  the  city  of  Philadolpiiia.  She  was 
the  mother  of  eight  children. 

William  Thompson,  of  whom  we  write,  was  six- 
teen 3-ears  old  when  the  family  moved  from  his 
native  State  to  Kentucky.  His  early  education  had 
been  obtained  in  the  schools  of  Maryland,  and  after 
his  removal  to  Kentucky  he  attended  a  select  school 
in  Livingston  County'.  He  remained  with  his  par- 
ents until  he  was  twenty-four,  when  he  took  up  the 
profession  of  teaching  in  Pope  County  and  for 
some  years  was  engaged  in  teaching  in  the  winter 
and  in  farming  the  remainder  of  the  year.  He 
eventually  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  Jackson  Pre- 
cinct, which  he  devoted  to  agricultural  purposes. 
In  1881  he  sold  that  and  bought  other  land  in 
Logan  Precinct,  where  he  has  since  resided. 

Mr. Thompson  commenced  his  career  as  an  editor 
in  October,  1892,  establishing  then  the  Weekly 
Press,  designing  by  this  paper  to  further  the  in- 
terests of  education  and  morality  in  the  commu- 
nity, to  purify  politics  and  elevate  the  tone  of  so- 
ciety so  far  as  lies  in  the  power  of  one  man,  and 
lastly  to  present  the  general  news  in  a  truthful 
and  intelligent  manner,  so  as  to  enlighten  the 
people  whom  it  reaches.  He  is  an  earnest,  thought- 
ful man,  of  noble  purpose  and  high  t)rinciiiles,  and 
his  intluence  is  felt  in  promoting  the  welfare  of 
town  and  county.  A  veritable  Christian,  who 
carries  his  religion  into  the  every-day  affairs 
of  life,  he  is  a  power  for  good  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal    Church,  of    whigh  he  and  his  wife  are 


among  the  leading  members,  and  he  has  been  a 
teacher  in  and  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday- 
school  for  some  years.  He  cast  his  first  Presiden- 
tial vote  for  Bell  in  1860,  but  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  war  until  1890  he  was  a  Republican, 
excepting  that  in  national  affairs  he  voted  with 
the  Prohibitionists  from  1884.  At  the  present 
time,  he  is  identified  with  the  People's  part\ 
heart  and  soul.  He  is  also  an  active  member  of 
the  Farmers'  Mutual  Benefit  Association,  which  he 
joined  in  1888. 

Our  subject's  domestic  comfort  is  well  looked 
after  by  his  amiable  wife,  to  whom  he  was  wedded 
in  1874.  Mrs.  Thompson,  who  was  formerly  Sarah 
L.  Hetherington,  is  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  came 
to  America  «ith  her  parents  when  she  was  three 
years  of  age.  Two  children  have  hallowed  her 
marriage  with  our  subject,  Richard  B.  and  T. 
Bruce. 


\P=^-- 


<*  I^ILLIAM  J.  SUIT,  a  resident  of  Elvira 
\rJ//  Township,  Johnson  County,  was  born  in 
}Af/  Carroll  County,  Tenn.,  October  28,  1829. 
His  father  was  Bartlett  Suit,  who  was  born  in  Nortii 
Carolina,  and  his  father,  William  Suit,  was  also  a  na- 
tive of  North  Carolina,  who  removed  to  Tennessee 
at  an  early  day,  cooking  and  camping  on  the  way. 
William  settled  in  Sumner  Count3',  bought  a  tract 
of  land,  and  followed  farming  there  until  the 
time  of  his  death.  His  wife,  who  in  girlhood 
was  Rebecca  Wilson,  was  born  in  North  Carolina, 
and  died  in  Sumner  County,  Tenn.  Bartlett  Suit 
moVed  to  Tennessee,  and  made  the  best  of  his  op- 
portunities to  secure  an  education  that  would  be 
useful  to  him.  He  commenced  life  for  himself  by 
teaching  school  when  a  young  man  in  Hardin 
County,  and  after  his  marriage  he  settled  in  Carroll 
County,  where  he  lived  until  1833,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Graves  County,  K^-.,  and  boughta  tract  of 
timber  land  six  miles  east  of  Mayfleld,  upon  wliich 
he  built  a  log  house  and  began  at  once  to  improve 
his  farm.  For  a  few  of  the  first  ^-ears  of  his  resi- 
dence there   he   taught  school   durinij   the    winter 


i 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


277 


season,  and  farmed  in  the  summer  months,  con- 
tinuing to  do  this  for  twelve  3-eais.  He  then  sold 
his  farm  and  bought  another  nine  miles  southwest 
of  Mayfield,  a  tract  of  timber  land  like  the  first,  and 
lived  there  until  1850,  in  which  year  he  died.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Elsie  Nanney,andshe 
was  born,  it  is  thought,  in  Carroll  County,  Tenn., 
and  was  the  daughter  of  Jordan  and  Onie  Nanney. 
Elsie  Suit  survived  her  husband  some  years,  and  af- 
ter his  death  went  to  Missouri,  later  coming  to 
Illinois,  where  she  lived  until  the  time  of  her  death 
in  1882,  at  the  age  of  seventj'-three  years.  She 
reared  nine  children,  viz:  William,  Thomas  Alvin, 
Angeline,  Ulysses,  Marj- J.,  Elzada,  Winfield  Scott, 
James  M.,  and  Sarah,  deceased. 

Our  subject  was  four  years  old  when  his  parents 
moved  to  Graves  County,  at  which  time  that  county 
was  very  sparsely  settled  and  wild  game  of  all 
kinds,  such  as  deer  and  wild  turkeys,  was  abundant. 
Mayfield  was  then  but  a  hamlet  and  there  were  no 
free  scjhools,  so  all  the  education  William  received 
was  given  him  at  home.  He  was  twelve  years  old 
when  his  father  was  taken  sick,  and  the  care  of  the 
family  and  the  liard  work  upon  the  farm  devolved 
upon  him.  He  resided  witli  his  mother  one  year 
after  his  father's  death  and  then  married  the  lad}' 
of  his  choice  and  engaged  in  mercantile  business 
in  Graves  County.  He  remained  there  thus  en- 
gaged until  1860,  when  he  removed  to  Mississippi 
County,  Mo.,  and  was  there  engaged  in  farming 
two  years,  when  he  removed  to  Johnson  County, 
111.  Here  he  rented  land  for  two  years  and  then 
he  purchased  one  hundred  and  three  acres  on  sec- 
tion 29,  in  Elvira  Township.  At  the  end  of  two 
years  he  sold  this  farm  at  an  advance  over  what 
he  had  given,  and  purciiased  the  farm  he  now  owns, 
which  contains  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  of  which  are  cleared. 
The  improvements  now  rank  with  the  best  in  the 
county.  On  March  27,  1890,  all  his  buildings,  in- 
cluding four  dwelling-houses,  were  wrecked  by  a 
tornado,  and  this  loss,  added  to  other  losses  by  the 
same  storm,  amounted  to  $4,000. 

For  ten  years  Mr.  Suit  was  Treasurer  of  the 
Grarige  and  operated  a  store  during  that  time.  At 
the  time  of  its  expiration  he  was  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile life,  and  continued  in  business  in   all  four 


years.  The  last  two  3-ears  he  was  in  partnership 
with  Thaddeus  Proctor,  to  whom  he  sold  his  interest 
in  1892,  and  daring  this  time  he  also  superintended 
the  improvement  of  his  farm.  In  1852  he  married 
Tabitlia  F.  Beach,  who  was  born  near  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  in  September,  1829.  Her  father,  Patrick 
Beach,  was  born  in  Virginia,  and  removed  from 
that  State  to  Tennessee  and  thence  to  Kentuckj', 
living  in  Christian  County  for  some  time.  Later 
he  removed  to  Calloway  County,  where  he  died. 
His  wife  was  Nanny  Huston,  who  was  born  in  Virgi- 
nia and  died  in  Johnson  County,  111.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Suit  have  two  children  living:  Narcissa,  who  is  the 
wife  of  Samuel  Elkins,  and  James  B.  Mr.  Suit  has 
been  a  Mason  since  1853,  and  is  now  a  member  of 
Vienna  Lodge  No.  150,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  He  was  one 
of  the  original  Republicans,  voting  for  Fremont 
in  1856.  He  also  voted  for  Lincoln  and  Grant, 
but  since  1872  has'been  quite  independent  in  poli- 
tics, but  has  voted  principally  with  the  Democratic 
party. 


)|rj\'iENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  SMOOT,  a  prom- 
iLiV,  inent  and  efficient  citizen  of  Simpson  Town- 
if®)])/  ^'^'P'  Jolinsou  County,  was  born  in  Johnson 
^'^^^  County,  111.,  December  30, 1848.  Ilisfather, 
Reed  Smoot,  was  born  in  Owen  County,  Ky.,  in 
1812,  and  his  mother,  Eliza  Thomas,  in  Sumner 
County,  Tenn.,  in  1819.  His  father  came  to  Illi- 
nois in  an  early  day,  and  took  up  Government 
land  in  Johnson  County,  where  he  resided  until 
his  death.  He  was  a  farmer  and  stock-raiser  and 
died  in  1878. 

B.  F.  Smoot  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  receiving  his  education  in 
the  Johnson  County  Schools.  He  was  married  at 
the  age  last  mentioned,  his  twenty-fifth  year,  No- 
vember 20,  1873,  to  Elizabeth  Amanda  Barley,  who 
was  born  in  Hardin  Count}',  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Samuel  W.  and  Jane  Barley,  the  former  of  whom 
was  born  in  Indiana,  and  the  latter  in  Kentuck}'. 
Mr.  Smoot  has  one  hundred  and  seventeen  acres  of 


278 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


land  on  sections  7  and  8,  Simpson  Township,  of 
which  lie  lias  cleared  about  fortj'-five  acres  and 
erected  the  l)iiildings  tliereon.  At  one  time  in  his 
life  our  sulijcct  owned  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  acres  of  Ian(i.  lie  has  three  children,  viz: 
Thomas  K.,  .lames  A.  and  Kliza  L.  lie  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  IMissionary  liajjlist  Church, 
and  he  always  votes  the  Republican   ticket. 

Mr.  Smoot  has  conducted  his  business  in  an  in- 
telligent manner;  the  work  of  improvement  is  con- 
stiintly  going-  on  upon  his  farm,  and  the  value  of 
the  place  is  steadily  increasing.  He  has  a  property 
of  which  any  man  may  well  be  proud,  and  his  en- 
erg3'  and  thrift  indicate  strongly  that  he  will  con- 
tinue to  add  to  the  value  of  the  farm,  either  by 
further  enlargement  or  the  improvement  of  what 
he  has. 


FIJSHA  WEBB,  who  resides  on  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  acres  on  section  20,  in 
/|- — ^  Tunnel  Hill  Township,  was  born  in  Morgan 
County,  Tenn.  He  is  a  son  of  Mitchell  Webb, 
who  was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  1793,  to  Cul- 
breith  Webb,  of  North  Carolina,  who  moved  to 
Tennessee  about  1809,  where  he  was  a  farmer  and 
reared  a  family  of  three  sons  and  one  daughter, 
lie  and  his  wife  both  died  in  Tennessee  at  an 
advanced  age.  Mitchell  Webb  married  for  his 
first  wife  Khoda  Cardwell,  of  Tennessee,  who  bore 
him  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  and  died  in  the 
l)rime  of  life.  His  second  wife  was  Sarah  Elmore, 
of  Tennessee,  who  bore  him  five  sons  and  two 
daughters,' of  whom  Elisha  is  the  second  child  and 
first  son  in  order  of  birth.  Four  of  these  children 
are  now  living,  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  They 
are:  Rhoda,  wife  of  Leander  H.  Kelly,  a  farmer  of 
Tunnel  Hill  Township;  Elisha;  Daniel,  a  farmer 
of  the  same  township;  and  Elizabeth,  wife  of  M.  R. 
Kelly,  a  farmer  near  by.  The  parents  came  to 
southern  Illinois  in  the  spring  of  1810,  settling  in 
.Tefferson  County,  where  the  mother  died  in    1812, 


aged  about  forty  years.  Mr.  Webb  then  married 
again,  and  died  in  18G9  at  the  age  of  seventy-six 
years,  leaving  but  a  small  estate. 

IClisha  Webb  had  but  little  education  in  his 
youth,  not  more  than  three  months  in  all,  which 
he  receiverl  in  Illinois,  for  he  never  saw  a  school- 
house  in  Tennessee.  He  has  recently  made  a  trip 
to  that  State,  and  finds  it  but  little  better  there 
now.  He  worked  on  the  home  farm  until  he  was 
twentj'-two  3'ears  old  when  he  was  married,  in 
July,  1849,  to  Nancy  C.  Kelly,  daughter  of  Chris- 
topher C.  Kellj^,  of  Tennessee.  The  mother  of 
Mrs.  Webb  was  Miss  K.  3.  Butler.  Her  parents 
came  to  Illinois  in  18.33,  when  she  was  an  infant, 
and  died  in  this  county  on  their  farm,  he  in  1813. 
and  she  in  1854,  leaving  five  children,  two  sons 
and  three  daughters.  Tllrs.  Webb  was  their  second 
child  and  first  daughter,  and  all  are  still  living. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webb  were  married  .July  5, 1849,  and 
the  next  September  thej'  began  housekeeping  in 
their  log  cabin  on  the  farm  where  they  have  lived 
ever  since,  never  moving  except  from  their  pio- 
neer log  cabin  to  their  present  abode,  a  double 
liewed-log  house,  one  and  a-half  stories  high,  with 
a  fireplace  and  large  stone  chimney.  This  house 
w.as  built  in  1868,  and  the  large  barn  for  h.a3'  and 
stock,  60x56  feet  in  size,  with  22A-foot  posts,  was 
erected  in  1887.  They  have  one  hundred  and 
eighty  acies  in  this  farm,  most  of  which  is  tillable, 
and  the}^  have  on  section  16  fort^'-flve  .acres.  Five 
children,  two  sons  and  three  daughters,  are  dead, 
three  of  whom  died  when  quite  j'oung,  and  one, 
Sarah  .Jane,  passed  away  at  the  age  of  seventeen, 
dying  August  2,  1870.  Mary  E.,  wife  of  Will- 
iam C.  Choat,  died  March  19,  1888,  .aged  twenty- 
five.  The  living  children  are  Rhoda  A.,  wife 
of  AVilliam  Sutton,  who  has  three  sons  and  five 
daughters;  Martha  C,  wife  of  George  W.  Chism, 
who  has  three  sons  and  two  daughters;  L.  C,  a 
farmer  on  an  adjoining  farm,  who  has  a  wife  and 
three  daughters;  M.  M.,  wife  of  D.  Casej-,  who  has 
two  sons  and  two  daughters;  Arra  K.,  wife  of  F. 
L.  Parks,  who  has  one  son  and  one  daughter;  J. 
C,  a  farmer  on  an  adjoining  farm,  who  has  a  wife 
and  one  daughter;  Tabitha  S.,  wife  of  .John  Boner, 
who  has  one  son  and  one  daughter;  William  M.,  a 
young  man  of  twent\-one,  at  home  on   the  farm : 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


279 


and  Isaac  T.,  a  j'outh  of  thirteen  j^ears.  All  of 
these  children  have  had  good  common-school  edu- 
cations, and  Columbus  has  taught  two  terms. 

Mr.  Webb  has  been  Constable  and. Justice  of  the 
Peace  fourteen  years,  and  twice  a  member  of  the 
Count}-  Board,  and  has  alwa3's  been  a  Democrat. 
He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  a  church  of  Latter 
Da}'  Saints,  which  consists  of  about  eight}'  mem- 
bers. Mr.  Webb  carries  on  mixed  farming,  rais- 
ing all  kinds  of  grain,  hay  and  vegetables,  espe- 
cially sweet  potatoes,  for  which  lie  Las  a  new  and 
improved  house  in  which  to  store  them  during  the 
winter.  He  keeps  a  good  flock  of  sheep  of  the 
Southdown  and  Cotswold  breeds,  and  raises  a  few 
colts,  cattle  and  hogs,  besides  keeping  from  twelve 
to  fifteen  horses. 


y)ILLIAM  R.  HILEMAN  is  a  well-known 
farmer  of  Elvira  Township,  who  is  practi- 
„  ^,  cal  and  progressive  in  his  methods  of  car- 
rying on  agriculture,  and  has  one  of  the  best  kept 
farms  in  this  section.  He  was  born  in  Union 
County,  .luly  15,  1836,  a  son  of  Peter  Hileman, 
who  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina.  He  came  to 
Illinois  in  the  early  years  of  its  settlement  when  a 
young  man  with  his  parents,  and  secured  a  tract 
of  Government  land  in  Union  County,  four  and 
a-lialt  miles  from  Jonesboro.  He  thus  became  one 
of  its  pioneers,  and  in  the  typical  log  cabin  that 
he  built  to  shelter  his  family,  his  son,  of  whom  we 
write,  was  born.  The  father  continued  his  resi- 
dence on  the  farm  that  he  reclaimed  from  the 
wilderness  until  his  death  at  a  ripe  age,  in  1880. 
His  widow  died  there  in  1888.  .She  was  Susanna 
Miller  before  marriage,  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Barbara  Miller,  and  she  was  a  native  of  South 
Carolina. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  one  of  twelve 
children,  and  be  was  reared  amid  the  primitive 
surroundings  of  pioneer  days.  The  first  school 
that  he  attended  was  held  in  a  log  house,  wliicii 
w.as  rudely  furnished   by  splitting  logs  for  seats. 


one  side  being  hewn  smooth.  After  he  was  twenty- 
one  he  attended  school  two  terras  at  Jonesboro, 
where  he  had  the  advantage  of  a  good  course  of 
study,  and  was  well  fitted  for  a  teacher,  which  pro- 
fession he  pursued  in  Union  and  Alexander  Coun- 
ties. After  marriage  he  took  up  farming,  buying 
a  tract  of  land  in  Union  County  and  living  there- 
on until  1879,  when  he  sold  it  and  purchased  the 
place  where  he  now  resides.  This  comprises  two 
hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  fertile  land,  of  which 
forty  acres  lie  in  Union  County  and  the  remainder 
in  Johnson  County,  his  home  being  situated  on 
section  6,  Elvira  Township.  When  it  came  into 
his  hands  but  seventy-five  acres  were  under  culti- 
vation, and  with  a  small  frame  house  and  log 
stable,  constituted  all  the  improvements.  By  his 
untiring  energy  and  skillful  labor  he  has  wrought 
a  great  change,  and  now  has  a  substantially  im- 
proved, valuable  farm,  that  is  kept  in  good  order, 
and  by  excellent  methods  of  tillage  is  made  to 
yield  bountiful  harvests.  Mr.  Hileman  devotes  it 
to  general  farming  and  keeps  a  good  class  of  stock. 
He  raises  a  number  of  hogs  every  season,  the  Essex 
being  his  favorite  breed,  although  he  has  some 
choice  Poland-China  and  Berkshires,  and  he  has 
often  taken  premiums  at  the  county  fairs  when  he 
has  exhibited.  He  h,as  also  taken  premiums  for 
his  fowls  at  different  county  fairs,  as  he  pays  con- 
siderable attention  to  poultry-raising  and  has  four 
distinct  varieties  of  the  finest  breeds.  Mr.  Hile- 
man is  likewise  greatly  interested  in  horticulture, 
of  which  he  has  made  a  careful  study  and  is  very 
successful  in  this  branch,  having  about  eight  acres 
of  orchard  and  small  fruits  of  the  choicest  kinds, 
which  command  a  ready  market  and  are  a  good 
source  of  profit. 

Mr.  Hileman  was  married  in  1860  to  Miss  Mary 
A.  Masters,  a  native  of  Union  County,  and  a 
daughter  of  David  and  Susan  (Fink)  IMasters,  and 
in  her  he  has  found  a  devoted  wife.  Three  chil- 
dren have  been  born  to  them:  Sarah  A.,  Susanna 
and  Mary  E.  Sarah  Alice  married  Adam  Hoover, 
and  they  have  two  children,  William  J.  and  Adol- 
phus.  Susan  is  the  wife  of  D.  B.  Peninger,  and 
they  have  two  children,  Charles  and  Andrew  C. 
Mary  is  the  wife  of  Hosea  Elkins,  and  they  have 
one  child,  Samuel  F.     Mrs.  Iliieman's   father  and 


280 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


mother  were  born  in  North  Carolina.  The^'  set- 
tled in  Union  County  in  pioneer  daj'S,  making 
their  home  two  miles  west  of  Cobden,  and  their 
cliildren  went  to  scliool  in  a  log  house  which  w.as 
furnished  with  benches  made  of  poplar  logs.  The 
niotlicr  used  to  card  and  spin  and  weave,  making 
all  the  cloth  used  by  the  family,  which  was  the 
custom  in  those  days,  and  she  also  taught  her  chil- 
dren to  make  home-spun  cloth. 

Mr.  llileman  is  a  truthful,  conscientious,  sober- 
minded  man,  whose  life  is  guided  by  Christian 
principles,  and  he  and  his  wife  and  children  are 
devout  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  He  has 
borne  an  honorable  part  in  the  public  life  of  the 
township,  serving  as  School  Trustee  and  Constable 
at  different  times. 


"ifJOHN  BUTLER  is  numbered  among  the 
well-to-do  farmers  of  Pope  County,  his 
place  comprising  two    hundred  and  thirty 

''l)  acres,  being  situated  on  section  15,  town- 
ship 12,  range  6.  He  formerly  owned  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty  acres,  a  portion  of  which  he  gave 
to  his  children.  Of  his  jiresent  farm  one  hun- 
dred acres  are  heavily  timbered,  and  on  the  re- 
mainder he  is  engaged  in  general  farming,  rais- 
ing considerable  quantities  of  corn  and  wheat. 
He  grows  from  twenty  to  thirty  bushels  of  corn 
to  the  acre,  and  fiom  ten  to  twenty  bushels  of 
wheat.  Though  his  farm  is  well  stocked,  he  is 
not  speciall}^  interested  in  raising  live  stock.  In 
1886  he  erected  a  substantial  frame  residence, 
which  is  16x32  feet.  In  1864  he  erected  a  good 
barn,  40x40  feet  in  dimensions,  and  has  other 
substantial  farm  buildings. 

Mr.  Butler,  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Stewart 
Count}',  Tenn.,  in  1829,  and  is  a  son  of  Martin 
and  Margaret  (McGee)  Butler.  The  latter  was  a 
daughter  of  Adam  and  Anna  (Whiteside)  McOee. 
After  his  marri.age  Mr.  Butler  engaged  in  farming 
in  Tennessee  until  1832,  when  he  was  called  from 


this  life,  leaving  his  young  widow  with  two  sons  JI 
and  a  daughter,  of  whom  our  subject  is  the  eldest. 
The  mother  came  with  her  children  to  southern 
Illinois  in  company  with  her  parents.  They  made 
the  journey  most  of  tlie  distance  on  the  river  and 
settled  on  wild  land  in  what  is  now  Eddyville 
Precinct,  where  our  subject's  grandparents  subse- 
quently died,  the  grandmother  d^ing  in  1849, 
being  then  about  sixty  years  of  age,  and  her  hus- 
band not  long  surviving  her.  About  the  j^ear 
1845  Mrs.  Butler  removed  to  the  farm  now  occu- 
pied by  William  Elam,  becoming  the  wife  of  James 
.lennings,  and  within  two  years,  while  in  middle 
life,  was  called  to  the  home  beyond,  the  date  being 
about  1847.  The  brother  and  sister  of  our  sub- 
ject arc  still  living.  Allen  is  a  farmer  of  Franklin 
County,  and  Anna  is  the  widow  of  .James  Burns,  i 
who  was  a  farmer  in  Eddyville  Precinct.  These 
children  were  left  orphans  at  an  early  age  and 
were  scattered. 

-John  Butler,  of  this  sketch,  soon  after  his  mo- 
ther's death  worked  on  a  neighboring  farm,  cut- 
ting cordwood  during  the  winter.  He  then  en- 
gaged with  John  AVhiteside  to  work  on  his  farm 
until  he  was  twenty-one,  but  about  that  time  met 
the  lady  who  afterward  became  his  wife,  and  con- 
cluded to  change  his  plans.  In  Januar}-,  1850, 
Mr.  Butler  and  Priscilla  S.  Barger  were  united  in 
marriage.  Mrs.  Butler  is  the  daughter  of  .T.acob 
S.  Barger,  one  of  the  well-known  farmers  of  this 
region.  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Butler  entered 
eighty  acres  of  Government  land  in  the  wilderness 
and  made  good  improvements  upon  the  place, 
which  is  the  farm  on  which  John  Holloway  now 
resides.  In  the  fall  of  1854  he  traded  this  farm 
for  eighty  acres  of  his  present  homestead,  which 
has  been  his  place  of  residence  for  thirty-eight 
years. 

In  1861  Mrs.  Butler  died,  leaving  three  sons 
and  a  daughter:  Jacob,  now  a  practicing  phj-sician 
of  Elizabethtown,  who  is  married  and  has  two 
sons  and  a  daughter;  Margaret,  wife  of  Thoma> 
II.  Lechton,  a  farmer  of  this  neighborhood,  and 
the  mother  of  five  sons  and  two  daughters;  John  F., 
who  is  engaged  in  farming  in  Clinton  County,  111.: 
and  Aaron,  who  makes  his  home  in  Creal  Springs. 
and    is    married    and    has    a    son    and    daughter. 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


281 


Mr.  Butler  was  again  married,  November  10,  1863, 
at  which  time  Miss  Marj'  E.  Rose,  a  native  of  this 
county,  became  his  wife.  She  is  the  daughter  of 
Asa  and  Peiiina  (SUelb3-)  Rose,  natives  of  Ala- 
bama and  Hardin  Count3%  III.,  respectivelj-.  Mrs. 
Butler  is  the  third  in  order  of  birth  of  four  chil- 
dren. Clarissa,  a  sister,  is  the  widow  of  Wiley 
Cummings;  Margaret  became  the  wife  of  Abijah 
King;  and  Thomas  N.  died  at  Bay  City,  in  this 
county,  in  1885,  leaving  a  family.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Butler  have  lost  an  infant  son  and  daughter.  Their 
living  children  are:  Miranda  .J.,  wife  of  Logan 
Ray,  a  farmer  of  this  locality;  Clarissa,  wife  of 
Ed  Smith,  a  carpenter  at  Creal  Springs;  Charles 
A.,  at  work  about  St.  Louis;  Seaman  O.  and 
Thomas  O.,  the  two  latter  attending  school.  They 
have  all  been  given  good  educational  advantages 
and  are  worthy  members  of  society.  Mr.  Butler  is 
a  Master  Mason  and  a  member  of  tlie  Independ- 
ent Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  Politicall}',  he  is  a 
Republican,  and,  religiously,  he  and  his  esteemed 
wife  are  members  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church. 


"TSl^S" 


OEORGE  W.  SMOOT  was  born  in  Simpson 
,  Township,  Johnson  County,  111.,  in  1845, 
and  now  resides  in  Burnside  Township,  in 
the  same  county.  His  father.  Reed  Smoot,  was  born 
in  North  Carolina,  and  came  to  Illinois  from  Mis- 
souri about  1838,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  years.  He 
was  the  son  of  George  Smoot,  a  farmer  and  a  native 
of  Virginia,  who  died  in  Kentuckj'  about  1827,  in 
middle  life,  leaving  a  widow  and  six  children,  three 
sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom  Reed,  the  father 
of  George  W.,  was  the  eldest.  The  widow  married 
again,  this  union  being  with  Levi  T.  Ta3'lor,  and 
died  in  Johnson  Count\-,  111.,  near  Rej-noldsburgh, 
at  the  age  of  eightj'-five  j^ears.  The  mother  of 
George  W.  Smoot  was  Eliza  (Thomas)  Smoot,  a 
daughter  of  Henrj'  Thomas,  whose  wife  was  before 
her  marriage  a  Miss  Mungle.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas 
were  from  Weakle}-  County,  Tenn.,  where    their 


daughter  was  born.  Grandfather  Thomas  was  a 
soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  went  into  the 
armj-  at  the  age  of  eighteen  j-ears.  The  paternal 
grandparents  of  our  subject  early  removed  from 
North  Carolina  to  Tennessee,  whence  they  removed 
to  Kentucky,  living  in  that  State  manj'  yeai-s. 
The^-  removed  thence  to  Missouri,  living  there  for 
a  short  time,  and  then  came  to  Illinois.  These 
pilgrimages  were  made  in  the  old-fashioned  emi- 
grant stvle,  in  a  covered  wagon  drawn  sometimes 
1)3'  an  ox  and  cow  that  were  3'oked  together. 
The3-  came  to  Illinois  with  no  cash  capital,  and 
their  first  home  was  three  miles  west  of  Marion, 
Williamson  Count3',  on  wild  land. 

The  parents  of  George  W.  Smoot  were  married 
August  12,  1841,  the  father  being  then  twent3-- 
nine  and  the  mother  twenty-two  years  old.  The3- 
began  life  on  one  hundred  and  twent3'  acres  of 
land  purchased  from  the  Government  at  81.25  per 
acre,  and  lived  thereon  the  rest  of  their  days.  They 
reared  a  family  of  five  sons  and  five  daughters, and 
of  these  children  George  W.  is  the  third  child  and 
second  son  in  order  of  birth.  The  others  were:  Sarah 
Ann,  widow  of  John  O'Neal,  who  is  now  living  on 
her  farm  in  Bloomfield  Township;  Warren  O.,  a 
vei\v  conscientious  and  pious  3'ouug  man,  who  en- 
listed when  twenty  years  of  age  in  the  Fourteenth 
Illinois  Cavalry,  Compan3'  G,  under  the  command 
of  Capt.  Perkins,  and  was  captured  on  Stoneman's 
raid,  and  died  in  Andersonville  Prison  November 
11,  1863;  Viola,  wife  of  W.T.  Fern,  a  farmer  of 
Bloomfield  Township;  B.  F.,  a  farmer  of  Simpson 
Township;  Ulich  Z.,  a  farmer  of  Missouri,  recentl3- 
deceased;  Maiy  E.,  deceased  wife  of  S.  F.  Yandell, 
who  died  in  1884,  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight; 
Sarrillo,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-two; 
Martha  .Jane,  who  died  six  months  later,  when 
nearly  twenty-one  3'ears  old;  and  L.  L.,  a  farmer 
living  on  the  old  farm  with  his  mother,  and  who, 
during  the  last  three  3'eai'S,  has  been  a  Baptist 
clergyman. 

George  W.  Smoot  was  reared  on  the  farm,  and 
secured  a  good  common-school  education.  He  be- 
gan teaching  school  at  the  age  of  twent3--one3-ears, 
and  continued  in  this  occupation  for  fifteen  suc- 
cessive winters,  of  which  six  terms  were  taught  in 
the  same  school.     He  was  married    when    twenty- 


282 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


four  years  of  age  to  Paralee  llailey,  widow  of  W. 
R.  Kelley,  ami  a  daughter  of  Joliii  T.  and  Nancy 
(Jones)  Hailcy.  By  her  first  marriage  she  liad  one 
daughter  named  Lizzie,  wlio  is  now  deceased.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hailey  removed  from  Tennessee,  in  which 
State  Mrs.  .Smoot  was  born,  and  located  in  Ken- 
tucky, wliere  they  remained  some  time,  remov- 
ing to  Illinois  in  1862.  Mr.  llailey  died  on  the 
homestead  September  28,  1873,  in  the  fifty-fifth 
year  of  his  age.  His  widow,  aged  seventy,  still 
lives,  together  with  two  sons  and  three  daughters. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smoot  removed  to  New  Burnside 
in  1873,  where  they  have  lived  ever  since  in  their 
cozy  little  cottage.  Mr.  Smoot  was  formerly  en- 
gaged in  teaching  and  clerking  up  to  1882,  and 
has  since  been  connected  with  the  fire  insurance 
business,  acting  first  as  solicitor  and  then  as  re- 
corder and  district  agent.  lie  has  been  agent  for 
various  companies,  and  is  without  doubt  one  of 
the  most  successful  agents  in  his  line  in  this 
count.y.  He  has  been  Village  Treasurer  for  eight 
years,  is  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows,  and  also  a  member  of  the  Blue  Lodge 
in  Masonry,  of  which  he  is  Seci'ctar^y.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Smoot  are  both  members  of  the  Ba[)tist 
Church,  and  he  has  been  clerk  of  his  church  for 
wany  years. 


^i^^^i^ 


"S^OBEKT  D.  MATIIIS,  Justice  of  the  Peace 
[ti^  of  Bloomfield  Townsliip,  and  one.  of  its 
ZL\  flt,^  prosperous  farmers,  has  borne  an  honora- 
ble  part  in  local  public  affairs,  and  is  a  highlj- 
respected  citizen.  He  was  born  in  Trigg  County, 
Ky.,  January  18, 1836.  His  father,  William  Mathis, 
was  a  native  of  the  same  county,  and  was  a  son  of 
John  Mathis,  who  was,  it  is  thought,  born  in  Vir- 
ginia, where  his  father,  whose  name  was  the  same 
as  Ills  own,  spent  his  entire  life  so  far  as 
known.  His  wife  was  married  a  second  time  to  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Ellison,  and  she  died  in  Trigg 
County,  Ky. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject  located   in   Ken- 


tucky in  an  early  day,  and  was  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  Trigg  County,  where  he  improved  a  good  farm. 
In  1846  he  disposed  of  his  property  there,  and  com- 
ing to  Illinois,  bought  a  farm  in  Randol))h  County, 
and  resided  there  until  hi.s  death,  his  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Margaret  Brown,  also  dying  in 
that  county. 

The  father  of  our  sul)ject  grew  to  manhood  and 
was  married  in  Kentucky.  In  1841),  he  emigrated 
to  this  county  with  his  wife  and  four  children, 
coming  with  an  ox-team,  bringing  his  household 
goods  and  camping  bj'  the  way  at  night.  A  six 
days'  journey  brought  the  family  to  their  destina- 
tion in  Bloomfield  Township,  where  the  father 
bought  a  tract  of  Government  land.  He  first 
erected  a  log  cabin  for  a  dwelling  .and  then  com- 
menced at  once  the  hard  pioneer  labor  of  clearing 
and  developing  his  land.  November  22,  1860,  he 
died,  and  the  township  lost  a  useful  and  much- 
esteemed  citizen.  His  wife  survived  him  until 
June,  1888,  and  then  p.<issed  away  at  a  venerable 
age.  Her  maiden  name  was  Cynthia  Scott,  and 
she  was  a  native  of  Trigg  County,  Ky.,  and  a 
daughter  of  William  and  Mary  (Moore)  Scott.  She 
and  her  husband  were  the  parents  of  five  children: 
Robert  D.,  Elizabeth  E.,  John  B.,  Margaret  A.  and 
James  P. 

Our  subject  w.as  thirteen  years  old  when  the 
family  came  to  Illinois  to  found  a  new  home  in  the 
wilds  of  this  county,  which  was  still  in  the  hands  of 
the  pioneers,  and  he  has  witnessed  much  of  its 
growth  to  its  present  condition.  Deer,  wild 
turkeys  and  other  game  were  plentiful  in  this  then 
sparselj'  settled  region,  and  there  were  but  few 
public  improvements.  There  were  no  railways, 
and  Metropolis  was  the  principal  market  and  depot 
for  supplies  for  all  the  country  around  for  many 
miles. 

Mr.  Mathis  continued  to  live  with  his  parents 
until  his  marriage,  and  he  then  farmed  on  rented 
land  for  six  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he 
bought  forty  acres  of  land  on  section  21,  Bloom- 
field Townsliip,  to  which  he  has  added  by  further 
purchase,  and  he  now  has  a  good  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres  that  is  n't! der  excellent  cultiva- 
tion and  is  well  improved. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  vvith  Miss  Lucinda, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


283 


daughter  of  Robert  and  Mahala  (Buchanan)  Fair- 
less,  and  a  native  of  Gallatin  Count3',  was  celebrated 
in  1858,  and  has  been  a  union  of  true  happiness. 
To  them  have  been  born  four  children:  John  R., 
George  W.,  Alonzo  F.  and  Lilian  V. 

Mr.  Mathis  represents  the  interests  of  law  and 
order  in  his  township  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  in 
which  office  he  is  now  serving  his  tenth  year,  hav- 
ing given  universal  satisfaction  in  the  performance 
of  his  duties.  He  was  a  Collector  of  Taxes  two 
years,  and  for  a  period  of  ten  years  was  Township 
School  Treasurer.  In  politics,  he  is  allied  with 
the  Republicans,  and  in  his  religious  views,  he  is  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  faith  and  a  consistent 
member  of  the  church  of  that  denomination. 


E^^ 


w 


■"^  OIIN  II.  BURKE,  who  is  a  descendant  of  the 
early  pioneer  stock  of  Illinois,  and  was  one 
of  her  patriotic  citizen-soldiers  that  did 
such  good  service  at  the  front  during  the 
rebellion,  is  an  intelligent  member  of  the  farming 
community,  owning  and  occupying  a  good  farm 
in  Simpson  Township.  He  was  born  in  Randolph 
County,  July  4,- 1844,  and  is  a  son  of  Thomas  C. 
Burke,  who  was  a  native  of  Rowan  County,  N.  C. 
The  latter  was  a  son  of  John  B.  Burke,  who  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  native  of  the  same  State,  and 
was  of  Irish  Scotch  parentage.  He  removed  from 
North  Carolina  to  Tennessee  in  1819,  and  from 
there  to  Illinois  in  1827,  becoming  a  pioneer  of 
Randolph  Countj^  where  he  improved  a  farm 
one  mile  from  Shiloh,  and  resided  there  until  his 
death  in  1859,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Cowan. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  young  when  his 
parents  made  the  journe}'  with  a  team  from  Ten- 
nessee to  the  wilds  of  Randolph  Covinty.  After 
he  had  grown  to  manhood  he  too  became  a  pioneer 
ill  that  section,  entering  a  tract  of  Government 
land  a  half-mile  from  Shiloh,  and  he  devel- 
oped it  into  a  fine  farm,  comprising  two  hundred 
acres  of  fertile,  highly  productive  land.     He  lived 


on  the  old  homestead  until  his  life  was  closed  by 
death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Jemima 
Barrow,  and  she  was  a  daughter  of  John  Barrow, 
who  was  born  in  Kentucky'  of  Scotch-English  par- 
ents. He  came  to  Illinois  in  1811,  and  settled 
near  Campbell  Hill,  .Jackson  County,  where  he  re- 
deemed a  farm  from  the  wilderness,  and  there  died 
at  a  ripe  age.  His  wife  w^as  Mary  Steele  before  her 
marriage,  and  she  was  born  in  this  State.  Her. 
brother  was  Archibald  .Steele,  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  who  boldly  set  forth  to  brave  the  dan- 
gers and  hardships  of  life  on  the  frontier  in 
the  year  1800,  and  making  his  way  to  Illinois, 
which  then  formed  a  part  of  the  Northwestern 
Territoiy,  he  settled  among  the  Indians  and  wild 
beasts  that  abounded  in  that  pa'rt  of  the  State  now 
known  as  Randolph  County,  locating  ou  the  pres- 
ent site  of  Steeleville.  Only  by  reading  the  history 
of  the  early  settlement  of  Illinois  can  one  gain  an 
idea  of  the  struggles  of  this  sturdy  pioneer  to  ob- 
tain a  foothold  in  the  wilderness.  But  he  succeeded, 
becoming  very  prosperous,  and  improved  a  large 
farm,  which  was  his  home  until  his  earthly  career 
was  closed  in  death.  His  wife  also  died  on  the 
home  farm.  The  mother  of  our  subject  died  near 
Shiloh  Hill,  Randolph  County.  She  reared  four 
children:  John  H.,  Francis  M.,  Ed  van  T.  and 
Kate. 

The  early  life  of  our  subject  was  passed  on  his 
father's  farm  in  his  native  county,  and  he  was  ed- 
ucated in  the  public  schools.  He  was  but  a  bo^' 
when  the  war  broke  out,  and  but  eighteen  years  of 
age  when  he  entered  the  arraj-  to  do  his  share  of 
fighting  for  his  country,  and  it  was  meet  that  one 
born  on  the  nation's  birthday'  should  offer  his  ser- 
vices to  help  save  it  from  disunion  and  dishonor. 
He  enlisted  in  July,  1862,  and  his  name  was  en- 
rolled as  a  member  of  Company  A,  Eightieth  Illi- 
nois Infantry.  He  displayed  excellent  soldierly 
qualities  on  the  field  and  bore  au  honorable  part 
in  many  encounters  with  the  enemy,  the  most 
notable  battles  in  which  he  fought  being  those  at 
Perryville,  Milton,  Missionary  Ridge  and  Buz- 
zard's Roost.  He  was  discharged  January  20, 
1865,  shortly  before  the  close  of  the  war,  on  ac- 
count of  disability,  having  finally  succumbed  to 
the  hardships  and  privations  of  a  soldier's  life. 


284 


I'ORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


When  he  returned  lioine  from  tlie  South,  our 
subject,  iinibitious  to  obtain  u  higher  eclucation, 
attenderl  school  at  Sparta,  and  in  1868  he  entered 
the  teacher's  profession,  in  which  lie  was  success- 
fully engaged  until  1879.  He  then  accepted  a 
position  as  an  oUicer  in  the  Soutliern  Illinois  Pen- 
itentiary. In  1885  he  resigned  in  order  to  turn 
his  attention  to  fanning,  and  bought  a  farm  in 
Bloomtield  Township.  He  lived  upon  that  three 
years  and  then  bought  another  of  forty  acres  in 
Simpson  Township,  which  is  still  in  his  possession. 
In  1889  he  became  agent  for  the  Franklin  l>ife 
Association  at  Springlicld,  and  is  still  acting  in 
that  capacity.  He  is  an  excellent  man  of  business 
and  stands  well  in  his  community  as  a  man  and  a 
citizen.  He  is  prominently  identified  with  Simp- 
son Post  No.  683,  O.  A.  K.,  of  which  he  is  Past- 
Commander. 

May  21,  1868.  is  the  date  of  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Burke  with  Miss  JIary  E.  Green,  and  three  children 
have  been  born  of  their  pleasant  wedded  life: 
Wallace  O.,  Clarence  and  Grace.  Mrs.  Burke  is 
also  a  native  of  Randolph  County,  a  daughter  of 
Carter  and  Elizabeth  Green,  and  a  granddaughter 
of  Greenbury  Green,  of  Tennessee.  Her  father 
came  to  Illinois  in  1837  and  cast  in  his  lot  with 
the  pioneers  of  Randolph  County,  settling  near 
Steeleville.  He  is  now  a  resident  of  Perry  County. 


-^^ 


AiNIUEL  W.  CARSON,  dealer  in  general 
merchandise  at  Tunnel  Hill,  Johnson 
County,  111.,  was  born  in  Johnson  County 
in  1866.  He  is  a  son  of  H.  C.  Carson, 
who  was  born  in  Saline  County,  111.,  and  was  a 
son  of  Uriah  and  Mary  (Pew)  Carson,  both  natives 
of  Tennessee,  who  removed  from  that  State  to 
Saline  Count}',  111.,  at  a  very  early  day,  in  fact  be- 
fore the  State  was  admitted  into  the  Union.  They 
had  a  large  family,  all  of  whom  were  born  in  Ten- 
nessee except  H.  C.  and  a  brother.  Mary  Carson 
died  in  middle  life,  but  Uriah  Carson  lived  to  be 
verv  old,  and   left  a   small   estate.     H.  C.  Carson 


was  first  married  to  Elizabeth  Stone,  who  bore  him 
three  sons  and  two  daughters,  all  of  whom  have 
died  except  Elizabeth,  wife  of  James  Estes.  He 
was  married  again,  this  time  to  Miss  Killgore, 
daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Susan  (Kelly)  Killgore, 
who  came  from  Kentucky  to  Illinois  with  eight 
children  in  January,  1819,  and  settled  first  as 
squatters  in  Elvira  Township,  where  within  three 
j'ears  they  bought  land.  Mrs.  Carson  was  born  in 
Trigg  County,  K}-.,  in  1829,  and  was  one  of  eight 
children,  one  son  and  seven  daughters.  Her 
mother  died  in  I^lvira  Township  at  about  fifty 
years  of  age,    but    her   father    died  in    Arkansas. 

The  mother  of  our  subject,  Samuel  W.  Carson, 
was  first  married  to  William  Mathis  when  she  was 
eighteen  years  of  age,  and  her  liusband  died  about 
t\TO  years  afterward,  leaving  her  with  two  children. 
She  was  then  married  to  Daniel  Jackson,  who  was 
thrown  from  his  horse  and  killed  within  one  year, 
leaving  her  with  one  son.  She  was  next  married 
to  Mr.  Carson,  by  whom  she  had  nine  children, 
seven  sons  and  two  daughters.  The  survivors  of 
these  children  are  as  follows:  Uriah  C,  a  practic- 
ing physician  and  farmer  of  Saline  County,  111.; 
James  B.,  a  farmer  of  Johnson  Count}';  Franklin 
P.,  a  single  man  at  home  on  the  farm;  Nancy  J., 
wife  of  George  Leonard,  a  farmer  of  Tunnel  Hill 
Township;  Samuel  W.;  and  Jerome  K.,  who  is  mar- 
ried and  living  at  home  with  his  mother  and 
brother,  F.  P.  The  father  of  this  family  was  well 
and  favorably  known  to  the  people  of  the  county, 
having  been  prominent  in  public  affairs,  and 
serving  as  Sheriff  of  the  county  some  years.  At 
his  death  he  owned  eight  hundred  and  forty  acres 
of  land  and  left  an  estate  of  about  $30,000.  His 
death  occurred  January  27,  1879,  when  he  was 
sixty-six  years  old.  The  mother  of  Samuel  W. 
Carson  is  still  a  strong  and  healtiiy  woman,  looks 
after  the  affairs  of  the  farm,  and  does  much  of  her 
household  work.  The  father  of  Samuel  W.  was  in 
some  respects  a  remarkable  man,  having  made 
most  of  his  property  after  the  doctors  pronounced 
him  in  the  last  stages  of  consumption. 

Our  subject  was  reared  on  the  farm  and  had 
good  educational  advantages  until  he  left  home  at 
sixteen  years  of  age.  At  this  time  he  .accepted  a 
clerkship  in  his  brother  P.  J. 's  store  at  Tunnel  Hill, 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


285 


and  remained  with  him  until  the  lattcr's  death,  Au- 
gust 7,  1890,  at  the  age  of 'thirt3-,  when  he  left  a 
wife  and  two  children.  Samuel  W.  Carson  opened 
his  store  in  November,  1891.  He  is  a  single  man, 
and  ii.as  a  promising  future.  He  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  and  a  member  of  the  Odd  Fellows'  fra- 
ternity. 


DRIULIA  DUNN  is  worthy  of  the  respect  in 
;  which  he  is  held  as  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
^  Johnson  County  who  has  borne  an  active 
'  '\  part  in  the  development  of  its  agricultural 
resources,  and  in  promoting  its  growth.  He  came 
here  more  than  half  a  century  ago  in. the  vigor  of 
early  manhood,  and  settling  in  the  primeval  forests 
of  this  section,  bent  all  his  energies  to  the  hard 
task  of  hewing  out  a  farm  and  building  up  a 
home  in  what  is  now  Vienna  Township,  and  amid 
the  peaceful  scenes  of  his  former  labors  he  is  pass- 
ing the  declining  years  of  a  busy  life  in  serenitj'' 
and  comfort. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Robinson  County, 
Tenn.,  .Tune  12,  1817,  the  sixth  child  of  Levi  Dunn, 
a  farmer  and  a  tanner,  who  was  also  a  native  of 
that  county.  He  was  killed  while  yet  in  the  prime 
of  life  by  his  team  running  awa}-  with  him.  He 
was  a  son  of  Azariah  Dunn,  who  was  an  earh'  set- 
tler of  Robinson  County,  where  he  had  a  farm, 
and  was  a  man  of  considerable  influence.  He 
helped  to  build  the  first  hewed-log  house  erected 
in  Nashville,  Tenn.  The  parents  of  our  subject 
had  the  following  children:  .Tohn,  who  died  in 
Robinson  Count}-,  Tenn.;  Azariah,  who  died  in 
Tennessee;  Henry,  a  farmer  in  Vienna  Township; 
Jane  and  Hannah,  who  died  in  Tennessee;  Priulia; 
Alabutus,  who  died  in  Tennessee;  Levi,  a  resident 
of  Tennessee;  Calantha  V.,  deceased,  wife  of  John 
Jones;    and  two  who  died  in  infancy. 

Priulia  Dunn  had  but  very  little  chance  to  ob- 
tain an  education,  as  there  were  either  no  schools 
in  his  native  place  when  he  was  a  boy,  or  they 
were  irregular  in  session  and  the  teachers  incom- 
petent.    He,  however,  had    an    unlimited   oppor- 


tunit}'  to  learn  farming  on  his  father's  fai"m,  and 
he  made  the  old  homestead  his  home  until  ho  was 
twenty-one.  That  year  he  was  married  to  Edna 
Draugou,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  he  decided 
to  avail  himself  of  the  advantages  offered  by  the 
cheap  lands  and  rich  virgin  soil  of  Illinois  to 
make  a  home  for  himself  and  bride.  The  young 
couple  journeyed  to  their  destination  in  Johnson 
County  in  a  wagon,  and  after  his  arrival  Mr. 
Dunn  selected  his  future  dwelling-place  in  a  dense 
forest,  his  land  lying  on  section  25,  township  13, 
range  3, and  this  he  purchased  of  the  Government. 
He  lived  with  a  brother  for  a  time,  and  cleared 
some  ground  for  a  crop  of  corn,  and  when  he  had 
harvested  it,  built  a  log  cabin,  covered  with  clap- 
boards, and  moved  into  it.  The  trees  upon  his 
place  were  the  growth  of  centuries,  and  man}'  of 
them  ver}'  large,  and  it  required  a  great  deal  of 
hard  labor  to  remove  them,  some  of  them  having 
to  be  burned  to  get  them  out  of  the  way.  He  had 
to  saw  his  lumber  with  a  whipsaw,  and  before 
that  the  floor  of  his  cabin  had  been  made  of 
puncheon.  He  being  one  of  the  earl}'  settlers,  he 
had  no  near  neighbors,  and  he  and  his  wife  often 
felt  lonesome  in  the  great  woods  so  far  from  their 
old  friends,  and  often  wished  themselves  back  in 
Tennessee.  But  hard  work  and  plenty  of  it  kept 
them  from  repining  too  much.  They  courage- 
ously faced  the  dangers  and  hardships  of  life  in 
the  wilderness,  with  its  accompanying  privations 
and  sacrifices,  such  as  the  young  people  of  to-day 
cannot  realize.  There  were  no  mills,  no  schools 
and  no  churches,  except  at  a  great  distance,  and, 
of  course,  no  social  advantages. 

Mr.  Dunn  had  the  energy  and  ability  to  sur- 
mount the  ditticulties  that  lay  in  his  pathway,  and 
in  time  had  his  land,  to  which  he  had  added  forty 
acres  by  subsequent  purchase,  making  eighty  acres 
in  all,  the  size  of  his  present  farm.  This  he  has  ad- 
mirably tilled,  and  made  many  substantial  improve- 
ments. In  1855  he  built  his  present  residence,  which 
was  the  first  good  frame  house  ever  erected  in  this 
section  of  the  county,  and  his  other  buildings  are 
of  a  good  class.  He  is  a  man  of  sterling  merit,  up- 
right in  principle  and  in  act,  is  well  known  in  the 
county,  and  is  greatly  esteemed  by  the  people 
among  whom  he  has   lived  and  labored  so  long. 


286 


]'()in'KAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   R15V1EW. 


Age  lias  louclied  him  but  lightly,  for  although  he 
has  passed  the  milestone  that  marks  a  long  and 
useful  life  of  seventy-live  years,  he  is  in  good 
health,  and  retains  his  mental  and  physical  activ- 
ity in  a  remarkable  degree.  He  still  takes  a  deep 
interest  in  all  that  concerns  tiie  township,  espec- 
ially in  educational  matters,  and  is  iSchool  Di- 
rector. He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Township 
Hoard  of  Trustees,  and  has  alwaj's  done  his  duty 
as  a  loyal  citizen.  Politically',  he  is  a  strong  sup- 
porter of  the  Democratic  partj'. 

The  wife  of  our  subiect'.s  early  uianliuod  died 
June  1,  1860,  and  was  laid  to  rest  in  Keid  Ceme- 
terj',  in  what  is  now  Grantsburg  Township.  In 
1862  he  contracted  a  marriage  with  Elizabeth 
Meddows,  a  native  of  Kentuckj'.  She  died  in 
1878,  and  her  mortal  remains  were  placed  in  the 
same  cemetery  .as  those  of  his  first  wife.  In  1880 
Mr.  Dunn  was  married  a  third  time,  Mrs.  Nancy 
Slack,  nee  Wymore,  becoming  his  wife.  By  his 
first  marriage  Mr.  Dunn  had  nine  children:  Will- 
iam S.,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  late  war,  and 
gave  np  his  life  for  his  country  at  Nashville, 
Tenn.;  Miles  K.,  a  farmer  in  Johnson  County; 
Martha  Jane,  wife  of  George  Calhoun,  of  Tunnel 
Hill;  Edna  Elizabeth,  who  is  deceased;  James,  a 
resident  of  Metropolis;  Charles  A.,  a  farmer  in 
Johnson  Count.y;  Louisa,  Mrs.  Gage,  a  resident  of 
Johnson  County;  and  two  who  died  in  infanc3'. 
There  was  one  child  born  of  his  second  wife,  Sarah 
Ann,  wife  of  Williaiii  Wymore,  of  tliis  county. 


EARNER  PEARCE.  of  Johnson  County,  was 
born  in  township  12  March  6,  1829,  and  is 
■^$S>5)  now  pleasantl}-  located  in  Elvira  Township, 
of  the  same  count3'.  His  father,  Arthur  Pearce,  was 
born  in  North  Carolina,  and  his  father,  McKinney 
Pearce,  was,  from  the  best  information  obtainable, 
born  in  England.  On  coming  to  America  he  set- 
tled in  North  Carolina,  bvit  afterward  removed  to 
Maury  County,  Tenn..  an(I  was  one  of  the  pioneer 


settlers  in  that  county,  where  he  followed  the  vo- 
cation of  a  school  teacher,  in  the  meantime  engag- 
ing some  in  farm  pursuits.  He  followed  both  oc- 
cupations for  a  livelihood  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
working  his  farm  with  slave  labor,  and  he  spent 
his  last  days  in  Maury  County.  Arthur  Pearce,  the 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  reared  and 
married  in  Tennessee,  and  resided  there  until 
about  1823,  when,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and 
four  children,  he  came  to  Illinois,  by  wa}'  of 
steamer,  and  located  in  what  is  now  Union  County, 
on  land  which  his  father-in-law  had  previously 
bought.  He  resided  there  until  18;J2,  and  then 
settled  on  a  tract  of  Government  land  near  Mos- 
cow, where  he  built  a  house  and  improved  a  por- 
tion of  the  land,  upon  which  he  lived  for  three 
years.  He  then  sold  his  interest  and  removed  to 
another  tract  of  Government  land,  in  Johnson 
County,  upon  which  he  made  some  improvements, 
and  lived  thereuntil  about  1842.  At  this  time  he 
located  on  another  tract  in  the  same  township, 
which  he  improved  but  did  not  enter,  and  soon 
afterward  sold  his  interest  in  it  and  returned  to 
Union  County,  where  he  lived  one  year.  At  this 
period  he  returned  to  Elvira  Township,  and  set- 
tled on  another  tract  of  Government  land,  which 
he  soon  disposed  of,  and,  his  wife  having  died  in 
the  meantime,  he  made  his  home  with  his  children 
until  18.52.  He  then  bought  a  tract  of  land  on 
section  16,  and  resided  there  a  few  years,  and  fin- 
ally made  his  home  with  his  ciiildren  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1872. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Elizabeth  Bissell,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee. 
Her  father,  Isaac  Bissell,  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  but  removed  from  that  State  to  Tennes- 
see and  settled  in  Williamson  Count3',  removing 
from  there  to  Illinois  about  the  j-ear  1821.  He  lo- 
cated in  Union  County,  and  entered  two  tracts  of 
Government  land  near  the  present  site  of  Anna, 
and  there  spent  his  last  daj's.  His  wife  died  in 
1816,  having  reared  eight  children,  viz:  William, 
Stokely,  Isaac  N.,  Kayford,  Emily,  (Earner,  Maiy 
and  Elizabeth. 

Garner  Pearce  received  his  education  in  the  pio- 
neer schools  of  Illinois,  each  family  pacing  tuition 
fees  according  to  the  number  of  children  sent.    The 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


287 


house  was  built  of  logs,  and  the  floors,  seats  and 
desks  were  all  constructed  of  split  timber  in  its 
rough  state.  There  were  no  backs  to  the  seats,  no 
desks  in  front,  and  a  section  of  the  log  was  cut 
out  to  form  windows,  which  were  covered  with 
oiled  paper  instead  of  the  glass  of  modern  times. 
There  were  no  railroads  for  years  after  his  father 
settled  in  this  county,  and  the  towns  on  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  Rivers  were  the  markets  for  every- 
thing the  people  had  to  sell,  hence  were  the  prin- 
cipal depots  for  supplies.  The  people  lived  piin- 
cipally  off  the  products  of  the  land  and  wild 
game,  which  was  then  very  plentiful.  Farm  work 
was  done  on  a  different  jjlan  from  what  it  is  at  tlie 
present  time,  for  all  grain  was  cut  with  the  reap- 
ing hook,  there  were  no  threshing-machines,  and  it 
was  customar}'  for  the  farmers  to  clear  a  place  on 
the  ground,  spread  their  grain  out,  and  have  it 
tramped  out  by  their  horses.  There  being  no  fan- 
ning mills,  the  farmers  built  platforms  and  turned 
the  wheat  from  a  measure,  while  two  men  stand- 
ing below  fanned  the  grain  with  a  sheet  as  it  fell. 
Gristmills  in  those  days  were  not  very  numerous, 
and  the  few  that  did  exist  were  usually  run  by 
horse  power,  making  it  very  inconvenient  for 
those  living  six  or  seven  miles  away,  who  had  to 
wait  two  days  for  their  grist  to  be  ground. 

Garner.Pearce  resided  with  his  parents  until  he 
reached  manhood,  and  then  started  for  himself 
"even  with  the  world."  He  received  $8  per 
month  and  his  board  during  the  summer  season, 
and  in  the  winter  worked  for  his  board  and  at- 
tended school.  He  continued  working  out  until 
1852,  when  he  made  his  first  purchase  of  land, 
comprising  forty  acres  on  section  16,  Elvira  Town- 
ship. About  two  years  later  he  entered  a  tract  of 
Government  land  adjoining  his  first  purchase,  and 
soon  after  bought  another  forty  of  his  father,  to 
which  he  added  another  adjoining  tract  of  forty 
acres,  making  one  hundred  and  sixt}'  acres  in  one 
body.  In  1872,  he  increased  his  landed  posses- 
sions by  adding  a  tract  of  ninety  acres,  and  about 
twelve  years  later  an  improved  farm  of  two  hun- 
dred acres.  While  Mr.  Pearce  has  been  for  the 
most  part  a  farmer,  he  has  not  confined  himself 
exclusively  to  that  pursuit,  for  in  18.'i3  he  rented 
his  farm  and  engaged  in   the  mercantile  business 


in  Caciie  Precinct.  Tiiis,  however,  continued  only 
a  short  time,  when  he  sold  out  and  clerked  a  few 
months,  after  which  he  resumed  his  former  occu- 
pation of  farming,  and  continued  to  follow  it  un- 
til 1877,  when  he  again  engaged  in  mercantile 
business  in  Bloomfield.  Mr.  Pearce  continued  in 
this  line  for  a  few  montiis,  when  he  erected  a  store 
building  on  the  corner  of  his  farm,  which  he  de- 
voted to  the  cariying  on  of  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness until  1890. 

In  1855,  our  suliject  was  married  to  Eliza  J. 
Canady,  who  was  born  in  Hickman  County,  Ky., 
and  was  the  daughter  of  Jefferson  and  Mary 
Canady.  By  this  marriage  BIr.  Pearce  became  the 
father  of  three  children:  Bundy,  Mary  and  Eliza. 
Bundy  married  Amanda  Ragsdale,  and  has  two 
children,  Blaine  and  Albert.  Eliza  married  Frank 
Noble,  and  has  three  children:  Bessie,  Harry  and 
Ma3'.  Mr.  Pearce  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and 
with  his  wife  works  energetically  in  the  Baptist 
Church.  He  and  his  son  are  members  of  the  Odd 
Fellows'  lodge  at  Moscow.  Our  subject  is  now 
residing  on  his  first  purchase  of  Government  land, 
which  he  has  excellently  improved  with  all  the 
modern  conveniences  and  appliances  essential  to  a 
successful  farm  pursuit. 


■^AMES  J.  SIM.  Among  the  pioneers  and 
1  native  sons  of  Pope  County,  no  one  has 
=J.  j  been  more  interested  in  its  success  and 
^^^fJ  progress  than  has  the  gentleman  of  whom 
we  write,  who  has  been  a  witness  of  great  changes 
in  the  development  of  this  region.  He  was  born 
January  14,  1829,  in  Golconda,  and  well  remem- 
bers in  his  boyhood  seeing  large  herds  of  deer  and 
wild  game  of  various  descriptions. 

Our  subject  is  a  son  of  William  and  Frances  E. 
(Jack)  Sim,  the  former  a  native -of  Aberdeen, 
Scotland,  and  the  latter  of  the  Keystone  State. 
AVilliam  Sim  emigrated  to  America  in  the  early 
part  of  the  year  1800,  and  acted  as  surgeon  on  the 
sailing-vessel   in   which    he    crossed    the  Atlantic. 


288 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


It  was  Ills  intention  to  locate  in  Natchez,  Miss.,  but, 
crossing  tiie  country  to  Pittsburg,  he  tlierc  took 
passage  on  a  boat  plying  the  Ohio,  but  was  only 
enabled  to  go  as  far  as  (iolconda.  111.,  on  ac- 
count of  the  severe  winter,  and  the  freezing  up 
of  the  rivers.  He  therefore  made  the  best  of  his 
disappointment,  located  in  the  place,  and  com- 
menced to  practice.  Ilis  intention  was  to  proceed 
on  his  journey  south  in  the  spring,  but  this  plan 
he  never  carried  out,  as  he  found  there  was  plenty 
of  work  for  him  to  do  in  this  region,  and  more- 
over he  was  pleased  with  the  country.  After  a  time 
he  returned  on  a  trip  to  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
was  married,  and  then,  coming  back  to  this  .State, 
he  continued  his  general  medical  practice  in  this 
locality  until  his  death.  When  he  first  located  at 
this  point  there  were  only  about  twelve  families 
here,  and  his  practice  extended  for  many  miles 
into  adjoining  counties.  He  was  active  and  vig- 
orous until  shortlj'  before  his  death,  in  1858. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  remained  with  his 
parents  until  the  death  of  his  father,  attending  the 
county  schools.  The  schoolhousc  was  built  of 
logs,  with  a  fireplace  extending  across  one  end  of 
the  building,  and  the  seats  made  of  roughly  hewed 
planks.  He  afterward  pursued  his  studies  for  a 
time  at  Cumberland  College,  in  Princeton,  Ky., 
and  also  had  the  advantages  of  a  private  school  at 
Shawneetown,  and  practical  training  in  a  commer- 
cial school  at  Cincinnati.  His  Hist  situation  was 
on  a  wliarfboat,  on  which  he  worked  for  about 
five  years.  He  then  embarked  in  the  mercantile 
business  in  Johnson  Country,  where  the  village  of 
Grantsburg  now  is,  and  ran  a  store  for  about 
three  years,  when  he  sold  out.  For  several  years 
he  was  on  the  river,  running  back  and  forth  on 
flatboats  and  steamers.  While  in  that  business  he 
has  purchased  from  two  to  three  thousand  pounds 
of  venison  in  one  single  da^',  as  deer  and  wild 
game  were  more  plentiful  and  cheaper  than  any 
other  kind  of  meat.  In  February  of  1862  he 
was  appointed  Quartermaster  at  Smithon,  Ky., 
and  in  1865  returned  to  Illinois,  taking  a  posi- 
tion as  clerk  in  a  store  at  Goleonda,  and  holding 
the  same  for  several  years.  In  September,  1878, 
he  accepted  the  position  on  the  wliarfboat  at  this 
city,  and  has  held  the  same  up  to  the  present  time. 


In  December,  1878,  Mr.  Sim  and  Miss  Louisa 
Williams  were  united  in  marriage.  The  lady  was 
born  in  Greensburgh,  Ky.,  August  2,  1847,  and  is 
possessed  of  a  good  education  and  social  attain- 
ments. Mr.  Sim  is  liberal  in  his  religious  belief, 
but  is  rather  inclined  to  favor  the  Presb3terian 
faith.  He  casts  his  ballot  in  favor  of  the  nominees 
and  principles  advocated  by  the  Democratic  party, 
and  socially  he  is  a  member  of  Goleonda  Lodge 
No.  131,  A.  F.  ife  A.  M.,  and  of  the  Royal  Arch 
Masons.  In  this  county,  where  he  has  passed 
almost  his  entire  life  and  is  necessarily  well  known, 
he  stands  high  in  the  estimation  of  all,  as  a  man 
of  honorable  and  unblemished  character,  his  life 
being  an  open  book  to  be  seen  and  read  of  all 
men. 


\f;  OGAN  RANDOLPH.  It  has  been  truly 
11  ^  said  that  the  farmers  are  the  bone  and  sinew 
JLA'^  of  the  country's  prosperity,  and  in  no  land 
is  that  fact  more  apparent  than  in  this  glorious 
home  of  liberty.  The}'  are  indeed  an  important 
factor  in  the  stability  and  steadfastness  which  have 
made  this  Republic  of  so  much  more  importance  in 
the  world  than  her  sister  Republic,  France.  We  see 
in  our  subject  a  worthy  example  of  those  who  in 
this  walk  of  life  have  done  so  much,  and  indeed 
the  greater  part,  towards  strengthening  the  bul- 
warks of  the  Nation  and  advancing  her  prosperity. 
Soon  after  the  war,  Mr.  Randolph  purchased  a 
tract  of  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Pope  County,  on 
section  27,  township  13,  range  5.  To  this  original 
purchase  as  a  nucleus  he  has  added  as  the  years 
passed,  until  his  farm  now  numbers  four  hundred 
acres  all  in  a  body. 

Logan  Randolph  was  born  in  Wilson  C(ninty. 
Tenn.,  July  30,  1842,  and  was  the  son  of  Samuel 
and  Mary  (McCroy)  Randolith,  who  were  likewise 
natives  of  the  same  State.  The  paternal  grand- 
parents of  our  subject,  John  and  Mar.y  Ann  Ran- 
dolph, were  among  the  first  settlers  of  Pope  County-. 
The  former  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  owned 
large  tracts  of  land    in    this    locality,    where    his 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


289 


death  occurred  about  the  year  1834.  Samuel  Ran- 
dolph emigrated  to  Illinois  with  his  father,  and 
settled  on  a  farm  near  the  latter 's  home.  He  was 
married  in  Tennessee,  and  with  his  wife  made  the 
journey  to  Illinois  in  wagons,  taking  about  throe 
weeks  to  cover  the  distance.  Thej'  led  a  gyps}' 
life,  cooking  aud  camping  out  on  the  way,  and 
crossing  the  Ohio  River  at  the  village  of  Golconda. 
Mr.  Randolph  was  numbered  among  the  enterpris- 
ing farmers  and  stock-raisers  of  the  county,  where 
he  resided  until  the  spring  of  1880,  when  he  was 
called  to  the  home  beyond. 

Our  subject  was  one  of  four  children,  and  re- 
mained on  the  old  homestead  until  sixteen  j-ears 
of  age.  He  was  entirely'  without  school  privileges, 
but  learned  to  read  and  write  while  in  the  .army.  He 
has  always  made  the  most  of  what  .advantages  were 
at  his  command,  aud  through  his  observation  and 
wise  si'stem  of  reading  has  become  conversant  with 
all  essential  matters  occupj'ing  the  minds  of  the 
average  citizen  of  to-day.  When  oulj'  eighteen 
j'ears  of  age  he  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier  in 
Companj'  A,  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois 
Infantry.  The  date  of  his  enlistment  was  July  8, 
1862,  the  place  being  Vienna,  111.  With  his  regi- 
ment he  took  an  active  part  in  many  important 
battles  of  the  war,  among  which  were  the  siege  and 
surrender  of  Vicksburg,  and  the  battles  of  Gun- 
town  (Miss.)  and  of  East  Port,  in  the  same  State. 
He  received  an  honorable  discharge  at  Memphis, 
Tenn.,  September  16,  1865,  having  been  in  active 
service  for  three  years.  Owing  to  the  hardships, 
exposure  and.  fatigue  which  he  was  forced  to  bear, 
he  sustained  injuries  to  his  health  from  which  he 
still  suffers. 

In  this  township,  February  14,  1867,  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph married  Miss  Sarah  E.  Abbott,  who  was  born 
on  the  same  farm  where  she  is  still  living,  on  Jan- 
uary 30,  1852.  Her  father,  who  was  a  prosperous 
farmer  and  a  respected  citizen  of  this  township 
for  a  number  of  years,  was  born  in  Tennessee. 
Her  niotiier,  a  native  of  Illinois,  in  the  early  days 
carded,  wove  and  spun  the  cloth  from  which  she 
constructed  the  garments  for  the  whole  family'. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Randolph  have  ten  children  living, 
who  are  as  follows:  David  H.,  John  F.,  Chailie  L., 
Jjisper   X.,  Isaac,  George   W.,  Elmer,  Ida,  Eddie 


and  Vida.  Our  subject,  who  is  liberal  in  his  re- 
ligious views,  is  not  a  member  of  any  denomina- 
tion, but  socially  holds  membership  with  Temple 
Hill  Lodge  No.  701,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  He  is  a  School 
Director,  in  which  position  he  has  served  faith- 
full3'  for  nine  years,  and  politicallj-,  votes  in  favor 
of  the  Democracy. 


^a^^i 


I^EV.  JOHN  S.  WHITTENBERG  was 
[IWr  born  in  Blount  County,  E.  Tenn.,  in  1823 
iSi  flt  and  now  makes  his  home  in  Tunnel  Hill 
Township,  Johnson  County.  His  father, 
William  AYhittenberg,  was  born  in  1803,  on  the 
same  farm,  and  was  a  son  of  Henrj'  Whittenberg, 
Sr.,  who  was  born  in  Wittenberg,  Germany,  and 
came  to  the  United  States  in  an  early  da}'.  He 
was  a  man  of  limited  means,  aud  settled  in  Blount 
County,  Tenn.,  on  wild  land  soon  after  the 
Revolutionary  War,  while  Tennessee  was  still  a 
Territory.  He  married  Mary  Pate,  of  German  an- 
cestiy,  with  whom  he  lived  happily  for  man}-  j-ears 
and  reared  five  sons  and  four  daughters.  Three  of 
the  former  were  soldiers  in  the  War  of  1812 under 
Gen.  Jackson.  The  names  of  these  nine  children 
were  as  follows:  Henry,  Daniel,  Joseph,  Matthew, 
William  (father  of  Rev.  John  S.),  Mar\-,  Sarah, 
Betsj'  and  Margaret,  who  all  became  heads  of  fam- 
ilies and  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  The  grandfa- 
ther of  our  subject  removed  to  Illinois  in  1840  or 
1841  from  Tennessee,  where  he  had  acquired  six 
hundred  acres  of  land,  out  of  which  he  gave  each 
of  his  sons  a  farm.  Their  son  Joseph,  and  daugh- 
ter .Sarah,  wife  of  John  Phillips,  were  the  first 
of  the  family  to  come  to  Illinois,  which  was  soon 
after  it  had  become  a  State. 

John  Phillips  was  the  Representative  of  his 
count}',  Washington,  several  years,  and  was  one  of 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State.  Joseph 
Whittenberg  went  back  to  Tennessee  and  brought 
his  aged  parents  to  Illinois  on  a  visit,  but  they  liked 
Illinois  equally  as  well  as  Tennessee,  and  sold  their 
property  in  that  State  and  made  this  their  home 


290 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPinCAr.    REVIEW. 


the  rest  of  their  lives,  llie  mother  flying  :it  the  age 
of  eighty-one  ^-ears,  being  followed  to  the  land  of 
rest  hy  her  husband  a  few  years  later.  Both  were 
intelligent  people,  retaining  their  strengtii  and 
mental  faculties  to  the  hust,  and  belonged  to  the 
Methodist  Church,  of  which  the3'  were  active  mem- 
bers for  a  number  of  j-ears.  William  Whitten- 
berg,  the  father  of  oursubject,  married  .Miss  Nancy 
Smith,  daughter  of  .lohn  M.  Smith,  a  Methodist 
clergymen  possessed  of  much  ability,  and  a  classical 
education.  Mrs.  Whittenberg  was  born  March  7, 
1800,  in  Virginia,  in  which  State  her  mother,  Nancy- 
Dyson,  who  was  related  to  William  Henry  Harrison, 
President  of  the  United  States,  was  also  born.  The 
parents  of  Rev.  John  S.  Wiiittenberg  were  farmers 
in  Tennessee,  where  the  father  died  in  1842,  only 
thirty-nine  3'ears  old,  leaving  his  widow  and  eight 
cliildren,  four  sons  and  four  daughters,  and  having 
prcviousl}-  buried  two  infant  sons.  About  two  years 
after  the  death  of  the  father  the  remainder  of  the 
family  moved  to  ITenry  County,  Tenn.,  and  in  the 
winter  of  1845  came  to.Iohnson  County, III.  Their 
first  home  was  in  Grantsburg  Township,  where 
they  entered  forty  acres  of  land  and  bought  thirty- 
six  acres,  upon  which  there  was  already  a  little  im- 
provement, a  few  acres  cleared  and  a  small  log 
cabin.  Here  they  made  a  good  farm,  which  re- 
mained the  home  of  the  mother  until  her  death, 
June  24,  1868,  in  her  sixty-ninth  year,  when  her 
remains  were  interred  in  the  Salem  Cemetery. 
Her  husband  and  two  children  arc  buried  in  Ten- 
nessee, and  one  son  and  a  daughter  are  buried  in 
Grantsburg  Township. 

Rev.  John  S.  Whittenberg  and  his  sister  Ma- 
linda,  wife  of  Elihu  Vaughn,  reside  in  this  town- 
ship on  good  farms.  Sarah,  widow  of  Kit  Peter- 
son, resides  in  Goreville  Township,  and  Matthew 
is  a  well-to-do  farmer  of  Pope  County.  Our  sub- 
ject was  reared  a  farmer  and  had  but  nine  months' 
schooling  before  he  was  twelve  years  old,  and  at- 
tended school  but  fifteen  daj's  during  his  fifteenth 
year.  His  mother  was,  however,  well  educated 
and  taught  her  children  the  common  branches, 
which  helped  them  considerably,  and  all  are  at  the 
present  time  well-informed  young  men  and  women. 
One  brother,  William  P.,  is  a  wealthy  farmer  in 
Bloomfield    Township.      Rev.    Mr.     Whittenberg 


taught  a  term  of  school  when  he  was  twenty-three 
years  old,  and  afterward  taught  during  the  win- 
ter months  foi-  thirty-five  years,  becoming  very 
ellicient  in  ihal  piofossion.  He  was  School  Su- 
perintendent of  Johnson  Count}'  twt)  terms,  and 
organized  the  first  school  institute  in  the  county, 
conducting  it  himself  for  four  years.  He  has  also 
been  a  local  preacher  in  tiie  Methodist  Church 
for  thirty-two  jears. 

Our  subject  was  married  February  15,  1853,  to 
Isabella  Gregg,  of  Kentucky,  but  who  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Metropolis,  Massac  County,  this  State,  and 
a  daughter  of  William  and  Dorcas  (Clavton)  Gregg, 
who  were  the  first  settlers  of  Massac  County.  Mr. 
Gregg  was  a  farmer,  and  for  some  years  a  hotel- 
keeper  at  Metropolis,  and  it  was  at  his  hotel  that 
Rev.  ]Mr.  Whittenberg  met  Miss  Isabella  and  his  fate. 
They  began  married  life  in  the  log  cabin  on  the 
same  farm  where  thej'  now  live,  which  comprised 
forty  acres  of  new  land.  He  added  to  the  forty- 
acres  from  time  to  time  until  he  owned  over  three 
hundred  acres,  some  of  which  he  has  since  sold, 
and  now  owns  onlj-  one  hundred  and  eighty-five 
acres,  one  hundred  of  which  are  under  good  culti- 
vation. Living  in  the  log  cabin  a  few  years,  Mr. 
Whittenberg  built,  in  the  fall  of  1861,  a  part  of 
the  present  house,  which  is  a  good  two-story  build- 
ing, partly  frame  and  partly  hewed  logs,  weather- 
boarded  and  ceiled  inside.  He  lived  economically 
and  worked  industriously  until  enabled  to  make 
an  improvement  on  it  in  1867,  and  twenty-five 
years  later  added  an  addition. 

Rev.  Mr.  Whittenberg  has  taken  ten  degrees  in 
Masonry  and  has  been  connected  with  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  since  1877.  He 
has  represented  the  Grand  Masonic  Lodge  some 
fifteen  times  and  takes  a  strong  stand  in  politics, 
being  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Republican 
party  in  this  county.  He  could  not  well  :;yoid 
being  a  Republican,  for  he  had  stood  on  the  slave 
markets  in  the  South  and  seen  families  separated, 
at  which  all  the  finer  sensibilities  of  human  nature 
must  revolt.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whittenberg  have  lost 
four  infant  children,  and  one  son,  John  W.,  who 
died  in  his  eighteenth  year,  and  was  a  teacher  one 
year  before  his  untimely  death,  in  May,  1887. 
Our  subject  and  his  wife  have   eight  children   liv- 


^u_Sl[Jt-MCLOr   Vi'.lL,/;,:v*    P.  H  1  LL  IVi  AN  ,  5lC  ,  G .  L.L\' ;  R  A     TP.  J  OH,  U.5'.i..    CO  .  !  LL 


RrDlDFNCE    ur      lOSIftH     PGCiRL,      Fi     ~      C^     H  t 


LG       L. 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


293 


ing,  two  sons  and  six  daughters,  namely:  Ellen, 
wife  of  James  Harrell,  who  has  three  sons  and  four 
daughters;  Adeline,  wife  of  G.  W.  Hood,  who 
has  two  sons  and  one  daughter;  Sarah,  a  school 
teacher  at  Carbondale;  Necy,  engaged  in  the  mil- 
linery business  at  Tunnel  Hill  Township;  Belle, 
who  is  a  young  lad}'  and  at  home;  Alonzo,  a 
farmer  and  teacher,  who  was  married  to  Eva 
Race,  and  has  one  daughter;  William  C".,  at  liome; 
and  Flora,  a  young  lady  still  with  her  parents. 
Rev.  Mr.  Whittenberg  is  the  youngest  man  of  his 
years  in  this  part  of  the  country  and  is  still  very 
active,  engaging  still  in  some  hard  work.  He  in- 
herited a  splendid  physical  and  mental  nature, and 
has  done  his  share  of  the  work  of  the  world. 


'•    '    ^^ 


SPENCER  E.  VAUGHN  is  well  worth.)-  of 
being  represented  in  the  chronicles  of  the 
enterprising  farmers  and  honored  pioneers 
of  Pope  County,  as  he  is  a  member  of  one 
of  the  early  pioneer  families,  and  has  himself  been 
actively  interested  in  everything  pertaining  to  the 
development  and  progress  of  this  region.  He  is 
one  of  the  most  extensive  farmers  of  township  12, 
range  7,  his  propert}'  being  located  on  section  21, 
and  with  the  exception  of  his  father's  old  home- 
stead of  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  it  is  all  lo- 
cated in  a  body.  He  has  been  for  many  years  eu- 
g.aged  in  serving  his  fellow-citizens  in  various  im- 
portant positions,  having  been  Constable  for  twelve 
years,  a  portion  of  the  time  acting  as  Deputy 
Sheriff;  Justice  of  the  Pe.ace  for  eight  years  and 
for  half  that  time  Overseer  of  the  Poor.  In  the 
latter  position  the  only  criticism  passed  upon  him 
was  for  helping  the  poor  and  dependent  more 
than  was  considered  necessar}'  by  the  frugal  and 
saving  members  of  societ}-,  who  are,  and  not  alto- 
gether without  reason,  opposed  to  making  such  a 
charitable  institution  too  inviting  to  the  general 
public. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  this  township  in    184.3, 
his  father  and  mother  being  Jackson  and  Nancj' 
15 


(Edwards)  Vaughn.  The  former,  who  was  born 
in  this  county  in  1815,  was  a  son  of  George 
Vaughn,  of  North  Carolina,  one  of  the  earliest  set- 
tlers of  tills  region,  to  which  he  came  in  1808, 
bringing  his  wife  and  three  children.  For  that 
time  tliej-  were  in  good  circumstances  financially, 
though  thej-  were  obliged  to  make  the  journey  in 
what  would  now  be  considered  emigrant  style, 
coming  in  an  old-fashioned  cart  drawn  by  horses. 
On  their  arrival  in  Illinois  they  settled  at  a  point 
about  three  miles  west  of  our  subject's  home,  at 
the  famous  spring  known  as  the  Cummins  Spring, 
one  of  the  best  in  this  part  of  the  county.  They 
made  a  permanent  home  there  and  made  a  number 
of  improvements  upon  the  place.  Their  family 
comprised  five  sons  and  four  daughters,  of  whom 
Jackson  was  the  fifth  in  order  of  birth.  Onlj^two 
of  the  famil}^  are  now  living:  Charles,  a  farmer  in 
Tennessee,  and  Rebecca,  widow  of  Squire  Wallace. 

Jackson  Vaughn  married  Miss  Nancj'  Edwards, 
a  native  of  Western  Tennessee,  and  daughter  of 
Spencer  Edwards,  a  Baptist  minister,  who  preached 
in  this  neighborhood  from  1820  to  1830.  Our 
subject's  parents  were  married  in  Illinois  in  1833, 
and  with  the  exception  of  the  year  1836,  which 
thej'  passed  in  Belmont,  Miss.,  they  were  residents 
of  this  county  during  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 
They  reared  a  family  of  ten  children,  four  sons 
and  six  daughters,  and  lost  three  children  who 
died  young.  The  father  died  in  1865,  at  the  age 
of  lift}'  years,  leaving  an  estate  of  one  hundred 
and  eight}'  acres  of  land,  well  stocked,  and  some 
money.  After  surviving  her  husband  seventeen 
years  Mrs.  Vaughn  also  departed  this  life,  in  1882, 
at  which  time  she  was  aged  seventj'-two  years. 

William,  the  brother  of  our  subject,  died  in 
July,  1888,  aged  fifty-one  years.  He  left  a  fam- 
ily of  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  Thomas,  who 
died  in  the  winter  of  1888,  aged  fortj'-three  years, 
left  a  wife  and  four  children.  George  was  a  vol- 
unteer in  Company  A,  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth 
Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  in  service  for  over 
three  years,  much  of  his  time  being  spent  as  a 
clerk  in  one  or  other  of  the  departments.  He  was 
called  from  the  shores  of  time  in  May,  1889,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-five  years,  leaving  a  wife  and  five 
children.     The  living  members  of  the  family  are: 


294 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


Sarali  Ann,  wife  of  Jolin  G.  C'uUem,  a  farmer  of 
lliis  township;  Elizabeth  C,  wife  of  John  Tucker, 
who  is  also  engagerl  in  farming  in  this  locality; 
Harriet  A.,  widow  of  Abraham  S.  Harger,  who 
lives  on  a  faim  in  Golconda  Township;  our  sub- 
ject, next  in  order  of  birth;  Nancy  M.,  wife  of 
William  Black,  a  farmer  in  Kansas;  Martha,  wife 
of  John  A.  Finney,  of  Golconda  Township,  and 
Frances  A.,  wife  of  W.  C.  Mathews,  a  railroad  en- 
gineer in  Kansas. 

Mr.  Vaughn  was  a  volunteer  in  the  One  Hundred 
and  Twentietij  Illinois  Infantry,  being  a  member 
of  Company  A.  Enlisting  during  the  first  part  of 
the  war,  when  only  in  his  seventeenth  j'ear,  he 
was  returned  to  his  parents  by  the  authorities,  as 
he  was  under  the  age  required  by  the  recruit- 
ing officers.  He  was  in  camp  for  two  months 
at  Holl3'  Springs,  Miss.,  and  was  then  discharged 
on  account  of  poor  health.  When  only  nineteen 
he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  L.  Ilazell,  their 
union  being  celebrated  in  April,  1862.  Mrs. 
Vaughn  died  within  thirteen  months,  and  her 
little  infant  daughter  soon  followed  her.  Mr. 
Vaughn  ne.xt  married  Miss  Sarah  Jane  Lamar, 
who  was  born  and  reared  to  womanhood  in  Har- 
din County,  and  who  was  a  daughter  of  Elijah 
Lamar.  Mrs.  Vaughn  died  in  1875,  leaving  an  in- 
fant son,  Loren  F.,  who  is  now  eighteen  years  of 
age,  and  is  attending  school.  Our  subject  mar- 
ried for  his  third  wife  Miss  Minerva  Lambert,  a 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  (Shelby)  Lam- 
bert, the  former  of  Tennessee,  and  the  latter  of 
Hardin  County.  Mrs.  Vaughn  was  born  in  this 
county,  and  by  lier  marriage  became  the  mother 
of  two  sons  and  six  daughters.  The  tvvo  sons 
died  in  inf.incy,  and  the  remaining  members  of 
the  family'  are  as  follows:  Mildred  L.,  Minerva  C, 
Nora  D.,  Melissa  F.,  Anna  E.  and  Dosliia  M. 

Mr.  Vaughn  has  met  with  marked  success  in  his 
business  enterprises,  having  purchased  his  home- 
stead in  1875.  His  farm  now  comprises  seven 
hundred  and  eighty-five  acres,  having  grown  from 
his  former  small  possessions  of  one  hundred  acres, 
which  he  purch.ised  in  1867  for  $500.  Four  hun- 
dred acres  are  under  good  cultivation,  and  in  addi- 
tion to  growing  large  crops  of  wheat  and  corn  he 
raises  Irish  potatoes  quite  extensively,  sometimes 


as  many  as  two  thousand  bushels  per  annum.  He 
keeps  horses,  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs,  and  makes  a 
specialty  of  breeding  good  horses.  Among  the 
number  is  a  fine  young  stallion  of  Clydesdale  and 
"Gold  Dust"  pedigree.  He  is  perfect  in  color, 
size  and  style,  and  is  considered  a  veiy  valuable 
animal.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vaughn  are  members  of 
the  Christian  Church,  of  which  our  subject  is  an 
Elder,  and  devoted  to  her  best  interests. 


*■ 


! 


\T'  ASPER  N.  MAYNOK.  Probably  no  gentle- 
man is  better  known  in  Pope  County 
than  is  our  subject,  who  has  been  engaged 
in  teaching  school  for  a  period  of  twenty- 
three  jears,  and  has  met  with  great  success  in 
the  educational  field.  He  also  carries  on  a  fertile 
farm  of  three  hundred  acres,  located  on  section  6, 
township  12,  range  6,  and  altogether  owns  seven 
hundred  acres  in  Pope  County.  He  is  engaged  in 
general  farming  and  stock-raising  and  is  progress- 
ive and  enterprising  in  his  methods  of  carrj-ingon 
the  farm.  The  place  is  very  desirable  and  valua- 
ble, and  since  he  became  the  owner  he  has  added 
greatly  to  its  appearance. 

Mr.  Maynor's  paternal  grandparents  were  Isaiah 
and  Sarah  (Stone)  Maynor,  who  were  both  natives 
of  the  Old  Dominion,  where  they  passed  their  en- 
tire lives.  Our  subject's  parents  were  Forris  F. 
and  Nanc3'  (Cantrell)  Maynor,  the  latter  a  native 
of  North  Carolina.  The  father  was  born  in  Vir- 
ginia and  emigrated  to  Illinois  in  the  year  1854, 
making  the  journey  from  Tennessee  in  a  wagon 
and  being  some  six  weeks  on  the  way.  Resettled 
in  .Jefferson  County,  111.,  and  afterward  rented 
land  in  Franklin  County  for  about  four  j-ears. 
The  mother  was  called  from  the  shores  of  time  in 
1858,  or  only  a  short  time  after  coming  to  this 
State.  The  father  survived  a  number  of  j'ears, 
dj'ing  in  Franklin  County  in  1870. 

Jasper  Maynor  was  thrown  upon  his  own  re- 
sources to  a  large  extent  when  but  a  mere  bo,v. 
His    birth    occurred    in    East    Tennessee  July   14, 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


295 


1842,  and  when  sixteen  3'ears  of  age  he  started  out 
to  acquire  his  first  schooling.  The  log  cabin 
schooliiouse  was  furnished  with  the  crudest  itind 
of  deslcs  and  seats,  the  floor  being  of  niothei  earth. 
Me  was  of  a  studious  disposition  and  for  some 
years  made  it  his  chief  endeavor  to  fit  himself  for 
the  sterner  duties  of  life  with  a  good  education, 
attending  the  best  schools  in  the  county  and  after- 
ward receiving  a  teacher's  certificate.  The  war 
brealjing  out  about  this  time,  he  enlisted,  August 
14,  1862,  in  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and 
Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  at  Golconda.  He  was 
a  loyal  and  faithful  soldier  and  was  always  found 
in  the  front  ranks  during  a  battle.  He  took  part 
in  many  important  engagements,  among  which  we 
mention  Milliken's  Bend,  the  siege  of  Vicksburg, 
and  the  battle  of  Guntown,  in  Mississippi.  He 
was  activel}'  eng.aged  all  through  the  war,  and  was 
honorabl)'  discharged  at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  being 
mustered  out  at  Springfield,  111.,  September  10, 
1865.  Returning  to  this  county,  he  again  obtained 
a  certificate  for  teaching  and  taught  his  flrstschool 
in  district  No.  4,  of  this  township. 

On  the  12th  of  August,  1862,  Mr.  Maynor  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Sarah  A.  Frieze,  who  with 
her  parents  was  a  native  of  Tennessee.  Mrs.  Maynor 
departed  this  life  September  17,  1884.  April  4, 
1885,  our  subject  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  M. 
Williams,  who  was  born  in  April,  1866,  in  this 
county.  Her  father  was  a  native  of  Virginia  and 
her  mother  of  Tennessee.  Mr.  Maynor  has  seven 
living  children, all  by  his  first  marriage,  as  follows: 
Ida  A.,  Devolcurt  N.,  Malissa  M.,  Vesta  J.,  Era  D., 
Eflie  B.  and  Horace  G.  By  his  second  union  he  had 
the  following:  Lois  V.,  deceased;  .John  W.,  who 
was  born  August  12,  1875,  and  died  October  18, 
1878;  and  Lois  V.,  who  was  born  April  8,  1887, 
aud  died  August  11,  1892. 

Our  subject  and  his  esteemed  wife  are  members 
of  tiie  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Eddyville,  in 
which  village  Mr.  Maynor  holds  membership  with 
the  following  lodges:  No.  672,  A.  F.  ct  A.  M.;  No. 
615,  L  0.0.  F.,and  Green  Waters  Post  No.  539,  G. 
A.  R.  The  cause  of  education  finds  in  our  subject 
a  particularly  spirited  champion,  and  for  the  past 
sixteen  years  he  has  been  School  Trustee.  In  1890 
he  was  elected  County  Superintendent  of  Schools, 


his  term  expiring  in  1894.  He  has  been  Justice  of 
the  Peace  for  four  years  and  for  the  same  length 
of  time  Police  Magistrate  in  P^ddyville.  He  has 
been  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school  and  an 
active  worker  in  church  circles  for  a  number  of 
years.  Politically,  he  is  independent,  choosing  to 
cast  his  vote  in  favor  of  the  nominees  whom  he 
considers  most  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  peo- 
ple, regardless  of  party  names. 


'JI'OHN  F.  WRIGHT,  proprietor  of  the  Simp- 
son Flour  Mill,  and  one  of  the  successful 
young  business  men  of  Johnson  County, 
1  was  born  in  Vienua  October  25,  1858,  a  son 
of  John  Wright.  The  latter  was  a  native  of  Ala- 
bama, born  March  10,  1828,  and  he  in  turn  was  a 
son  of  Isaac  Wright,  who  emigrated  from  that 
State  to  Illinois  in  1835,  and  was  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  .Johnson  County.  Isaac  Wright's  wife 
was  Martha  Davis. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  seven  years  old 
when  his  parents  brought  him  to  Illinois,  and  he  was 
reared  and  educated  at  Vienna.  He  learned  the  trade 
of  a  millwright,  and  engaged  in  that  and  in  milling 
until  death  closed  his  career.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried. His  first  wife,  to  whom  he  was  wedded  in 
April,  1849,  was  Sarah  Newton  and  she  died  May 
7,  1856.  His  second  marriage,  which  occurred 
January  15,  1857,  was  to  Mary  J.  Copeland.  She 
was  born  in  Massac  County,  a  daughter  of  Joshua 
and  Elizabeth  (Ashley)  Copeland.  She  was  mar- 
ried a  second  time,  to  a  Mr.  Parker,  and  resides  in 
Vienna. 

The  subject  of  this  brief  life  record  received  an 
excellent  education  in  the  schools  of  Vienna,  and 
as  the  age  of  sixteen  commenced  to  learn  the  trade 
of  a  millwright,  which  he  still  pursues.  In  1888 
he  and  Mr.  J.  B.  Kuykendall  entered  into  partner- 
ship to  build  a  mill  in  Simpson  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  flour,  and  he  has  since  operated  it.  The 
mill  is  furnished  with  the  most  approved  modern 


296 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


niachiiier.v  for  making  flour  by  the  best  process, 
and  sends  a  snperior  grade  of  tliat  article  to  the 
markets.  It  is  operated  both  as  a  merchant  and  a 
custom  mill  and  has  a  capacity  of  fifty  barrels  a 
day. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  187(!  to  IMiss  Omega 
AVoelfle,  a  native  of  Canada.  They  have  estab- 
lished a  pleasant  home,  and  their  household  circle 
is  completed  by  tiie  two  children  born  to  them, 
Efiie  and  Fred.  Mr.  Wright  is  a  stalwart  Repub- 
lican and  is  always  true  to  his  party.  He  is  a 
member  m  high  standing  of  Vienna  Lodge  No. 
150,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.:  and  of  Delta  Lodge  No.  772, 
I.  O.  O.  F. 


JAMES  H.  JOHNSON,  one  of  the  well-known 
farmers  of  Johnson  County,  owns  a  farm  on 
section  1,  township  12,  range  4.  lie  a  na- 
tive of  Pope  County,  born  near  New  Dixon 
Springs,  November  9,  1825,  to  Lewis  Johnson,  who 
w^as  a  native  of  Greene  County,  Tenn.,  his  birth 
having  occurred  in  1804.  The  latter  was  a  son  of 
Thomas,  a  native  of  North  Carolina  and  a  farmer 
by  occupation,  and  died  in  Tennessee  at  a  ripe  old 
age,  leaving  a  family  of  six  children,  of  whom 
Lewis  was  the  eldest.  Our  subject's  grandmother, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Frances  Ilerriugton, 
died  in  Missouri  in  1858,  aged  about  seventy-five 
years.  Lewis  Johnson  was  married  in  Pope  County 
in  the  year  1824,  to  Miss  Tennessee  AVard,  of 
Kentucky.  To  them  were  born  five  children, 
three  sous  and  two  daughters,  of  whom  our  sub- 
ject is  the  eldest,  and  with  a  brother,  Thomas,  is 
the  only  surviving  member  of  the  family.  The 
mother  of  these  children  died  on  the  old  home- 
stead in  Pope  County  in  1837,  while  still  in  earlj' 
womanhood,  being  only  about  thirty  years  of  age. 
The  father  was  afterwards  married,  and  departed 
this  life  in  Missouri  May  9,  1873,  aged  sixty-nine 
}'ears. 

James   H.  Johnson    was   reared  on    his  father's 
farm  and  had  few  educational  advantages.     In  his 


twenty-first  year  he  left  home  and  was  married  in 
Massac  County,  III.,  to  P.  M.  Jackson,  who  was 
born  in  Henry  County,  Tenn.,  in  1820.  Iler  par- 
ents, \\llliam  II.  and  Rhoda  (Wright)  Jackson, 
were  natives  of  Indiana  and  Tennessee,  respect- 
ively. The  father  was  a  farmer  by  occupation  and 
became  a  resident  of  Massac  County,  111.,  in  1841. 
He  and  his  son  James  II.  prepared  the  grounds 
for  the  court  house  in  Metropolis,  clearing  away 
the  timber  and  stumps.  The  mother  died  in  1846, 
leaving  a  family  of  five  sons  and  five  daughters, 
while  her  husband  survived  her  many  years,  d^ing 
in  1868,  at  which  time  he  had  reached  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years.  Of  the  large  famil}-  of  broth- 
ers and  sisters,  Mrs.  Johnson  and  one  brother, 
James  II.,  are  the  only  surviving  members.  He  is 
a  farmer  of  Massac  County  and  in  his  early  man- 
hood was  noted  for  his  courage,  physical  strength 
and  agility.  At  Metropolis  he  once  swam  the 
Ohio  River,  and,  like  his  father  before  him,  was  a 
model  of  great  physical  strength. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnson  began  housekeeping  in 
Metropolis  on  a  very  small  scale,  their  cash  capital 
amounting  to  only  11.35.  They  rented  a  house 
in  the  village,  which  was  then  a  very  small  one, 
and  raised  a  crop  on  rented  land.  Their  eldest 
child,  James  II.,  is  a  minister  in  the  Baptist 
Church, and  a  daughter,  who  was  commoul}'  called 
Alice,  became  the  wife  of  Samuel  W.  Hester.  She 
was  christened  Sarah  Elizabeth  Clementine  Rhoda 
Tennessee  Catherine  Alice  Ann  Virginia,  and  died 
in  1887,  leaving  two  sons.  Our  subject  and  wife 
have  the  foUowinglivingchildren:  James  H.,who  is 
married  and  has  a  son  and  two  daughters;  Lewis  G., 
a  farmer  of  Mass.ac  Count\';  Eli  W.,  who  is  a  railroad 
man,  his  residence  being  in  Brooklyn,  this  State; 
William  T.,  who  carries  on  a  farm  near  his  father's 
residence  and  has  a  family'  of  five  sons  and  two 
daughters;  and  Charles  F.,  a  railroad  man  living  at 
Cairo,  111.,  who  has  a  family  comprising  a  wife  and 
two  sons.     They  have  also  buried  two  infant  sons. 

The  eldest  of  the  family,  James  H.,  was  with 
his  father  in  the  army,  both  being  members  of  the 
Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry.  Our  subject  was, however, 
first  a  member  of  Company  M,  Light  Artillery, en- 
listing in  1861  and  serving  in  that  regiment  until 
August  29,  1863,  when  he  returned  and  re-enlisted 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


297 


in  March,  1865,  in  Compan3-  M.  At  the  erwl  of 
one  year's  service  father  and  son  were  both  honor- 
ably discharged.  Mr.  Johnson,  Sr.,  has  been  an  in- 
valid for  manyj'ears,  much  of  the  time  being  con- 
fined to  his  bed  as  a  result  of  the  privations  and 
hardships  of  his  service  in  the  defense  of  the  Union. 
He  is  one  of  the  worthy  pensioners  of  Uncle  Sam 
and  is  patiently  awaiting  his  last  discharge  and 
final  promotion.  He  and  his  sons  are  true-blue  Re- 
publicans, and  are  esteemed  members  of  the  Bap- 
tist Cliurch. 


■M 


'.f  OHN  THOMAS  GH'.SON,  who  has  lived  on 
his  present  farm  in  (ioreville  Township  for 
the  past  ten  years,  was  born  in  Calloway 
County,  Ky.,  in  1855.  He  is  a  son  of  George 
E.  (iibson,  who  was  born  in  Middle  Tennessee  in 
1824,  and  who  is  now  a  farmer  in  Goreville  Town- 
ship. Of  George  E.  Gibson,  whose  biographical 
sketch  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  it  is  often 
said  that  there  is  no  better  citizen  or  neighbor  in 
Johnson  Count}'. 

Our  subject,  John  T.  Gibson,  is  one  of  a 
family  of  seven  children,  three  sons  and  four 
daughters,  and  he  is  the  third  child  and  first  son. 
There  are  now  but  five  of  these  seven  children 
living.  He  was  reared  on  the  farm  and  received 
a  fair  common-school  education,  and  afterward 
spent  one  term  at  Ewing  College.  He  then  taught 
district  school  one  term,  and  remained  at  home 
until  he  was  twenty-four  years  old.  He  was  mar- 
ried February  1,  1880,  to  Ida  Whitnell,  who  was 
born  in  Johnson  County  in  1863.  She  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  Constantine  and  Matilda  (Jones)  Whitnell, 
the  former  of  whom  is  from  Kentuck}-,  and  the 
latter  a  native  of  Johnson  County.  He  died  in 
Goreville  Township  at  his  farm  home  in  1865  in 
the  prime  of  life,  at  about  fift}-  years  of  age.  His 
widow  is  now  Mrs.  Michael  McNeely,  her  husband 
being  a  farmer  of  Goreville  Township.  She  had 
four  children  bj'  her  first  husband,  two  sons  and 


two  daughters,  and  by  her  present  husband  she 
has  five  children  living,  three  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters. She  has  buried  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 
Mrs.  Gibson  is  the  onl}-  one  living  by  her  first 
husband.  Constantine  Whitnell  was  a  brother  of 
D.  J.  AVhitnell,  who  was  a  farmer  and  physician, 
and  who  dying  left  a  good  estate. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gibson  have  four  sons  and  two 
daughters,  viz:  Charles,  twelve  years  old;  Nettie, 
ten;  Ernest,  seven;  Oscar,  five;  Lindolph,  three; 
and  Ruth,  four  months.  These  children,  all  that 
are  old  enough  to  study,  take  great  interest  in 
their  books,  and  are  all  bright  and  promising  chil- 
dren. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gibson  began  married  life  on 
their  own  little  forty-acre  farm.  After  living  upon 
it  one  year  he  sold  out  and  farmed  on  his  father's 
farm  two  years,  and  in  the  fall  of  1883  they 
moved  to  their  present  fai-m  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  a  dowry  from  Mrs.  Gibson's  father. 
They  have  since  added  forty  acres  to  the  farm, 
making  it  consist  now  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres.  This  is  a  good  farm,  having  one  hundred 
acres  under  cultivation.  Mr.  Gibson  carries  on 
general  farming,  raising  for  the  most  part  wheat 
and  corn.  While  he  is  not  cropping  his  farm 
heavil}-,  he  is  bringing  it  up  b}'  a  system  of  rota- 
tion of  crops  and  frequent  seeding  down.  His 
wlieat  yields  about  twentj'  bushels  per  acre,  and 
his  corn  about  forty  bushels.  He  has  just  enough 
of  live-stock,  horses,  cattle  and  sheep  for  his  own 
use,  and  does  not  raise  to  sell.  Mr.  Gibson  is  a 
Republican,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 


1^  AVID  LEVERETT  is  a  well-to-do  farmer 
)jj  of  township  12,  range  6,  his  homestead 
being  located  on  section  8.  He  was  born 
June  2,  1834,  being  a  son  of  Martin  and 
Elizabeth  (Coekrachn)  Levcrett.  The  father  was 
born  in  North  Carolina,  and  emigrated  to  Illinois 
at    an    early    da}-,    the    journey    being    made    in 


298 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


wagons,  and  occup^'ing  two  months.  Tliey  camped 
at  night  and  took  tlieir  meals  on  the  way,  crossing 
the  Ohio  River  at  Barker's  Ferry.  He  entered  land 
in  Pope  County,  there  commenced  farming,  and 
reared  his  family.  For  a  great  many  years  he  was 
ranked  among  the  enterprising  agriculturists  of 
this  region,  and  when  he  was  called  from  this  life 
in  18G5  his  loss  was  deeply  felt  by  his  many 
friends.  Mis  wife  did  not  long  survive  him,  join- 
ing her  husband  and  companion  in  1871. 

Until  nineteen  years  of  age  David  Leverett 
passed  his  time  on  his  father's  farm,  attending  the 
common  schools  of  the  district.  He  rented  land 
in  this  and  Saline  Counties,  but  had  not  long  con- 
tinued in  agricultural  pursuits  when  the  shadows 
of  the  coming  war  began  to  gather  darkly  on  the 
horizon.  On  September  25,  1861,  he  enlisted  in 
Company  K,  Illinois  Light  Artillery,  at  Shawnee- 
town,  and  was  in  active  service  during  the  entire 
war,  receiving  an  honorable  discharge  at  Chicago 
July  16,  1865.  Returning  to  this  neighborhood, 
he  purchased  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  twentj^ 
acres  in  Pope  Count}',  where  he  lived  for  three 
years,  and  then  having  a  chance  to  dispose  of  the 
place  at  a  good  advantage  he  did  so,  and  removed 
to  Missouri,  where  he  only  remained  a  short  time. 
Returning  to  Illinois,  he  resided  for  two  years  in 
Johnson  County,  the  following  eight  years  being 
spent  in  Saline  County.  In  this  county  in  the 
year  1885  he  became  the  owner  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  land,  to  the  cultivation  of 
which  he  devoted  himself  for  about  four  years, 
when  he  sold  the  place  and  purchased  the  one 
where  he  now  resides,  which  comprises  seventy- 
four  acres  on  section  8.  He  is  engaged  in  general 
farming,  and  is  ver}'  successful  and  prosperous  in 
his  business  enterprises  and  undertakings. 

On  the  loth  of  September,  1852,  Mr.  Leverett 
and  Nancy  G.  Williams  were  united  in  marriage. 
She  was  called  from  this  life  in  May,  1862,  and  on 
April  10,  1863,  he  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Gull- 
iams.  She  was  called  to  the  home  beyond  some 
3'ears  later,  leaving  two  children.  November  29, 
1874,  Mr.  Leverett  and  Emily  J.  Trigg  were  mar- 
ried. Mrs.  Leverett  was  born  in  Tennessee  Aug- 
ust 23,  1835,  her  parents  being  native  Virginians. 
Our  subject  has  seven  living  children:  William  D., 


Rebecca,  Henry,  Nancy  Ann,  Priscilla,  Sherman  and 
Otto.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leverett  are  members  of  the 
Baptist  Church,  ami  for  a  number  of  years  the 
former  has  been  a  School  Director.  He  always 
votes  the  straight  Re))ublican  ticket,  and  is  a  re- 
spected citizen  in  this  locality. 


W?  AMES  A.  SMITH,  Postmaster  of  New  Burn- 
side,  III.,  was  born  in  Johnson  County,  III., 
^^  December  14,  1847,  a  son  of  J.  B.  Smith, 
tj^!/  who  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina  and 
was  born  in  1805.  The  latter  was  a  son  of  Hiram 
Smith,  a  farmer  of  South  Carolina,  who  died  on 
his  farm  in  that  State,  having  reared  a  family'  of 
two  sons  and  four  daughters,  of  whom  J.  B.  Smith 
was  the  youngest.  The  father  of  our  subject  re- 
ceived an  ordinar}'^  education,  but  being  of  an  in- 
quiring mind  he  became  quite  well  informed.  Af- 
ter the  death  of  his  father,  Hiram  Smith,  his  mother 
removed  with  her  children  to  Kentucky,  when  J. 
B.  Smith  was  sixteen  j'ears  old.  Here  he  was  early 
converted  to  the  Methodist  faith,  and  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three  became  a  preacher,  and  was  an  itin- 
erant minister  for  man}'  years.  He  was  married 
early  in  life  to  Matilda  C.  Franklin,  a  descendant 
of  Benjamin  Franklin,  their  marriage  occurring  in 
Kentuck}',  and  in  1826  or  1827  they  removed  to 
Pope  County,  111.,  by  the  only  mode  of  travel  then 
in  vogue,  their  own  horse  and  cart.  Mr.  Smith 
had  learned  the  blacksmith's  trade, and  upon  arriv- 
ing in  Pope  County  started  a  blacksmith  shop  at 
Golconda. 

While  there  the  father  of  our  subject  was  Cap- 
tain of  a  company  and  an  active  participant  in 
that  brief  struggle,  the  Black  Hawk  War,  and  soon 
after  returning  home  sold  out  his  shop  in  Gol- 
conda and  moved  to  the  southeastern  part  of  what 
isnow  Johnson  Count3',Ill.,  where  he  entered  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  timber  land.  Upon 
this  land  he  erected  a  log  cabin,  in  which  he  and 
his  family  lived  for  a  few  years,  and  in  the  mean- 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


299 


time  he  erected  a  two-stoiy  brick  house,  the  brick 
for  which  lie  burnerl  himself.  This  house,  which 
was  the  only  bnek  structure  in  this  section  at  the 
time,  was  then  a  mansion  compared  with  other 
houses  in  this  part  of  the  State.  It  was  30x18 
feet  in  size,  and  was  for  many  years  the  best  house 
in  the  county.  He  had  a  bJacksraith  shop  on  his 
farm,  and  through  his  trade  made  sufficient  money 
to  paj'  several  men  to  aid  in  cultivating  his  farm, 
and  thev,  together  with  others,  cleared  the  estate. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  our  sub- 
ject's father  enlisted,  and  soon  became  First  Lieu- 
tenant of  Company  K,  First  Illinois  Light  Artil- 
lery. Within  six  months  his  captain  resigned, 
and  he  was  promoted  to  the  captaincy,  which  po- 
sition he  filled  until  the  famous  Grierson  raid. 
His  batterj-  was  then  attached  to  Col.  Grierson 's 
regiment,  the  Sixth  Illinois,  and  the  men  were  in 
their  saddles  and  boots  for  seventeen  consecutive 
days,  which  proved  too  much  for  a  man  of  Capt. 
Smith's  age.  and  he  was  compelled  to  go  into  the 
hospital  at  Memphis,  from  which  he  was  discharged 
in  the  early  part  of  1865.  His  charger  and  one 
other  horse  were  the  onl3'  ones  to  come  out  of  this 
ordeal  alive  and  fit  for  an  j- further  use.  He  shipped 
his  noble  horse  home,  where  he  was  both  useful 
and  famous  for  many  j'ears.  During  all  these 
j'ears  of  farming,  blacksmithing  and  soldiering, 
Capt.  Smith  preached  fi'equentlj',  and  died  in  the 
possession  of  his  faith  at  his  home  iu  August, 
1872,  when  sixty-seven  years  of  age.  Though 
he  has  slept  in  the  grave  these  twenty  years, 
yet  the  results  of  his  labors  remain,  and  he  lives 
embalmed  in  the  memory  of  many  besides  those 
of  his  own  household.  His  faithful  and  heroic 
wife  survived  him  but  two  years,  and  followed 
him  to  the  grave  from  the  old  brick  house, 
aged  sixt3'-five  3'ears.  Thej^  had  buried  an  infant 
son,  and  one  daughter,  Anna,  aged  ten  years. 
Their  second  child,  Thomas  H.  Smith,  was  a  soldier 
in  the  Forty-eighth  Infantry,  going  into  the  armj' 
as  Lieutenant-Colonel  iu  1861,  and  falling  mortally 
wounded  at  Ft.  Donelson.  He  was  but  thirty-two 
j^ears  of  age,  and  left  a  wife  and  two  children,  a 
son  and  a  daughter.  He  was  a  lawyer  of  ability', 
had  been  elected  State's  Attornej',  and  was  a  popu- 
lar and  promising  young  man.     His  untimely  death 


was  mourned  by  many  people  aside  from  his  im- 
mediate family,  and  he  was  an  active  and  loyal 
Republican  to  the  day  of  his  death. 

James  A.  Smith  has  three  brothers  and  two  sis- 
ters living.  John  W.  Smith  is  a  hotel-keeper  at 
Fordj'ce,  Ark  ,  and  the  rest  are  residents  of  John- 
son and  Massac  Counties,  111.  James  A.  Smith  had 
a  good  common-school  education  only,  and  was 
reared  to  farm  life,  assisting  his  father  in  the 
blacksmith  shop  a  portion  of  the  time.  He  re- 
mained at  home  until  his  marriage,  in  September, 
1874,  to  Miss  H.  T.  Clymer,  daughter  of  J.  C.  and 
Sarah  (Shiars)  Ch'mer,  e.arlj'  settlers  in  Johnson 
County  from  Tennessee.  ]Mv.  Smith  began  life  as 
a  farmer,  and  three  years  afterward  removed  to 
New  Burnside,  where  he  established  ,au  implement 
agency,  to  which  he  soon  added  general  merchan- 
dise. He  continued  in  these  lines  of  business  un- 
til 1883,  when  his  wife  died,  leaving  three  children, 
one  son  and  two  daughters.  Mr.  Smith  was  then 
in  impaired  health,  suflfering  from  dyspepsia  and 
general  debility,  and  so  sold  out  his  business  and 
went  to  Hot  Springs,  Ark.,  where  he  remained  one 
and  a-half  }'ears,  returning  in  a  greatlj-  improved 
condition,  though  he  still  occasionally  returns 
there.  He  was  married  in  1885  to  Anna  H.  Tremble, 
a  native  of  Tennessee,  whose  father,  R,  B.  Tremble, 
is  now  a  Christian  minister.  Her  mother  was  Nan- 
nie T.  Nance,  of  Tennessee.  By  our  subject's  sec- 
ond marriage  there  have  been  born  three  sons, 
Harry,  six  j'ears  old;  Robert  Ray,  four;  and  Wal- 
ter, one  and  one-half  j'ears  of  age.  Three  children 
were  born  to  his  first  wife:  Eugene,  eighteen  years 
old;  Clara,  aged  fourteen;  and  Ethel,  ten.  In 
1887,  on  his  return  from  the  Springs,  he  opened 
a  grain  and  feed  store,  which  he  ran  for  two  years, 
and  then  formed  a  co-partnership  with  E.  Ch'mer, 
I  under  the  firm  name  of  Smith  &  Clymer.  This 
firm  handles  general  hardware,  lumber,  doors,  sash, 
and  all  kinds  of  building  material.  Mr.  Smith  was 
Postmaster  first  under  President  Hayes,  which 
office  he  has  held  ever  since,  except  during  the 
J'ears  of  Grover  Cleveland's  administration.  His 
father,  after  the  partial  recovery  of  his  health,  was 
elected  County  Judge,  and  held  the  office  for  four 
J'ears.  Mr.  Smith  is  a  Roj'al  Arch  Mason  and  an 
Odd  Fellow,  and  he  is  a  member  of  the  Christian 


300 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


Cluiich.  His  sister,  Klizabeth,  widow  of  D.  T. 
Cummins,  has  four  sons,  who  are  preachers  in  the 
Metiiodist  Episcopal  Church.  One  event  of  import- 
ance connected  with  the  life  of  J.  B.  Smith  ougiit 
to  be  mentioned  in  tliis  connection:  In  1846,  or 
just  prior  to  the  Mexican  War,  an  emergency  arose 
in  this  portion  of  the  State,  particularly  in  Massac 
County,  which  resulted  in  an  organization  of  the 
citizens  for  self-defense.  This  organization  was 
known  as  the  Regulators,  and  of  it  .1.  15.  Smith 
and  Mr.  Simpson  were  leading  members.  The  ob- 
ject of  the  Regulators  was  to  free  the  citizens 
from  the  depredations  of  a  bad  and  notorious  band 
of  robbers,  whose  popular  designation  was  "The 
Flat  Heads,"  and  who  were  banded  together  for 
the  purpose  of  horse-stealing,  general  plundering 
and  "cussedness."  There  was  but  one  pitched 
battle  between  the  Regulators  and  the  Flat  Heads, 
in  which  the  latter  were  completely  routed  and 
dispersed,  and  no  further  trouble  was  experienced 
from  their  existence  afterward. 


BENJAMIN  U.  BURNS  was  born  in  Gore- 
ville  Township  in  August,  1848.  He  is  a 
son  of  .James  P.  Burns,  of  Alabama,  who 
-was_  born  in  1804,  and  was  a  son  of  John 
Burns,  also  a  native  of  Alabama,  and  a  farmer  of 
that  State,  who  died  there  when  nearly  one  hundred 
years  old.  He  reared  a  family-  of  three  sons  and 
two  daughters,  of  whom  James  P.  was  one  of  the 
eldest.  They  are  all  dead  but  Henry,  a  farmer  of 
Goreville  Township,  and  his  sister,  Sarah,  wife  of 
Silas  Clarke,  of  Franklin  County,  111.  The  wife  of 
James  P.  Burns,  mother  of  Benjamin  R.,  was  Eliza- 
beth Hubbard,  of  Missouri,  and  daughter  of  John 
Hubbard,  who  died  in  Johnson  County  at  a  great 
age. 

James  P.  Burns  and  his  wife  had  eight  children, 
six  sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  is  the  sixth  child.  They  were  mar- 
ried in  Tennessee,  moved  thence  to  Missouri  and 
finally  to  Illinois,  in  1845.     They  were  well-to-do 


farmers  and  made  these  several  movements  and 
journeys  b}'  means  of  their  own  teams.  They 
were  on  tlieir  wa}-  from  Missouri  to  Alabama  late 
in  the  fall,  when  they  made  a  stop  in  Illinois  on 
account  of  bad  roads  and  bad  weather,  and  having 
to  remain  in  Illinois  some  time  anywav,  Mr.  Burns 
made  up  his  mind  to  rent  laud  here  for  one  year, 
and  he  was  so  well  pleased  with  the  soil  and  cli- 
mate tliat  he  decided  to  remain  here  permanentlj'. 
He  was  one  of  the  first  to  settle  in  this  part  of  the 
county,  and  had,  of  course,  but  few  neighbors.  He 
had  to  go  six  or  seven  miles  to  a  logging  bee.  He 
soon  bought  a  settler's  claim  and  improvements  of 
ten  acres,  built  a  cabin,  cleared  up  a  good  farm 
and  secured  a  deed  to  one  hundred  and  twentj' 
acres  of  land.  Before  his  death  he  owned  two 
hundred  and  fort}-  acres  in  three  separate  farms, 
all  well  improved  and  well  stocked.  He  lost  his 
first  wife  about  1844,  when  she  was  in  the  prime 
of  life,  she  dying  of  a  cancer  in  the  breast.  She 
left  eight  children,  one  an  infant.  Mr.  Burns  was 
married  the  second  time,  to  Mrs.  Polly  Ford, 
nee  Davis,  and  a  daughter  of  John  Davis,  who 
came  to  Illinois  at  a  very  early  day.  By  this 
marriage  there  were  three  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters, and  thus  there  were  fourteen  children  by  the 
two  wives.  He  died  in  November,  1890,  aged  I 
eighty-six  years.  His  wife  followed  him  forty- 
four  days  later  at  the  age  of  fifty-tliree.  Of  these 
ciiildren  there  are  living  of  the  first  wife's  five 
sons  and  one  daughter,  and  of  those  b}'  the  second 
wife  one  son  and  three  daughters. 

Benjamin  R.  Burns  was  reared  at  home  on  the 
farm  and  had  rather  poor  educational  advantages, 
having  to  go  three  miles  to  school.  The  district 
was  then  large  and  there  were  two  schoolhouses 
in  the  remote  corners,  one  half  the  terra  being 
held  in  one  house  and  one  half  in  the  other  house. 
After  p.'issing  his  fifteenth  3-ear  he  had  better  op- 
portunities and  obtained  a  good  English  educa- 
tion. He  remained  at  home  until  his  twenty- 
seventh  year,  when  he  was  married,  in  May,  1876, 
to  Eliza  J.  Toler,  a  native  of  Union  County, 
III.,  and  daughter  of  W.  D.  and  Highly  (Miles) 
Toler,  both  natives  of  Illinois.  The}-  are  now  re- 
tired farmers  living  at  Anna,  III. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burns  are  living  at  their  fust  home. 


PORTRAIT   AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


301 


They  bought  forty  acres  in  1876  for  $550,  hav- 
ing but  slight  improvements,  and  in  1882  they 
added  forty  acres  more  of  railroad  land,  bought 
for  l'200.  In  1892,  they  bought  sixteen  acres  more 
for  $320,  making  their  farm  consist  of  ninety- 
sis  acres,  of  which  about  twenty  acres  are  broken. 
They  built  the  first  part  of  their  present  nice 
frame  house  in  1882,  and  completed  it  in  1887. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burns  have  lost  two  sons,  infants, 
and  have  two  sons  and  one  daughter  living,  viz: 
diaries  M.,  fourteen  years  old;  McCurtis,  eight,  and 
Leonora  J.,  four.  Mr.  Burns  does  not  belong  to 
any  church  or  to  any  secret  society,  but  he  votes  the 
Republican  ticket,  and  has  had  his  choice  of  Presi- 
dents except  twice.  He  carries  on  general  farming 
;ind  is  a  thorough  and  practical  farmer.  Being 
industrious  and  correct  in  his  business  habits,  and 
lieing  a  pleasant  gentleman,  he  is  not  only  popular, 
luit  also  highl}'  esteemed. 


f§  ORTIMER  HUNSAKER,  Esq.,  one  of  the 
\\\  foremost  citizens  of  Elvira  Township, 
11)  where  he  has  a  valuable  and  well-improved 
farm,  is  a  representative  of  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  of  Illinois.  He  was  born  in  Union 
County  September  18,  1834.  His  father,  Nicholas 
Hunsaker,  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
a  son  of  Abraham  Hunsaker,  who,- so  far  as  known, 
was  also  born  in  that  State.  He  migrated  from 
there  to  the  Territor}'  of  Illinois  in  1812,  ajid  was 
one  of  the  first  to  settle  in.  Union  County.  At 
that  time  Illinois  was  practically  uninhabited  ex- 
cept hy  Indians;  almost  all  the  land  was  owned  by 
the  Government  and  but  very  little  of  it  had  been 
surveyed.  Abraham  Hunsaker  located  on  Gov- 
ernment land  two  and  a-half  miles  from  Jones- 
borough  and  made  it  his  home  until  he  closed  his 
eyes  in  death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Jane  Snyder.  They  were  worthy  types  of  the 
true-hearted,  self-sacrificing,  courageous  pioneers 
wlio  opened  up  this  country  for  settlement. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  six  years  old  when 


the  family  came  to  Illinois  to  make  a  home  in  the 
wilderness,  and  he  grew  up  amid  the  most  primi- 
tive environments.  After  he  attained  manhood 
he  located  on  Government  land,  occupying  it  sev- 
eral years  before  he  bought  it.  He  finally  entered 
several  tracts  and  was  prosperously  engaged  in 
farming  in  Union  County  until  his  life  was  rounded 
out  by  deatii. 

Our  subject's  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Olivia  Montgomery,  and  who  was  a  native  of  Vir- 
ginia, died  m  1835,  when  he  was  but  a  few  months 
old.  He  was  reared  in  his  native  county  and  can 
well  remember  when  the  face  of  the  country  pre- 
sented a  far  different  appearance  from  what  it  does 
to-day,  much  of  its  original  wildness  remaining  in 
his  bojiiood,  and  settlements  were  few  and  far  be- 
tween. There  were  no  railwa3's,  and  the  towns  on 
the  Mississippi  River  were  the  principal  markets  for 
the  farmers,  and  here  they  disposed  of  their  corn 
at  an  average  price  of  twenty-two  cents  a  bushel 
and  their  wheat  at  fifty  cents  a  bushel,  while  their 
best  pork  brought  only  $1.50  a  hundred  pounds. 
Wild  turkeys,  deer  and  other  game  were  plentiful 
and  furnished  a  welcome  addition  to  the  fare  of 
the  pioneers.  Our  subject's  education  was  con- 
ducted in  a  pioneer  school  taught  on  the  subscrip- 
tion plan,  each  one  paying  his  share,  according  to 
the  number  of  scholars  sent.  These  schools  were 
taught  in  log  houses,  provided  with  rude  home- 
made furniture,  the  seats  made  of  logs  split  and 
hewn  smooth  on  one  side,  with  four  sticks  put  in 
for  legs.  The  room  was  heated  by  a  fireplace  that 
extended  entirely  across  one  end  of  it. 

At  the  time  of  his  marriage  Mr.  Hunsaker  bought 
a  tract  of  land  eight  miles  from  Cobden.  He  re- 
sided there  until  1870  and  then  purchased  a  farm 
in  Elvira  Township,  which  comprises  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  fertile  land.  It  is  kept 
in  a  fine  condition,  and  tiio  improvements  on 
the  place  are  of  a  substantial  order.  Mr.  Hun- 
saker's  home  is  pleasantl3'  situated  on  the  south- 
western quarter  of  section  4,  and  is  the  seat  of  a 
cheerful,  abundant  hospitality,  a  cordial  welcome 
awaiting  all  who  cross  its  threshold.  To  the  lady 
who  presides  over  this  home  our  subject  was 
united  in  marriage  in  1855,  and  their  union  has 
brought  them    three    ciiildren:    Jennie,  Augustus 


302 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


!ind  Cliarles.  Mrs.  Iliinsaker  was  Mury  Stearns 
in  lier  maiden  days.  She  is  also  a  native  of  Union 
County',  like  her  husband,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
.lohn  and  Anna  Stearns. 

Mr.  llunsaker  is  a  man  of  much  force  of  cliar- 
acter,  who  is  possessed  in  a  full  degree  of  those 
traits  that  lead  to  success  and  command  tlie  confl- 
dencc  of  his  fellow-eitizens,  as  is  shown  by  the  va- 
rious oHIcesof  trust  thattliey  have  confided  to  his 
care.  During  his  residence  in  Union  County  he 
served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  as  School  Director 
and  Township  Treasurer,  and  he  has  been  Justice 
of  the  Peace  in  Elvira  Township.  In  his  political 
views,  he  is  a  decided  Democrat. 


•^=t=S^\ 


1^*^^^ 


AMUEL  M.  GLASSFORD,  one  of  the  most 
successful  business  men  of  Elvira  Town- 
ship, Johnson  County,  was  born  in  Indi- 
ana County,  Pa.,  November  15,  1825.  His 
father,  George  Glassford,  was  born  in  Ohio  of 
Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  He  followed  the  black- 
smith trade  in  Ohio  for  some  time,  having  served 
an  apprenticeship  in  Zanesvdle.  Upon  going  to 
Indiana  County',  Pa.,  he  established  himself  in 
business  as  a  blacksmith  and  was  married  to  Eliza- 
beth Wolfe  in  the  year  1824.  Her  parents,  John 
and  Elizabeth  Wolfe,  resided  there  about  ten  years, 
when  they  removed  to  Mason  County,  Ky.  He 
opened  a  shop  at  May's  Lick  and  remained  there 
until  18-11. 

During  that  3'ear  Mr.  Glassford  removed  to 
Johnson  County,  TU.,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and 
four  children,  namely:  Elizabeth  J.,  Samuel  M., 
John  W.  and  Abraham  D.  He  made  the  removal 
on  the  river  to  Coiieland's  Landing  and  thence  by 
team  to  what  is  now  Elvira  Township,  where  he 
purchased  of  Samuel  Copeland  a  tract  of  land  on 
section  34.  At  this  time  a  few  acres  had  been 
cleared  and  a  log  house  erected,  which  constituted 
all  the  improvements  on  the  place.  Thencefor- 
ward he  devoted  his  time  to  agriculture  and  re- 
sided upon  his  farm  until    1846,   wlien    he   rented 


the  place  and  removed  to  St.  l^ouis.  There  he 
was  engaged  for  a  short  time  in  Belcher  &  Bro.'s 
sugar  refinery  and  remained  in  that  place  until  his 
death,  in  1847. 

Samuel  M.  Glassford  was  eight  years  old  when 
his  parents  removed  to  Kentucky'.  He  attenderl 
school  in  that  State  as  opportunity  ofifered,  re- 
maining there  until  1841,  when  he  came  to  Illinois 
with  his  parents.  At  that  time  Johnson  County 
was  sparsely  settled  and  much  of  the  land  was  still 
owned  by  the  Government.  In  Vienna  Township 
there  were  but  a  few  houses.  \'ienna  itself  was 
but  a  hamlet,  and  the  court  house  and  jail  were 
built  of  logs.  Mr.  Glassford  went  to  St.  Louis  in 
1849  and  entered  the  employ  of  Belcher  &  Bro., 
sugar  refiners.  After  remaining  there  for  a  few 
years  he  purchased  their  coal  mining  interest  and 
teams  and  engaged  in  the  coal  business. 

In  1860  Mr.  Glassford  sold  an  interest  in  the 
business  to  his  brother  John  and  retired  to  his 
farm  in  Elvira  Township.  He  had  inherited  a 
part  of  the  old  homestead  and  bought  the  interest 
of  the  other  heirs.  He  has  resided  on  the  farm 
since  that  time.  A  verj'^  successful  farmer,  he 
purchased  different  tracts  of  land  until  at  one  time 
he  owned  about  fifteen  hundred  acres.  He  still 
owns  about  eight  hundred  acres,  and  his  buildings 
and  other  improvements  rank  with  the  best  in  the 
county.  About  1861  Mr.  Glassford  formed  a  part- 
nership with  his  brother  John  and  erected  a  flour 
and  woolen  mill  in  Vienna,  put  in  the  necessaiy 
machinery  and  bought  a  suppl3'  of  wool,  but  be- 
fore the  mill  was  started  it  was  burned  down  with 
all  its  contents,  causing  a  loss  of  about  140,000 
with  no  insurance. 

In  1846  our  subject  married  Elizabeth  Jones,  a 
native  of  Johnson  Count}',  and  a  daughter  of 
James  and  Elizabeth  Jones.  His  second  marriage 
occurred  in  1851,  and  united  him  with  Juliet 
Jones,  who  was  born  in  Vienna  Township  July 
30,  1830.  Her  father,  James  Jones,  was  born  in 
Virginia,  and  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Johnson 
County,  111.  He  was  a  minister  of  the  Free  Will 
Baptist  denomination.  He  established  his  home 
in  Vienna  Township  and  cleared  a  farm,  where  he 
resided  until  his  death.  Mrs.  Glassford  was  edu- 
cated in  the  [uimitive  schools  of  the  days  of   her 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REATIEW. 


303 


youth.  Her  father  raised  sheep,  cotton,  flax  and 
hemp.  Her  mother  made  all  the  clothing  used  in 
the  family  and  instructed  her  daughters  in  the 
then  useful  arts  of  carding,  spinning  and  weaving. 
The  fatnil}'  consisted  of  twelve  children,  six  boys 
and  six  girls,  of  whom  5Irs.  Glassford  was  the 
youngest.  She  lived  with  her  parents  until  their 
death,  then  resided  with  her  brother  until  her 
marriage. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Glassford  have  three  children  liv- 
ing, namel3':  Josephine,  wife  of  Dr.  R.  M.  McCall, 
a  successful  physician  of  Vienna;  Charles  A.,  of 
whom  a  biographical  sketch  appears  elsewhere  in 
this  volume;  and  Mary  E.,  wife  of  Theodore  B. 
Williams,  of  Jonesboro.  In  their  religious  con- 
victions, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Glassford  are  members  of 
the  Christian  Church.  Mr.  Glassford  is  a  Prohi- 
bitionist and  a  stanch  advocate  of  all  that  is  up- 
lifting and  progressive.  He  was  elected  in  1874 
to  the  State  Senate  of  Illinois  from  the  Fifty-first 
District,  composed  of  the  counties  of  Pulaski, 
Massac,  Johnson,  Pope  and  Hardin. 


1^+^! 


1~"1  LEWETT  BAIN,  a  respected  resident  of 
LX  Bloom  field  Township,  where  he  was  born 
j^  I  December  28,  1821,  is  one  of  the  oldest 
^&^'  native-born  citizens  of  Johnson  County 
now  living  within  its  borders  and  is  a  son  of  one 
of  its  earliest  pioneers,  James  Bain.  He  was  a  na- 
tive of  Randolph  County,  N.  C,  and  his  father, 
who  IS  supposed  to  have  borne  the  same  name  as 
himself,  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  had  emigrated 
to  America  and  spent  his  last  days  in  North  Caro- 
lina. 

The  father  of  our  subject  came  to  Illinois  in  the 
prime  and  vigor  of  young  manhood,  and  after  his 
marriage,  in  what  is  now  Hardin  County,  came  to 
Johnson  Countj'  in  March,  1809,  and  was  one  of 
the  first  pioneers  to  settle  in  this  region.  He 
bought  a  tract  of  Government  land  on  section  33, 
Bloomfield  Township,  and  rented  a  cabin  tliat  had 
been  built  for  a  temporary  shelter  and  was  made  of 


poles  or  small  logs.  In  that  humble  dwelling  his 
son,  our  subject,  was  born.  In  a  few  years  Mr. 
Bain  built  a  substantial  log  house  and  resided  in 
it  until  shortly  before  his  death,  when  he  went  to 
spend  his  closing  days  with  his  son  Isaac.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Elizabeth  Pankey 
and  she  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  a  daughter  of 
William  and  Mary  (Blewett)  Pankey.  She  died 
on  the  home  farm  at  a  venerable  age,  having  been 
the  mother  of  thirteen  children,  of  whom  ten  grew 
to  maturity. 

Our  subject  was  brought  up  under  pioneer  influ- 
ences, and  as  at  the  time  of  his  birth  the  county 
was  still  in  its  primitive  condition,  he  raaj-  well  be 
said  to  have  grown  with  the  growth  of  the  county. 
For  many  yeare  there  were  no  railways,  and  the 
towns  on  the  Ohio  River  were  the  nearest  markets. 
All  grass  was  cut  with  a  scythe,  the  modern  mow- 
ing machine  being  unheard  of,  and  grain  was  cut 
with  a  cradle  and  threshed  with  flails  or  tramped 
out  by  horses.  There  were  no  fanning  mills  to 
winnow  the  grain,  the  way-  then  being  for  one 
man  to  turn  the  grain  from  the  measure  held 
quite  high  while  two  other  men  would  fan  the  air 
with  a  blanket. 

Mr.  Bain  lived  with  his  parents  until  he  attained 
man's  estate  and  then  worked  as  a  carpenter  two 
y-ears.  When  the  Mexican  War  broke  out  he  en- 
tered the  service  as  teamster,  accompanying  the 
troops  to  Mexico,  and  he  acted  in  that  capacity 
seven  months.  He  was  honorably  discharged  and 
returned  home  to  resume  the  occupation  to  which 
he  had  been  bred.  After  marriage  he  entered  a 
tract  of  Government  land  in  Bloomfield  Township, 
and  in  the  comfortable  log  house  that  he  built  he 
and  his  bride  commenced  housekeeping.  He 
worked  diligently  and  his  well-directed  labors 
were  rewarded  by  a  substantially  improved  farm, 
on  which  he  resided  in  happiness  and  comfort  for 
nearly  forty  years.  Since  the  death  of  his  wife  he 
has  made  his  home  with  Preston  W.  McFatridge. 

In  1849  our  subject  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Malinda  C.  Hall,  a  native  of  Hardin  County 
and  a  daughter  of  Kinson  M.  Hall.  In  her  he 
found  a  faithful  and  loving  wife,  who  was  a  true 
helpmate  and  contributed  her  share  to  his  prosper- 
itj-.     She   closed  her  eyes  in  death  July  10,  1891, 


304 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


anrl  tlie  incmoiy  of  lier  manj'  virtues  nbides  with 
those  wlio  mourn  her  loss.  She  and  our  subject 
were  blessed  with  six  children:  Olie  II.,  Knorah  A., 
.leroine  A.,  Charles  P.,  Sidne3'  C.  and  Luretta  L. 


i^^|||^l..I^|it^^| 


ellAULES  AUGUSTUS  GLASSFOHD  is  an 
,  intelligent  and  progressive  farmer  and  stoek- 
.  raiser,  who  is  an  important  factor  in  for- 
warding the  rich  agricultural  interests  of  Johnson 
Countj'.  His  well-equipped  and  well-stocked  farm 
is  one  of  the  best  managed  and  most  desirable  in 
Elvira  Township.  Our  subject  was  born  in  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  November  6,  1853,  the  eldest  son  of 
Samuel  and  .Juliet  (.Tones)  Glassford,  of  whom  an 
extended  sketch  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work. 

Our  subject  was  about  six  or  seven  3'eai's  of  age 
when  his  parents  returned  to  .Johnson  County.  He 
remained  in  St.  Louis  with  an  uncle  that  he  might 
continue  his  education  in  its  excellent  schools, 
which  he  attended  quite  steadilj'  some  five  _vears. 
He  then  came  to  live  with  his  parents,  and  ad- 
vanced his  education  by  attendance  at  the  public 
schools  at  Vienna,  and  later  at  the  Southern  Illi- 
nois College,  at  Carbondale,  where  he  pursued  a 
thorough  course  of  stud}',  which  has  been  of  bene- 
fit to  him  in  his  after  career.  When  he  left  school 
he  interested  himself  in  farming  for  a  time,  and 
then,  after  clerking  a  few  months,  he  bought  a 
share  in  the  store  in  which  he  had  been  employed. 
Not  long  after  he  threw  up  the  mercantile  business 
to  resume  farming,  for  which  he  had  a  decided 
taste.  A  little  while  later  he  again  essayed  a  mer- 
cantile life,  and  for  five  years  was  engaged  in  the 
hardware  business  at  Jonesborough.  He  continued 
in  that  line  five  years,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time 
once  more  returned  to  his  old  pursuit,  and  has 
since  devoted  himself  to  general  farming  and 
stock-raising  with  complete  success.  His  farm  is 
well  stocked  with  well-graded  Shorthorn  cattle, 
which  he  believes  is  the  breed  best  adapted  to  the 
conditions  and  environments  of  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  he  raises  Poland-China  hogs  in  pref- 


erence to  an\'  other  kind.  His  farm,  which  had 
been  given  him  a  few  years  prior  to  his  settlement 
on  it,  is  in  a  fine  stale  as  to  cultivation  and  im- 
provements, and  is  advantageously  located  throe 
miles  northwest  of  Vienna.  He  has  increased  its 
area  since  it  came  into  his  possession  by  fiwther 
purchase,  and  now  has  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  and  a-half  acres  of  highl}'   productive   land. 

Mr.  Gla.ssford  w.as  first  married  to  Miss  Sally 
Nash,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  a  daugliter  of 
Richard  Nash.  She  died  in  1889,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren: .Juliet,  Samuel  C.  and  Edith  H.  Our  subject 
was  married  asecond  time,  in  1891,  this  time  to  Miss 
Dora  Slack,  a  native  of  this  county,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Wilford  Slack.  One  child,  George  Francis, 
has  blessed  the  union  of  our  subject  and  his  pres- 
ent wife. 

Mr.  Glassford  possesses  a  well-trained,  well-bal- 
anced mind  and  pleasant  personal  traits,  and  is 
ever  found  at  the  front  in  all  movements  to  ad- 
vance the  highest  interests  of  the  community.  His 
business  habits  are  good,  and  he  exercises  sound 
judgment  iu  the  management  of  his  affairs,  and  is 
justly  prospering.  In  his  political  sentiments  he 
sides  with  the  Republicans.  Religiously,  his  affili- 
ations are  with  the  Christian  Church,  of  which  he 
and  his  wife  are  members. 


|^^^,si| 


BRAIIAM  S.  BARGEK.  Among  the  thor- 
oughly enterprising  and  prosperous  farm- 
ers of  Pope  Count}'  no  one  is  more  worthy 
the  title  than  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
who  is  a  leading  agriculturist  and  stock-raiser  on 
section  6,  township  12,  range  6,  where  he  has  re- 
sided since  soon  after  his  marriage.  He  was  born 
only  a  mile  and  a-half  from  his  present  home, 
Febru!ir\'  25,  1852.  His  father,  Russell  S.,  was  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  born  in  1816,  and  when 
two  3'ears  of  age  was  brought  by  his  parents  to 
Illinois.  His  father,  Abraham  S.,  who  was  also 
born  in  Pennsylvania,  was  of  (ierman  parents. 
The    name    of    the   family  was  originally  Shuffel- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


305 


linrger,  but  later  goneiations  have  shortened  this 
for  convenience,  writing  it  8.  Barger.  The_v  have 
been  tillers  of  the  soil,  so  far  as  known,  for  centu- 
ries past,  and  have  been  possessed  of  industrious 
and  worth3-  traits.  When  the  grandparents  of  our 
>ubject  first  came  to  southern  Illinois  it  was  liter- 
ally a  howling  wilderness,  as  wolves  and  wild  ani- 
mals of  various  descriptions  were  still  abundant. 
They  settled  about  two  and  a-half  miles  southeast 
of  where  Eddyvillc  now  stands,  and  made  a  home 
in  the  wilderness,  where  they  reared  their  children, 
riie  grandmother  died  in  I80O,  aged  sixty -six,  her 
luisband  departing  this  life  eight  years  later,  hav- 
ing passed  his  four-score  j^ears.  Two  of  their  chil- 
dren are  still  living:  Anna,  widow  of  James  Bail^' 
residing  on  her  farm  three  and  a-half  miles  west  of 
Eddyville,  and  Lucinda,  widow  of  Samuel  Morse, 
who  resides  in  this  county  with  her  children.  They 
.•ire  both  about  eighty  years  of  age. 

The  father  of  our  subject  first  married  a  Jliss 
I'.oulder,  who  died  leaving  him  a  daughter  and  two 
>ons.  He  later  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Sarah  E.  Graves,  the  ceremony  taking  place  about 
1846.  They  lived  on  the  homestead  formerly 
owned  by  his  father,- and  at  one  time  he  was  tlie 
owner  of  some  seven  hundred  acres  of  land.  After 
giving  his  children  good  farms  he  stiil  had  about 
two  hundred  acres  at  the  time  of  his  death  in 
1886,  when  he  was  nearly'  seventy  3ears  of  age. 
lie  left  seven  children  by  his  second  wife,  of  whom 
our  subject  was  the  third  iu  order  of  birth.  His 
mother  died  iu  1885,  when  she  was  nearly  sixtj' 
years  old.  The  father  afterward  married  Mrs. 
.Sallie  Haynes,  who  bore  him  a  son  and  who  died 
in  1889.  The  brothers  and  sisters  of  our  subject 
who  are  now  living  are  as  follows:  Heniy,  who  is 
farming  iu  this  township;  Samautha,  now  the  wife 
of  Henry  Gee, a  farmer  iu  Saline  County;  Arminta, 
wife  of  William  Arnold,  of  Arkansas;  Ellis,  who  is 
engaged  in  farming  in  the  southern  part  of  this 
county;  Rosetta,  Jlrs.  John  Martin,  of  Stone  Fort. 
The  half  brothers  and  sisters  of  our  subject  are 
lvUssell,Sr.,a  sou  of  the  last  marriage,  who  resides 
with  George  S.  Bo3'er;  George  H.  and  John. 

Mr.  Barger  attended  the  district  schools  while  in 
Ins  boj'hood,  but  when  he  became  large  enough  to 
be  of  service  on  the  farm  was  obliged  to  assist  his 


father.  When  only  seven  j-ears  of  age  he  held  the 
plow,  and  when  two  3-ears  older  was  a  good  baud 
in  the  field  at  various  kinds  of  farm  work.  He  had 
barely  learned  to  read  before  he  was  eigJi teen,  when 
he  was  allowed  to  go  to  school  for  about  twent3' 
days.  He  remained  at  home  until  twent3'  five  years 
of  age,  when  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Bettie 
A.  Frieze,  of  this  count3',  who  was  born  October 
17,  1853.  Her  father  is  a  farmer  in  this  neighbor- 
hood and  came  here  from  Tennessee  at  an  early 
da3'.  Our  subject  aud  his  wife  at  once  commenced 
housekeeping  and  in  1876  located  on  a  farm  of 
eighty  acres,  which  was  given  them  b3'  Mr.  Barger, 
Sr.  Our  subject  built  a  good  hewed-log  house, 
19x20  feet,  and  later  made  two  additions,  one  of 
16x30  and  another  10x20.  Mr.  Barger  has  since 
erected  a  good  frame  barn,  54x80  feet  in  dimen- 
sions, and  bought  other  land  until  he  now  owns 
nearly  five  hundred  acres,  four-fifths  of  which  are 
under  cultivation.  He  has  owned  as  high  as  seven 
hundred  acres  and  is  considered  one  of  the  most 
promising  farmers  of  this  locality.  His  estate  is  esti- 
mated at  no  less  than  $8,000,  which  means  simph- 
hard  labor  3'ear  b3"  3'ear,  without  any  speculation 
or  outside  investment. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barger  have  been  born  nine 
children,  two  of  whom  are  deceased :  Arthur  Samuel, 
who  was  born  October  2,  1877,  and  died  September 
1,  1879,  at  the  age  of  two  3-ears;  and  Sarah  E.,  born 
October  7,  1882,  and  who  died  April  8,  1884,  aged 
two  3'ears.  Their  living  children  are:  Albert  Mar- 
low,  born  Januaiy  30,  1879;  Effie  M.,  December 
23,  1880;  Henry  V.,  November  11,  1884;  Essie  J., 
November  2,  1886;  Clara  B.,  October  7,  1888;  Roy 
R.,  December  18,  1890,  and  Elmer  I.,  February  29, 
1892.  Mr.  Barger  is  a  Master  Mason  and  has  been 
a  member  of  the  fraternity  since  his  twent3--first 
year.  He  and  his  esteemed  wife  are  members  of 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  Politicall3', 
he  is  a  Republican. 

Our  subject  has  the  reputation  of  growing  more 
corn  on  his  farm  than  an3'  man  in  the  township. 
lie  raises  as  high  as  twenty-five  hundred  bushels 
per  year,  averaging  about  twenl3'-seven  bushels  to 
the  acre.  He  has  raised  as  much  as  five  hundred 
bushels  of  wheat,  some  ten  to  fifteen  bushels  per 
acre.     He  keeps  about  ten  head  of  horses  and  from 


306 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


thirty  to  fifty  liead  of  cattle.  At  tlie  present  time 
he  has  sixty-five  sheep  of  tlie  Shropshire  Down 
and  Cotswold  varieties.  He  lias  sold  %40()  worth 
of  hogs  of  tiie  mixed  Chester  and  Poland-China 
varieties  for  several  years.  In  his  stock-raising  he 
has  been  quite  successful,  though  he  lost  forty- 
two  hogs  one  year.  He  keeps  his  land  up  b^'  ro- 
tation of  crops  and  frequent  seeding,  being  one  of 
the  few  farmers  in  this  part  of  Illinois  who  do 
not  believe  in  turning  land  out  to  rest. 


OVERTON  STANLEY    was  born   in  Middle 
I  Tennessee,  February  10,  1828,  and  now  lives 
in   Goreville   Township,   .Johnson    County. 

His  father,  JMark  Stanley,  born  in  North  Carolina 
in  1783,  was  a  son  of  William  Stanley,  who  was  a 
farmer  of  North  Carolina,  and  moved  first  to  Tenn- 
essee, and  thence  to  Kentucky,  where  he  died  on  his 
own  farm  in  1823,  at  a  ripe  old  age.  He  was  mar- 
ried twice,  and  by  his  two  wives  had  three  sons,  of 
whom  Mark  was  the  first-born  by  the  second  wife. 
Mark  Stanley  married  Polly  Underwood, of  White 
County,  111.,  who  was  a  daughter  of  James  Under- 
wood, and  came  to  Illinois  with  her  parents  about 
1813. 

After  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stanley  immedi- 
ately returned  to  Tennessee,  where  the  former  car- 
ried on  farming  on  his  own  farm,  and  afterward 
removed  to  Kentucky,  where  he  lived  about  two 
j'ears  and  then  came  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Will- 
iamson County  in  the  spring  of  1837.  He  brought 
with  him  his  wife  and  ten  children,  moving  with 
two  yoke  of  oxen  and  two  wagons,  and  consuming 
about  two  weeks  en  route  from  Hopkins  Count3', 
Ky.  Having  but  little  means,  he  located  on  Gov- 
ernment land,  paying  a  settler  for  his  claim.  He 
made  that  place  his  home  for  life,  at  his  death 
owning  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  His  first 
abode  on  this  farm  was  a  rude  house  of  hewed  logs, 
and  in  that  house  he  died  in  1862,  during  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg.  His  son  Charles  was  killed  in 
that  siege,  aged  twcnt3--three,  and  left  a  wife  and 


one  son,  Zack  Stanley.  The  wife  of  Mark  Stanley 
had  died  in  1H5.5,  aged  sixty-five  years.  She  had 
had  ten  children,  six  sons  and  four  daughters,  of 
whom  Overton  was  the  seventh  child  and  third  son 
in  order  of  birth.  There  are  but  three  now  living, 
namely:  Polly,  wife  of  Joseph  Burpo,  a  farmer  of 
Williamson  County,  JU.;  Mark,  of  the  same  place, 
who  served  in  the  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantry, 
serving  three  years,  most  of  the  time  in  the  ranks, 
and  is  now  a  well-to-do  farmer;  and  Overton,  our 
subject. 

Mr.  Stanley,  of  this  sketch,  was  brought  up  a 
farmer's  boy,  and  remained  at  home  until  his  mar- 
riage, January  23,  1851,  to  Ellen  J.  Bernard,  of 
Kentucky,  and  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Alexander 
Nelson  Hiram  and  Dicey  A.  (Allen)  Bernard,  both 
natives  of  Kentucky.  They  came  to  Illinois  in 
1849,  and  some  five  j-ears  later  removed  to  Mis- 
souri, where  they  died  in  1876,  within  six  weeks 
of  each  other.  She  was  sixty-three  and  he  sixty- 
five  years  old.  They  had  four  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters, of  whom  Mrs.  Stanle}-  was  the  first-born,  and 
is  now  believed  to  be  the  only  survivor.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Stanley  began  married  life  on  their  present 
farm,  buying  fifty  acres,  for  which  they  paid  ^.5 
per  acre,  and  from  time  to  time  added  to  it  until 
tlie  estate  now  aggregates  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty acres  in  the  home  farm.  He  owns  in  all  in 
the  State  of  Illinois  eight  hundred  acres  of  land, 
four  different  farms.  He  started  in  life  without 
cash  capital,  beginning  in  a  log  house,  in  which 
he  lived  until  November,  1892,  when  he  moved 
into  his  present  fine  frame  one  and  a-half  story 
house,  containing  eight  rooms.  He  has  also  fine 
outbuildings.  His  farm  is  a  very  productive  one, 
and  upon  it  he  carries  on  mixed  farming,  growing 
mostly  wheat  and  hay.  He  also  raises  and  deals 
in  stock  to  a  considerable  extent.  Of  late  years, 
however,  he  is  not  leading  such  an  active  life  as 
in  the  past.  Mr.  Stanley's  home  is  on  an  eminence, 
commanding  a  view  of  a  beautiful  landscape.  Mr. 
and  INIrs.  Stanley  have  lost  one  son  and  one  daugh- 
ter: James  Monroe,  who  died  in  his  twelfth  year, 
and  Elizabeth  C,  who  passed  away  at  the  youth- 
ful age  of  twenty-two  years.  They  have  living 
three  children,  namely:  Hiram  H.,  a  prominent 
farmer  of  Williamson  County,  who  has  a  wife,  four 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


307 


sons  and  two  daughters;  Ida  M.,  wife  of  O.  P. 
Browu,  of  the  same  county,  who  has  one  son;  and 
A.  D.,  a  young  man  of  twentj-  years,  at  home  on 
the  farm  when  not  in  scliool.  He  has  attended 
school  at  Danville,  Ind.,  four  terms.  Mr.  Stanley 
is  a  Republican  in  politics,  but  is  not  a  member  of 
any  order  or  church,  thinking  the  common  broth- 
erhood of  man  is  narrow^  enough  for  him,  though 
he  respects  all  honest  opinions. 


ANIEL  W.  MORRIS  was  born  in  Mauiy 
Ij  County,  Tenn.,  in  1825,  and  is  now  a 
*|J|^  prosperous  farmer  in  Burnside  Township, 
Johnson  Count}'.  His  father,  Reuben 
Morris,  was  a  Virginian,  and  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion, who  was  taken  to  Tennessee  when  a  child  bj' 
his  parents,  and  there  was  reared  on  a  farm.  He 
was  married  in  his  j-outh  to  Elizabeth  Morris,  a 
cousin,  bj"  whom  he  had  nine  children,  five  sons 
and  four  daughters.  Daniel  W.  had  two  sisters 
and  three  brothers  older  than  himself.  He  has  a 
twin  brother,  James,  who  is  a  farmer  in  Arkansas, 
where  he  has  resided  for  the  past  thirty  years. 
The  mother  of  these  children  died  at  the  age  of 
fiftj'-seven  3'ears,  about  1841.  She  had  buried  two 
daughters  in  earh'  childhood  and  left  seven  chil- 
dren at  her  death. 

The  maternal  grandmother  of  Mr.  Morris  was 
Sarah  TibVjs,  probablj^  of  Virginia,  who  was  the 
daughter  and  wife  of  a  farmer,  and  became  the 
motiier  of  sixteen  children.  She  died  in  Franklin 
County,  III.,  in  1852,  at  the  gi'eat  age  of  one  hun- 
dred and  five  years,  and  kept  house  and  did  her 
own  cooking  until  within  a  short  time  of  her 
death.  Her  sons  were  brave  soldiers  under  Gen. 
Jackson.  Daniel  Morris  and  Reuben,  who  w^ere 
married  and  were  brothers-in-law,  were  comrades 
in  the  war.  The  latter  was  married  four  times^ 
and  had  nine  children  by  his  first  wife,  and  four 
by  the  last,  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  He  re- 
moved to  southern    Illinois  in  the  fall  of    1811, 


and  brought  with  him  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
and  his  twin  brother,  and  also  Elizabeth  Brummet, 
a  granddaughter.  His  second  wife  and  her  child 
joined  him  the  next  year,  all  coming  with  ox-teams 
and  covered  wagons,  in  very  humble  circum- 
stances. Daniel  W.  at  first  worked  for  $8  per 
month,  and  during  his  first  j'ear's  residence  in  Illi- 
nois he  took  up  eighty  acres  of  timber  land  with- 
in two  miles  of  Vienna,  built  a  log  cabin  on  the 
claim,  and  began  at  once  to  make  a  farm.  One  of 
his  brothers,  William,  took  up  an  eight3'-acre  piece 
adjoining  this,  which  he  soon  sold  to  the  twin 
brother  of  Daniel  W. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  1843,  to  Minerva 
J.  Neel}',  of  middle  Tennessee,  who  was  a  pla}-- 
mate  of  his  in  his  3'outh.  His  brothers  made  their 
home  with  him,  and  the}'  lived  on  this  farm  about 
seventeen  years,  clearing  up  fifty  acres  and  build- 
ing a  good  new  house,  with  a  plank  floor  and  clap- 
board roof,  into  which  they  moved  from  the  origi- 
nal home.  On  this  first  farm  two  sons  and  four 
daughters  were  born.  Our  subject  had  bought  his 
brother's  eighty  acres  and  sold  the  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  for  81,300,  buying  two  miles  east 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  for  $1,000.  This 
was  already  improved  with  a  good  log  house, 
and  sixty  acres  were  under  cultivation.  Upon 
this  farm  they  lived  eight  years,  and  then  sold  it 
for  81,800,  his  farm  then  consisting  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres.  He  afterward  removed  to 
Burnside  Township  and  bought  two  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  adjoining  his  present  home  farm,  pay- 
ing 81,600  for  the  improved  farm,  together  with 
corn  in  the  crib  and  forty  head  of  hogs,  sheep 
and  cattle.  This  was  in  the  year  1866,  and  in 
the  fall  of  1882  he  sold  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  acres  for  $1,800,  having  previously  sold  the 
other  portion  for  $360.  This  sale  netted  him  a 
profit  of  8500.  He  now  possesses  one  hundred 
and  sixty-two  acres  one  mile  away  from  his  home, 
besides  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
acres  in  his  home  estate. 

Our  subject's  first  wife  died  June  6,  1880,  aged 
forty-seven  years,  and  he  was  married  in  1882  to 
his  present  wife,  who  was  the  widow  of  A.  M. 
Jackson.  Her  maiden  name  was  Mary  Johnson, 
and  she  was  the  daughter  of  John   Johnson.     By 


308 


I'oin'KAlT  AM)  r.IOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


his  last  marriage  Mr.  Morris  liad  two  children, 
botii  of  whom  were  sons.  One  of  tliem  died  in 
infancy,  and  the  other  one,  Danie  D.,  is  a  bright 
boy  of  ten  j'cars.  He  lias  tiiree  sons  and  one 
daughter  in  Kansas.  One  of  liis  daughters,  Sarali, 
wife  of  Nathaniel  Kichols,  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty-six  years,  leaving  one  daughter.  Awzo- 
nelta,  died  at  the  age  of  lifteen.  The  others 
died  in  infancy.  Before  the  organization  of  the 
Republican  party,  Mr.  Morris  was  a  Whig,  but  he 
has  ever  since  then  been  a  Republican.  He  and 
wife  are  members  of  the  Jlissionary  Baptist  Church. 


W 


ILLIAM  L.  REID,  wlio  has  lived  on  his 
present  farm  on  section  13,  Burnside  Town- 
ship, Johnson  County,  for  the  past  thirty- 
eight  years,  was  born  in  Williamson  County,  Tenn., 
in  1826.  His  father,  James  Reid,  was  born  in  the 
same  county  in  1800,  and  was  a  son  of  James  Reid, 
who  was  the  onl}'  son  of  a  Revolutionary'  soldier  by 
his  first  wife.  This  participant  in  the  Revolution 
was  born  in  Ireland,  but  the  Christian  name  of  the 
hero  and  the  maiden  name  of  his  wife  cannot  be 
ascertained.  He  was  a  farmer  in  Ireland,  came 
over  it  is  believed  some  time  before  that  war  com- 
menced, and  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  King's 
Mountain.  James  Reid,  grandfather  of  AVilliam 
L.,  married  Phd^be  Calhoun,  of  North  Carolina, 
who  bore  him  nine  sons  and  three  daughters,  of 
whom  James,  the  father  of  William  L..  was  the  fifth 
child  and  fourth  son  in  order  of  birth.  The  eldest 
son,  Charles,  was  a  soldier  under  Andrew  Jackson, 
and  while  in  the  army  was  attacked  with  a  conta- 
gious disease,  from  which  he  never  recovered. 
The  mother  of  William  L.  Reid  was  Hannah  Legate, 
who  was  born  in  Kentuckj'  and,  when  a  child,  was 
taken  by  her  parents  to  Tennessee,  where  they 
reared  a  family'  of  five  sons  and  one  daughter. 
The  father  died  in  Humphreys  County,  Tenn.,  in 
18:5(1,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  leaving  his  widow  with 
six    children,    one    of     whom    was    very   3'oung. 


Mrs.  Reid  in  1834  removed  to  Kentucky,  where  she 
again  married.  She  died  in  Johnson  County,  111., 
in  1878,  in  her  eighty-first  year.  Charles  Reid,  tho 
pioneer  of  the  famil.y,  came  to  Illinois  in  an  early 
daj-,  followed  by  his  brothers  James  and  George 
in  a  short  time.  There  was  no  death  in  the  family 
from  1830  to  1878.  The  family  was  in  humble 
circumstances  in  early  life,  and  William  L.  and  his 
two  brothers  received  butaverj'  limited  education 
in  the  subscription  school  kept  in  the  primitive 
log  sehoolhouse  so  frequently  described  in  these 
pages,  and  in  this  way  these  sons  of  toil  passed 
their  youth. 

William  ]>.  Reid  was  married  in  Kentucky  in 
1850,  in  his  twenty-fifth  year,  to  Sarah  P.  G.  Rob- 
inson, daughter  of  J.  M.  Robinson,  who  came  to 
Johnson  County,  III.,  about  1858,  where  they  lived 
the  rest  of  their  lives,  he  dying  at  fifty-six  and  she 
at  seventy  years  of  age.  Our  subject  came  to  Illi- 
nois by  land,  drawn  by  his  two  yoke  of  oxen,  and 
bringing  his  wife  and  baby  and  all  their  household 
goods.  They  came  earl}'  in  the  winter,  and  lived 
with  a  brother  of  Mr.  Reid's  till  spring,  when  they 
bought  and  settled  on  eighty  acres  of  partly  im- 
proved land,  which  cost  8375.  With  this  tract  our 
subject  deeded  sufficient  Government  land  to  make 
two  hundred  acres,  on  which  he  started  in  hum- 
ble pioneer  style.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by  occupa- 
tion, beginning  to  learn  that  trade  in  Kentucky 
when  but  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  followed  his  trade 
and  also  engaged  some  in  farming  in  Kentucky- and 
Illinois.  .  His  first  wife  died  in  1876,  at  the  age  of 
forty-one  years.  She  bore  him  ten  children,  seven 
of  whom  died  in  infancy;  those  living  are  James 
Y.,  a  Methodist  minister,  who  married  Miss  Marj' 
Purdoin,  who  bore  him  one  son  and  three  daugh- 
ters; Nancy  M.,  wife  of  William  P.  Cole,  a  farmer 
residing  near  Mr.  Reid,  and  Sarah  II.  T.,  wife  of 
Charles  M.  Parsons,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County,  and 
who  has  two  sons.  His  second  wife  was  INIary  J.  Wil- 
son, of  Kentucky,  to  which  State  he  went  for  her 
in  1878. 

Mr.  Reid  has  deeded  all  his  farm  to  his  children 
except  fifty  acres,  upon  which  he  lives.  He  has 
been  in  poor  health  for  some  years,  suffering  with 
the  rheumatism  and  gout,  but  was,  however,  when 
younger,  one  of  the  stalwart  sons  of  Kentucky,  and 


I 


\^ 


Thomas  Bean, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


311 


he  takes  pride  in  never  having  had  a  personal  en- 
counter in  his  life.  In  politics  he  is  a  Prohibi- 
tionist, the  supporters  of  which  partv  he  considers 
the  patriotic  reformers  of  the  day. 


V^  IIRISTIAN  L.  Mccormick,  a  merchant 
L  and  farmer  of  McCormick,in  Pope  County, 

\^'  at  which  place  he  is  also  Postmaster,  was 
lioru  in  Kentucky  in  1836.  His  father,  Alfred  G. 
.McCormick,  was  a  native  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  where 
he  followed  the  vocation  of  a  school  teaclier  for 
many  years,  and  later  in  life  was  a  farmer.  He 
married  Frances  Cornelius,of  Kentucky,  after  which 
they  removed  to  southern  Illinois.  The3'  reared 
nine  children,  four  sons  and  five  daughters,  of 
whom  Christian  L.  is  the  third.  Alfred  G.  Mc- 
Cormick died  in  1866,  when  he  was  sixty-six  years 
old,  leaving  his  widow,  who  survived  him  fifteen 
years,  and  died  at  the  age  of  eighty. 

Christian  L.  McCormick  acquired  a  good  educa- 
tion in  his  youth,  and  was  reared  to  agricultural 
pursuits  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old.  In 
August,  1861,  he  entered  Company  I,  Tenth  Illi- 
nois Infantry,as  a  recruit,  and  served  as  a  private 
until  August,  1864,  when  he  returned  home.  He  was 
always  on  duty  with  his  regiment  except  for  four 
da3^s,  during  which  brief  period  he  was  in  the  hos- 
pital. The  nest  spring,  after  returning  home,  he  be- 
gan farming  on  rented  land,  having  been  engaged 
in  cutting  cordwood  during  the  previous  fall  and 
winter  and  putting  up  two  cords  of  wood  per  day. 
He  married  in  November,  1865,  Miss  Louisa 
Whitson,  of  Illinois,  a  daughter  of  Harvey  and 
Louisa  (Weston)  AVhitson,  after  which  they  set- 
tled in  Randolph  Count}',,  near  Chester,  and  six 
years  later  removed  to  Union  County,  where  Mr. 
McCormick  opened  a  general  store.  He  afterward 
removed  to  Mt.  Pleasant,  in  the  same  county,  where 
he  conducted  a  store  two  years,  and  was  a  merchant 
at  NcwBurnside  seven  years,  removing  from  there 
to  his  present  location  at  McCormick  in  the  spring 
16 


of  1890,  having  formerly  run  a  peddling  wagon  here 
in  connection  with  his  store.  He  began  business 
in  debt  to  the  extent  of  $200,  and  bought  his  first 
goods  and  team  on  credit.  He  now  carries  a  stock 
of  goods  worth  from  $4,000  to  $5,000,  and  realizes 
a  lucrative  trade.  He  owns  forty-one  acres  of  land 
at  McCormick.  upon  which  he  has  built  the  village. 
He  erected  his  own  house  and  storeroom  in  the 
fall  of  1891,  the  latter  being  a  good  frame  build- 
ing one  story  high  and  32x50  feet  in  dimensions. 
His  dwelling-house  is  a  one  and  a-half  story  struc- 
ture. He  also  owns  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres 
of  farm  and  timber  land  outside  the  limits  of  the 
village.  Mr.  McCormick  buried  his  first  wife  in 
the  spring  of  1866,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
five  years.  She  left  one  son,  Harvey  S.,  who  is  now 
in  business  with  his  father.  Our  subject  was  mar- 
ried in  1867  to  Miss  Valeria  L.  Rogers,  daughter  of 
Mareellus  and  Dicy  (Barrett)  Rogers,  who  bore  liim 
seven  children,  viz:  Nettie,  wife  of  A.  B.  Copeland; 
Nellie  L..  wife  of  E.  W.  Mount;  Walter,  twelve  years 
of  age,  and  Lena,  who  are  living  at  home;  the  other 
three  are  deceased.  His  present  wife  was  Mrs. 
Amada  F.  Williams, nee  Cobb,  daughter  of  William 

B.  Cobb.     By  this  marriage  he  has  one  son,  Arthur 

C,  a  bright  and  beautiful  boy  of  fifteen  months. 
Mr.  McCormick  is  a  Master  Mason  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  of 
the  Third  Degree.  Politically,  he  is  a  Republican 
and  has  been  Postmaster  at  McCormick  since  the 
olBce  was  established. 


■#> 


ZEKIEL  R.  WHEELER,  a  resident  of  Pope 
County,  and  located  in  township  11,  range 
5,  was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  1825.  His 
father,  Americus  Wheeler,  was  a  native  of  the 
same  State,  where  he  followed  farming,  but  re- 
moved to  Marshall  County,  Tenn.,  in  1833.  He 
was  a  poor  man  who  owned  but  a  small  farm,  and 
married  Rachael  Primrose,  who  bore  him  three  sons 
and  four  daughters,  and  Ezekiel  R.  was  the  third 
child  and  first  son.    Only  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 


312 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  RKVIEW. 


teis  <^''C"'  tf  iiiiiliirity,  and  there  are  now  living 
one  son  and  one  daughter:  Kzekiel  K.  and  his  sis- 
ter, Susan,  wife  of  Jesse  Stigall,  who  is  now  living 
in  Texas,  and  the  mother  of  seven  ehildren.  Mrs- 
Wheeler  died  in  Tennessee  when  past  middle 
life,  and  their  father  was  married  the  second  time. 
lie  died  about  1M80,  aged  eighty  years. 

Ezekiel  H.  Wheeler  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a 
farmer  bo^',  and  had  to  work  iiard  in  his  youth,  so 
received  but  little  education.  He  left  home  when 
twenty-two  3'ears  of  age,  and  was  married  at 
twenty-four,  in  Tennessee,  to  his  present  wife, 
Rachael  A.  Yarbrough,  of  Tennessee.  They  re- 
moved to  Ken  tuck}',  and  settled  down  in  Living- 
ston Countj'  in  1869,  and  lived  there  five  years. 
In  the  winter  of  1874-75,  they  removed  to 
Pope  County,  111.,  bringing  with  them  their  ten 
children.  They  made  the  removal  from  Tennes- 
see to  Kentucky  in  true  emigrant  style,  with  two 
teams  of  horses  and  covered  wagons.  They  owned 
a  good  small  farm  in  Kentucky,  which  they  sold, 
and  bought  fort}'  acres  in  township  11,  Pope 
County,  III.  There  they  lived  eleven  years,  and 
since  then  have  bought  and  sold  several  times.  Mr. 
Wheeler  volunteered  in  the  Union  army  in  Tennes- 
see, April  1 ,  1 862,  at  Murfreesboro,  and  served  four- 
teen montlis.  He  was  in  no  general  engagement, 
and  but  few  skirmishes.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wheeler  have 
buried  one .  daughter,  Susan,  a  young  lady  of 
twentj'-two  3'ears  of  age,  who  died  in  1888,  and 
one  son,  Marshall,  a  few  months  later,  in  November, 
1888,  aged  twenty-four,  who  left  a  wife  and  a  son 
and  daughter.  They  now  have  eight  children  liv- 
ing, seven  sons  and  one  daughter,  viz:  James,  a 
farmer  living  near  them,  who  has  a  wife  and  two 
daughters;  Robert,  also  a  fanner  living  near,  with 
a  wife  and  tw^o  sons  and  tvvo  daughters:  Columbus, 
who  has  a  wife  and  three  children;  Joseph,  who 
lias  a  wife  and  one  daughter;  Sherman,  living  at 
home,  and  who  married  Miss  Myrtle  Talmadge, 
and  has  two  sons;  Thomas,  a  single  man  living  at 
Anna,  111.;  John,  living  at  the  same  place;  and 
Eliza,  wife  of  George  Fox,  living  at  Anna,  111.,  and 
who  has  two  daughters. 

Mrs.  Wheeler,  who  is  a  Methodist  in  religion,  was 
one  of  eleven  children,  four  sons  and  seven  daugh- 
ters.    Her  father  was   Joel    Yarbrough,   and   her 


mother  Nancy  Carter.  They  were  farmers  in  Tenn- 
essee, where  they  both  died,  he  about  1882,  at  the 
age  of  eighty  years,  and  she  some  3'ears  later  at  about 
ninet}'  years  of  age.  Mrs.  Wheeler  was  born  in 
1827,  and  is  still  healthy  and  active.  She  has  but 
two  sisters  and  one  brother  living,  the  latter.  Jo- 
seph Y'arbrough,  who  was  a  soldier  in  tlie  Confed- 
erate army.  Another  brother,  Robert  Yarbrough. 
served  a  short  time  on  the  same  side,  but  seeini; 
the  iniquity  of  the  cause  he  deserted.  Mr.  Wheekn 
is  an  energetic  gentleman,  whose  thrift  indicates 
strongly  that  he  will  add  to  and  improve  his  farm 
in  time  to  come. 


?■  I  '  I  '     I  -^  '-^ 


yfelLLIAM  II.  MOYEUS.  who  has  resided  on 
/  his  present  farm  in  Pope  Count}',  town- 
■^^^  ship  12,  range  6,  for  the  past  twenty-seven 
years,  was  born  in  this  county  in  183.3,  to  George 
Moyers,  who  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  born  in  1784, 
and  a  shoemaker  by  trade.  His  father,  Peter  Moyers, 
came  to  the  United  States  from  Germany.  George 
Moyers  married  Polly  Windle,  of  Virginia,  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley.  From  Virginia  they  removed 
to  Lincoln  County,  Tenn.,  and  from  that  State  to 
southern  Illinois  about  1830.  A  short  time  aftei'- 
ward  they  entered  forty  acres  of  land,  upon  which 
Mr.  Moyers  erected  a  temporary  log  cabin,  and 
not  many  years  afterward  he  erected  a  good  and 
substantial  log  house,  in  which  they  lived  some 
fourteen  years.  They  then  sold  the  farm  and 
bought  another,  on  whicli  they  lived  a  short  time; 
they  later  bought  a  third  farm  of  two  hundred 
acres  of  land,  seven  miles  from  Golconda,  upon 
which  they  both  passed  their  declining  years, 
he  dying  in  1858,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four,  and 
she  in  1864,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  They  had 
thirteen  ehildren  and  reared  twelve,  four  sons  ami 
eight  daughters.  Of  these  twelve,  five  are  now 
living,  viz:  Hannah,  widow  of  Franklin  Hannn. 
living  at  Flora,  Clay  County;  Ellen  j\l.,  widow  ol 
James  H.  Gallamore;  William  II.;  Jarvis  A.,  n 
farmer  of  township  12;  and  Mary,  Mrs.  Porter,  ; 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


313 


widow,  now  living  in  eitlier  Missouri  or  Arkansas. 
The  x'oungest  of  these  children  is  flftv-seven  years 
old. 

Mr.  Movers  went  to  school  but  very  little  when 
.a  bov,  and  as  other  duties  called  his  attention 
when  he  reached  mature  years  he  was  but  poorly 
educated.  He  learned  to  read  and  write  aftei'  at- 
taining bis  manhood,  however,  and  remained  with 
his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-five  years  old. 
He  was  then  married  to  Parmelia  Morse,  who  died 
in  December,  1858,  leaving  an  infant  son,  John 
W.,  who  is  now  a  farmer  of  Glendale  Precinct,  is 
married  and  has  four  children,  two  sons  and  two 
daughters.  Our  subject  enlisted  in  Company  E, 
One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  in 
1862,  under  the  command  of  William  S.  Hodge,  and 
served  about  three  3'ears  as  Dut}-  Sergeant.  He 
was  at  Andcrsonville  Prison  ten  months,  and  was 
released  at  the  close  of  the  war.  He  participated 
in  but  one  battle,  which  was  fought  at  Gun  town, 
Miss.,  and  was  as  rough  an  experience  as  he  de- 
sired. But  he  would  have  preferred  such  a  battle 
any  time  to  the  ten  months  and  eleven  days  im- 
prisonment at  Andcrsonville,  where  he  experi- 
enced a  living  death  in  the  filth  and  starvation  of 
that  prison.  He  returned  to  .Springfield,  III.,  and 
was  there  discharged  May  29, 1865.  Being  a  man  of 
great  strength  and  endurance,  and  of  an  unusually 
sound  constitution,  lie  rallied  from  the  effects  of 
his  prison  life  in  Andcrsonville;  but,  strong  as  he 
was,  he  would  not  have  lived  through  it  had  he 
not  bartered  for  and  bought  extra  food. 

Our  subject  was  married  again,  November  8, 
1866,  this  time  to  Mrs.  Louisa  E.  Jenkins,  widow 
of  Charles  W.  Jenkins,  nee  Shuffelbarger,  and  a 
daughter  of  R.  S.  Shuffelbarger.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Moyers  have  buried  one  infant  son,  and  have  three 
children  living,  viz:  Leonora,  wife  of  William  U. 
Harper,  at  home  on  the  farm,  and  who  has  one 
daughter;  Mary  L.,  wife  of  Moses  Lay,  a  farmer 
of  Pope  County,  and  who  has  one  son;  and 
William  C,  a  lad  of  eleven  years  of  age.  Mrs. 
Moyers  has  one  son  by  her  first  marriage,  Charles 
H.  Jenkins,  who  is  a  merchant  at  Ozark,  and  who 
is  married  and  has  two  children.  Mr.  Moyers 
bought  one  hundred  acres  of  land  for  §700  in 
1865,  and  since  then  has  added  to  it  seventy-five 


acres  more.  Of  this  farm,  which  is  a  very  fine  one, 
one  hundred  acres  are  under  a  high  state  of  cul- 
tivation, and  on  it  he  carries  on  general  farming, 
or,  in  better  words,  has  it  carried  on  for  him,  as 
he  is  an  invalid,  troubled  with  heart  disease.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Cumberl.and  Presbyterian 
Church,  as  is  also  his  wife.  He  has  been  of  some 
little  service  to  his  fellow-men,  having  served  as 
Constable  and  as  School  Director.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Republican. 


iKs^ENRY  W.  WELLMAN.  a  farmer  living  on 
i|rjj;  section  13,  township  13,  range  6,  east,  is  a 
1^^  son  of  Ernest  Frederick  Wellman,  who  was 
(^  born  in  Germany.  In  his  native  country 
he  received  a  fair  education  and  learned  the 
trade  of  a  blacksmith.  When  twenty  j'ears  old  he 
was  married  in  Germany  to  Elizabeth  Linthorst, 
and  desiring  to  improve  his  condition  with  re- 
spect to  worldly  possessions,  at  twenty-three 
yeai-s  of  age  he  came  to  the  United  States, 
leaving  his  family  behind.  After  a  voj^age  of 
six  weeks  he  landed  in  New  Orleans,  where  he 
immediatelj-  commenced  to  work  at  his  trade  and 
continued  to  labor  there  for  twelve  months.  He 
was  an  industrious  worker  and  economical  with 
his  earnings,  and  by  these  means  saved  some  money. 
By  that  time,  however,  he  was  taken  sick  with  the 
yellow  fever,  and  before  he  recovered  his  mone}- 
had  been  spent  and  he  was  in  debt  besides. 

As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  do  so,  Mr.  Wellman 
again  began  work  and  managed  to  pay  up  his 
debts.  His  experience  in  New  Orleans  having 
been  somewhat  discouraging,  he  worked  his  way 
up  to  Cincinnati  and  found  employment  there. 
This,  he  believed,  would  prove  a  more  healthy  lo- 
cality, and  for  some  time  he  remained  in  Cincin- 
nati and  in  Hamilton  County,  and  again  managed 
to  save  some  monej-  out  of  what  he  earned.  Thus 
he  spent  two  years  in  this  country,  and  notwith- 
standing his  unfortunate  experiences  in  New  Or- 
leans, he  concluded  to  make  the  United  States  his 


311 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


home,  iiiifl  hiiviiig  saved  money  enougli  he  sent 
for  his  family  from  tiie  Old  Country.  They  were 
only  awaitiiifi;  the  summons  to  come  and  lost  no 
time  in  getting  started.  They  were  .seven  weeks 
making  the  voyage  in  a. sailing- vessel,  but  at  length 
reached  this  country  and  joined  the  husband  and 
father  in  Hamilton  County,  Ohio.  They  remained 
in  that  county',  he  working  at  his  trade  for  about 
two  yeai's,  and  then  removed  to  Auglaize  County, 
Ohio,  where  he  continued  to  work  at  his  trade, 
and  where  he  also  bought  a  farm.  This  placccon- 
tained  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  acres,  and  a 
part  of  it  cost  him  $2.5<l  peracre.  It  was  a  heavily 
timbered  tract,  and  lie  cut  down  some  of  the  tim- 
ber and  made  it  into  rails,  but  uiucli  of  it  he 
burned  to  get  it  out  of  the  way. 

After  remaining  there  twenty-live  years,  mak- 
ing a  good  and  comfortable  home,  Mr.  Wellraan 
sold  the  land  for  ^24  per  acre  and  removed  to 
Pope  County,  111.  lie  first  came  to  this  State  in 
18(51,  looked  the  ground  over,  and  lieing  pleased 
with  the  county  bought  a  tract  of  land.  The  fam- 
ily moved  to  this  new  home  in  1865,  and  took 
possession  of  a  little  log  house  which  was  on  the 
premises  when  bought.  This  farm  has  since  then 
remained  in  the  family  and  now  belongs  to  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  It  consists  of  three  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  and  is  a  good  farm.  The  first 
de.ath  in  the  farailj^  that  of  the  mother,  occurred 
in  1878,  and  the  father  died  in  1890,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-nine.  He  had  always  been  a  hard  work- 
ing, industrious  man,  was  full  of  enterprise,  and 
was  highly  respected  by  his  neighbors  and  friends. 
To  their  marriage  there  were  born  six  children: 
Ernest  Frederick,  who  died  a  child  in  Germany; 
Nancy,  who  was  born  in  Germany,  and  who  is 
now  the  wife  of  II.  II.  Fleddcrjohan,  and  living 
in  Ohio;  Henry,  who  enlisted  in  the  arm}'  of  the 
Union  during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  and  died 
in  the  service;  Elizabeth,  who  died  in  Ohio;  Fred- 
erick, who  enlisted  in  the  army  and  died  within 
an  hour  of    his   brother  Henry;  and   Henry  W., 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Ohio  March  15,  1849. 
He  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  and  attended  school 
more  or  less  until  he  was  sixteen  years  old.  He 
remained  at  home  working  for  his  father  until  he 
was    twenty    j'cars    old,   when   he  was   married  to 


Lizzie  Wuster,  who  was  born  of  German  parents 
in  Louisville,  Iv^'.,  where  her  people  settled  forty- 
five  years  ago.  They  removed  to  the  same  town- 
ship in  which  Mr.  Wellman  now  lives  forty  years 
ago,  engaged  in  farming  and  lived  here  until  their 
death,  the  mother  dying  in  November,  1880,  and 
the  father  in  January,  1889.  Mr.  Wellman,  after 
his  marriage,  remained  on  the  old  homestead  in 
accordance  with  an  agreement  w'ith  liis  father. 
After  the  death  of  his  mother,  his  father  be- 
ing old  and  feeble,  he  took  the  entire  manage- 
ment of  the  farm,  which  he  now  owns.  He  has 
always  lived  at  the  same  place,  and  he  has  so  im- 
proved the  farm  that  it  is  now  one  of  the  best  in 
the  county.  It  comprises  three  hundred  acres  of 
land,  has  upon  it  a  good  house  and  outbuild- 
ings and  is  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Wellman  iiave  had  nine  children:  Ernest 
Frederick,  who  died  in  infancy;  Catherine  Min- 
nie, deceased;  Christiana  Mary,  at  home;  Annie 
Mary,  at  home;  Frederick  William,  who  died 
in  infancy;  John  H.,  William  August,  George 
August  and  Henry  E.,  at  home.  Mr.  Wellman 
is  a  thorough  believer  in  the  necessity  of  the 
education  of  youth  and  is  giving  his  children 
the  best  education  that  circumstances  will  per- 
mit. He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  a 
member  of  the  order  of  Knights  of  Honor.  Both 
he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  Mr.  AVellman  is  a  successful  farmer,  a 
good  citizen,  and  is  well  and  favorably  known  for 
mauv  miles  aiound. 


|-^+^[ 


RS.  MARY  E.  CHAPMAN,  widow  of  D. 
C.  Chapman,  was  born  in  Johnson  County, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  Pleasant  Rose  and . 
Mary  Ann  Ellis,  his  wife.  The  former 
was  a  native  of  Pope  County,  111.,  and  so  also  wa- 
his  wife.  The  fatiier  of  Pleasant  Rose  w.<is  Kil- 
mund  Rose,  of  Virginia,  who  came  to  the  Territory 
of  Illinois  prior  to  1812,  as  Pleasant  Rose  was  born 
here  in  that  year.     When  Pleasant  was  seven  year.^ 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


ilo 


old  his  fathei-  died,  in  the  prime  of  life,  leaving 
liis  wife,  this  one  son  and  one  daughter.  He  was 
a  farmer  in  comfortable  circumstances.  His  widow 
lived  to  a  good  old  age.  The  maternal  grandfather 
I'f  Mrs.  Chapman  was  from  Ireland,  as  was  also  his 
wife.  At  first,  on  coming  to  the  United  States  from 
their  native  land,  they  settled  in  North  Carolina, 
and  afterward,  and  while  Illinois  was  still  a  Terri- 
tory', came  to  Illinois.  He  died  when  3-et  compar- 
ativelj'  a  yoving  man,  but  his  widow  lived  to  be 
\  eiy  old. 

Mrs.  Chapman  had  but  limited  education,  but  it 
uas  the  best  the  county  schools  afforded  in  her 
youth.  She  was  married  August  21,  1853,  in  her 
lighteenth  .year,  her  husband  being  then  twenty- 
live  3'ears  old.  They  at  once  settled  on  a  farm 
which  he  had  just  purchased  of  one  hundred  and 
-ixty  acres,  with  small  improvements  on  it,  con- 
sisting of  a  log  house  and  barn,  and  twentj^-five 
i(  res  cleared.  In  the  course  of  ten  3-ears  he 
linught  of  the  Government  three  hundred  and 
uirly  acres  more,  some  at  951.25  per  acre,  and  some 
at  a  "bit"  per  acre.  Some  of  this  laud  was  sold  off, 
and  Mrs.  Chapman  now  owns  three  hundred  and 
ninety-six  acres.  Mr.  Chapman  died  December  7, 
1888,  at  the  age  of  sixty  years.  They  had  buried 
one  daughter,  Sidnej-  Ann,  wife  of  Alonzo  Benson, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  thirty  years,  leaving  four 
children.  Mrs.  Chapman  has  seven  children,  viz: 
P.  T.,  a  banker  of  Vienna,  who  has  three  children; 
J.  C,  a  farmer  of  Vienna,  who  has  two  children; 
D.  L.,  a  merchant  of  Vienna,  who  has  one  son; 
Mary  E.,  wife  of  James  N.  Benson,  a  farmer  of 
Tunnel  Hill  Township,  and  who  has  two  children; 
Ida  C,  wife  of  D.  W.  Whittenberg;  Estella  B.,  a 
young  lady  at  home;  and  Charles  H.,  a  3'outh  of 
fifteen  also  at  home.  All  these  children  have  been 
well  educated  and  some  of  them  have  attended  col- 
lege.    P.  T.  is  a  graduate  of  McKendree   College. 

Mr.  Chapman  was  Sheriff  of  the  county  two  and 
a-half  terms,  being  twice  elected,  and  appointed 
once  to  fill  a  vacancy.  He  was  a  Republican  and 
a  Royal  Arch  Mason.  He  and  his  wife  started 
out  in  life  without  means,  and  he  left  his  family 
in  comfortable  circumstances.  He  served  as  team- 
ster in  the  Mexican  War,  going  out  at  nineteen 
j-ears  of  age.     He  was  for  a  few  years  engaged  in 


merchandising  and  had  a  cotton  press  of  his  own 
on  the  present  farm.  Mrs.  Chapman  is  a  member 
of  the  Prcsbj^terian  Church,  and  though  Mr.  Chap- 
man was  not  a  member  of  any  church,  yet  he  was 
a  Christian  and  was  well  thought  of  by  his  neigh- 
bors and  fellow-citizens.  Mrs.  Chapman  is  living 
on  the  farm,  and  with  the  aid  of  her  sons  is  carry- 
ing on  general  farming.  She  is  a  most  estimable 
lad}',  and  enjoys  the  esteem  of  all. 


^^NDREW  JACKSON  FERN  is  one  of  the 
^      ll    native-born  sons  of  Johnson  County  who 
has   devoted   himself   to  farming,  and  has 
_  contributed   his  quota  to  promoting  the 

agricultural  interests  of  this  section  of  the  State. 
He  has  a  good-sized,  well-improved  farm,  a  part  of 
which  lies  in  Bloomfleld  Township,  where  he 
makes  his  home,  and  the  remainder  in  Simpson 
Township,  which  is  his  birthplace.  He  was  born 
December  25,  1847,  to  Lawrence  W.  and  Ellen 
Fern,  who  are  represented  elsewhere  in  this  work. 
Our  subject  grew  to  man's  estate  in  his  native 
township,  and  was  educated  in  its  pioneer  schools. 
The  first  one  that  he  attended  was  taught  in  a  log 
house  that  was  furnished  in  the  most  primitive 
manner-,  the  seats  being  made  by  splitting  logs, 
hewing  one  side  smooth,  and  inserting  wooden  pins 
for  legs,  there  being  no  backs  to  the  seats  or  desks 
in  front.  A  plank,  supported  b}'  wooden  pins  in 
the  wall,  served  as  a  writing  desk  for  the  older 
pupils.  There  were  no  railways  here  in  his  youth, 
and  Metropolis  was  the  principal  market.  Deer 
and  wild  turkej's,  as  well  as  other  game,  were 
common. 

Mr.  Fern  resided  with  his  parents  until  lie  at- 
tained his  majority,  and  then  began  farming  for 
himself,  his  father  giving  him  some  land,  and  he 
bought  more  in  his  native  township.  Three  years 
later  he  traded  that  property  for  the  farm  which 
he  now  owns  and  manages  in  the  same  township. 
He  lived  in  tiiat  township  until  1879,  and  then 
took  up  his  residence  across  the  line  in  Bloomfleld 


316 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


Township,  whore  sixty  acres  of  his  land  arc  sit- 
uated, the  remainder  comprising  one  iiundred  and 
ninety  acres,  and  tl>e  wliole  is  a  very  desirable, 
well-cultivated,  productive  farm. 

In  1867,  Mr.  Kern  took  an  important  step  in 
life,  which  has  much  enhanced  his  comfort,  happi- 
ness and  prosperity,  as  in  that  3'ear  he  married 
Miss  Viola,  a  daughter  of  Reed  and  Eliza  (Thomas) 
Smoot,  who  were  natives  of  Missouri,  while  she  is 
a  native  of  Johnson  County.  Her  father  was  a 
young  man  when  he  came  Eastward  in  1846  and 
cast  in  his  lot  with  the  pioneers  who  had  pre- 
ceded him  in  this  county,  selecting  a  tract  of 
land  in  Simpson  Township.  He  built  a  log  house, 
in  which  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Fern,  was  born  subse- 
quently, and  in  the  busy  years  that  followed  he 
cleared  a  farm  from  the  wilderness,  which  was  his 
home  until  he  died.  His  widow  is  still  living  at  a 
venerable  age  in  Simpson  Township. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fern  are  blessed  with  eight  chil- 
dren, whose  names  are  Eliza  A.,  James  F.,  Will- 
iam R.,  Andrew  J.,  Martin  L.,  Sarah  E.,  Delia  G. 
and  Levi  Logan.  Our  subject  and  his  family  are 
exemplary  members  of  the  ]}aptist  Church,  and 
their  many  good  traits  have  won  for  them  the 
thorougli  respect  and  esteem  of  their  neighbors  and 
all  who  know  them.  Mr.  Fern  has  decided  polit- 
ical views  and  champions  the  People's  party  and 
Prohibition  as  the  causes  most  worthy  of  support. 


i>-^^<i 


¥^  '^;ILL1AM  W.  STorT,  Superintendent  of 
the  Jolinson  Count}--  Infirmaiy,  lives  in 
Elvira  Township,  and  was  born  in  Wash- 
ington County,  Ind.,  August  4,  1833.  His  fatlier, 
John  Stout,  was  born  in  Iredell  County,  N.  C, 
and  his  father,  Joseph  Stout,  was  also  born  in 
North  Carolina.  He  was  of  Dutcli  ancestry',  was 
reared  and  married  in  his  native  State,  and  was 
one  of  a  number  of  families  that  removed 
from  that  State  to  the  Territory  of  Indiana,  the 
removal  being  made  overland  wilii  teams,  and 
many  of  them  had  carts,    the  wheels  of  which  had 


wooden  tires.  Joseph  Stout  located  in  Washing- 
ton County,  being  among  the  earliest  settlers  in 
tliat  part  of  the  State,  Indiana  at  that  time  being 
thickly  populated  b^'  the  Indians.  These  immi- 
grants from  North  Carolina  erected  a  fort  to  which 
they  could  repair  in  case  of  an  attack  by  the  red 
men.  Mr.  Stout  purchased  a  tract  of  timber  land 
nine  miles  from  Salem,  cleared  up  a  farm  and  re- 
sided on  the  same  some  years,  being  a  resident 
of  the  county  until  his  death.  The  maiden  nanif 
of  his  wife  was  Nancy  Underwood,  of.  North  Car- 
olina, and  she  died  in  Washington  Count3%  Ind. 
John  Stout  was  nine  years  old  at  the  time  of 
the  removal  from  North  Carolina  to  Indiana,  and 
he  was  reared  and  married  in  this  latter  State.  He 
was  a  natural  mechanic,  learned  the  trade  of  a  mill- 
wright, and  followed  his  trade,  engaging  some  in 
carpentering  and  general  wood-working.  He  passed 
the  last  years  of  his  life  in  Washington  County, 
Ind.,  dying  in  1850,  aged  forty-five  3'ears.  His 
wife  was  Miss  Clarkey  Low,  a  native  of  North  Car- 
olina, and  a  daughter  of  George  and  Tabitha  (Bag- 
ley)  Low,  both  natives  of  the  same  State.  She 
died  in  1854,  aged  fifty  3-ears,  having  reared  seven 
children. 

William  W.  Stout  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  county,  and  began  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  tanner,  continuing 
to  work  at  his  apprenticeship  until  twentj^-one 
years  old.  In  1855  he  went  to  Keokuk,  Iowa,  b.v 
steamer,  and  thence  by  team  to  Winterset.  At  that 
time  tliere  was  not  a  mile  of  railroad  in  the  State, 
and  wild  game  of  all  kinds  abounded  in  the  woods 
in  large  numbers.  In  1856  he  removed  to  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Kansas,  stopping  first  at  Leavenworth, 
then  at  Lawrence  and  finally  at  Emporia.  In  the 
autumn  he  returned  to  Iowa,  and  remained  there 
until  the  fall  of  1857,  when  he  returned  to  Indi- 
ana and  engaged  in  farming  in  Washington  County, 
later  moving  to  Jackson  and  Scott  Counties,  and  re- 
maining in  that  State  until  1870,  when  he  removed 
to  .lohnson  County,  III.,  purchasing  land  in  Elvira 
Township. 

In  1872  our  subject  w.-vs  chosen  Superintendent 
of  the  Johnson  County  Infirmarj',  and  has  occupied 
that  position  ever  since.  He  was  married  in  1858 
to    Ann    .1.   Boomer,  a  native  of    Indiana,  and    a 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIKW. 


317 


daughter  of  Benjamin  T.  Boomer,  who  bore  him 
four  children,  namely:  S.  Oscar,  George  A.,  Lou- 
isa .1.  and  Wellington.  Tlie^-  are  botli  members  of 
the  Cliristian  Cliurch.  Roth  the  grandfathers,  pa- 
ternal and  maternal,  of  Mv.  Stout  fought  in  the  Rev- 
olutionary War,  his  maternal  grandfather  fighting 
in  the  battle  of  Brandywine.  Our  subject  is  well 
known  throughout  this  localit^^  for  his  character- 
istic traits  of  manliness,  honesty  and  perseverance. 


ci^^-HOMAS  B.  REYNOLDS  was  born  on  his 
L(^\  pi'ssent  farm  of  four  hundred  acres  iu  section 
\^  .33,  Burnside  Township, .Johnson  County,  in 
1M.")"2.  His  father,  Wesley  Reynolds,  was  born  in 
\'ienna  Township,  January  13,  1822.  He  was  a 
son  of  Ivj'  Rej-nolds,  who  was  born  in  North  Car- 
olina, and  whose  wife  was  Rebecca  Kenned^',  a  na- 
tive of  Tennessee.  They  came  to  Illinois  at  an 
early  day.  Ivy  Reynolds,  grandfather  of  Thomas 
B.,  came  to  this  part  of  Illinois  about  1819  from 
his  native  State,  and  at  that  time  was  an  unmar- 
ried man,  but  it  w.as  not  long  before  he  chose  a  wife. 
He  lived  in  Vienna  man^"^  J'cars,  where  he  was  a 
.Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  a  farmer  in  later  3'ears. 
About  1850  he  bought  a  farm  in  this  township, 
and  before  his  death  he  owned  some  five  hundred 
acres  of  land.  He  was  married  twice,  and  by  his 
first  wife  had  two  children  who  reached  maturity: 
Wesley,  father  of  Thomas  B.,  and  Mar3'  Ann,  wife 
of  Baswell  Gra}-.  B3^  his  second  wife  he  had  three 
Sons  and  two  daughters,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
eightj-'four  j'ears,  about  1877,  leaving  an  estate  of 
almost  §4,000,  mostl_y  in  landed  possessions.  He 
was  a  well-informed  man,  and  gave  his  children 
the  best  education  possible  at  the  time.  Weslej' 
Reynolds  lived  at  home  until  his  marriage,  June 
29,  1842,  to  Miss  Sidne3'  C.  Simpson,  b^-  whom  he 
had  four  sons  and  one  daughter,  all  of  whom  have 
died  except  Thomas  B.  and  a  sister,  Marj',  who  is 
the  wife  of  Charles  A.  Bain,  of  Johnson  County. 
Wesley  Reynolds  was  afterward  married  to  Frances 
Heslet  Bain,  daughter  of  John  and  Martha  (Brooks) 


Bain,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  North  Caro- 
lina and  residents  of  Kentucky,  where  Mrs.  Rey- 
nolds was  born  March  22,  1819.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bain  removed  to  Illinois  in  the  fall  of  1819  with 
their  own  team,  wagon  and  stock,  and  were  then 
in  comfortable  circumstances.  The  mother  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy,  leaving  three  sons  and  four 
daughters,  of  whom  Mrs.  Re^'nolds  is  next  to  the 
j-oungest.  The  father  died  on  his  farm  in  his 
eightieth  year.  Mrs.  Re^-nolds  has  a  brother  and 
three  sisters  still  living,  who  are  the  onl^'  surviv- 
ing members  of  the  famil}'.  She  is  now  a  widow, 
her  husband  having  died  when  sixtj'-four  years 
of  age.  He  left  an  estate  of  eighty  acres  of  land, 
upon  which  was  the  fine  brick  house  in  which  Mr. 
Reynolds  and  his  stepmother  now  reside.  He 
was  a  farmer  all  his  life,  and  much  of  the  time  a 
merchant  and  tobacco  dealer,  and  also  held  the  po- 
sition of  Postmaster  for  about  twenty  years.  He 
was  at  one  time  worth  over  $60,000,  but  through 
the  revulsions  of  the  war  lost  heavily,  and  left 
but  a  moderate  fortune.  He  was  a  stanch  and  ac- 
tive Republican  up  to  within  a  few  years  of  his 
death,  when  he  espoused  the  temperance  cause,  and 
was  afterward  a  Prohibitionist.  He  was  a  Master 
Mason,  and  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
in  which  he  was  an  active  worker  for  some  time. 
He  was  oflfered  the  position  of  Colonel  in  the 
Thirty-first  Regiment,  but  his  business  was  of  such 
importance  that  he  thought  he  could  be  more  use- 
ful at  home  in  furnishing  means  and  men  to  the 
cause,  and  in  supporting  the  families  of  volun- 
teers. 

Thomas  B.  Re3'nolds  was  reared  on  the  farm  of 
his  father,  and  secured  a  good  common-school  ed- 
ucation, remaining  at  home  helping  his  father  un- 
til be  attained  his  majority,  when  lie  became  a 
clerk  in  a  store  at  New  Burnside.  He  was  first 
married  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  3'ears  to  Marcy 
C.  Graham,  daughter  of  J.  F.  Graham,  who  died 
within  one  and  a-half  yeai-s  after  their  union, 
leaving  an  infant  daughter,  who  lived  but  seven 
months.  Mr.  Reynolds  married  the  second  time. 
May  2,  1886,  Alice  A.  Walker,  daughter  of  Will- 
iam B.  and  Kliza  (Iluggins)  Walker,  both  natives 
of  Kentucky,  whence  thev  came  to  Illinois  in  1834. 
The  parents  of  Mrs.  Reynolds  were  married  in  lUi- 


318 


PORTRAIT  AND    BlOGRArillCAL   REVIEW. 


nois  and  arc  farmers  in  Missouri.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Reynolds  have  four  children,  three  sous  and  one 
daughter:  Robert  M.,  born  April  8,  1887;  Mary  J., 
born  August  22,  1888,  Frank  Weslej',  two  years 
old;  and  Tliomas  J^eWitt,  who  was  born  December 
24,  1892.  Mr.  Reynolds  was  Deputy'  Assessor  for 
six  years,  and  County  Treasurer  and  Assessor  for 
four  years.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  is 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternitj'.  B()th  he  and 
his  wife  are  Metliodists,  as  is  also  the  latter 's 
mother,  now  seventy-three  j'ears  of  age. 


^^EORGE  W.  STONE,  one  of  the  prominent 
III  |_^  farmers  of  Pope  County,  has  resided  on  his 
\\^^  present  farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty- 
three  acres  on  section  28,  township  11,  since  186G. 
He  was  born  in  Hutler  County,  K}'.,  in  1853,  and 
is  a  son  of  Silas  II.  Stone,  of  North  Carolina,  who 
removed  to  Pope  Countj',  111.,  in  the  spring  of 
1866,  coming  through  with  his  horse,  ox-teams  and 
covered  w.agons,  and  bringing  with  him  his  wife 
and  five  children.  His  father,  James  Stone,  was  a 
Revolutionar}'  soldier  and  a  farmer  by  occupation 
and  died  in  1811,  leaving  a  family  of  three  sons 
and  three  daughters,  of  whom  Silas  was  the  second 
child  and  first  son.  Silas  Stone  was  born  in  180.5, 
and  was  a  soldier  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  serving, 
however,  only  a  few  months.  He  married  Miss 
Miriam  Gregory,  who  bore  him  three  sons  and 
three  daughters,  and  died  in  Kentucky  when  forty 
years  of  age,  and  some  time  after  he  was  niarried  to 
Frances  F.  (Jrissom,  of  Kentucky,  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Cassandra  (Parker)  Grissom. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  settled  on  section  21, 
township  12,  in  Pope  County,  on  an  improved 
farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  paying  therefor  $700. 
They  resided  there  until  their  death,  he  dying  in 
.June,  1882,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  leaving 
his  widow  with  five  children:  Marion  ,J..  a  farmer 
of  Missouri;  .Joel  E.,  also  of  Missouri;  George  W.; 
Emily  F.,  wife  of  John  Moyers,  of  Saline  County, 


III.;  and  L.  Marinda,  wife  of  A.  J.  Gossage,  a  far- 
mer of  the  vicinitj'.  They  buried  Sarah  at  five 
j'ears  of  age,  and  Henry  at  six,  children  of  our 
subject's  mother  by  her  first  husband,  and  Ellen, 
an  own  sister  of  our  subject.  He  has  living  at 
the  present  time  one  half-sister  by  his  father's 
first  marriage,  Marj%  wife  of  Joseph  Iludnall,  a 
farmer  of  Pope  County.  The  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject was  first  married  to  Leonidas  Taylor,  to  whom 
she  bore  two  sons  and  four  daughters,  and  died  in 
1882,  three  months  after  the  death  of  her  husband, 
aged  sixty-five  3'ears. 

George  W.  Stone  was  reared  upon  the  farm  to 
hard  labor,  his  parents  being  poor;  consequently'  he 
received  only  a  fair  education  in  the  subscription 
and  free  schools,  attending  twelve  months  and 
five  days  in  all.  Since  then  he  has  been  a  con- 
stant reader,  and  has  in  this  way  acquired  consid- 
erable knowledge  of  books  and  the  ways  of  the 
world.  He  was  married  on  the  twent^'-Brst 
anniversar3'-  of  his  birth,  September  2,  1874, 
to  Miss  Amelia  Welldemann,  daughter  of 
Charles  and  Louise  Welldemann,  who  came  over 
from  Prussia,  German^',  in  1854.  After  living 
here  for  a  time  they  became  farmers  in  good  cir- 
cumstances in  Pope  County.  Mrs.  Stone  is  the 
fifth  in  order  of  birth  of  seveu  living  children,  of 
whom  there  are  four  brothers  and  two  sisters. 
Immediately  after  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Stone  began  life  at  their  present  home,  but  in  an 
old  log  cabin,  and  since  then  they  have  erected 
their  present  good  and  substantial  hewed-log 
house.  At  first  they  had  two  hundred  acres  of 
land,  but  they  added  at  difl'erent  times  difl'erent 
amounts,  until  thev  had  three  hundred  and  ninety 
acres,  of  wiiich  he  has  deeded  to  his  brother  and 
sister  eighty-two  acres.  He  has  under  cultivation 
one  hundred  and  forty  acres,  and  is  carr3-ing  on 
diversified  farming  and  raising  some  good  all-pur- 
pose horses.  He  works  four  horses,  and  keeps  cat- 
tle, hogs  and  sheep. 

Our  subject  has  been  Justice  of  the  Peace,  but 
resigned,  and  is  now  School  Trustee.  He  is  not  a 
partisan,  but  votes  for  the  best  man,  and  with 
his  wife  works  faithfull3'  in  the  Baptist  Church. 
AH  the  children  are  living:  William  Henry,  sev- 
enteen 3'ears  old;    John,  aged  fifteen  3'ears;    Mary 


PORTRAIT  AND    BI0(;RAPI1ICAF.    REVIEW. 


319 


M.,  thirteen;  Charity,  eleven;  Rosetta,  nine;  Joel, 
six,  and  Marietta,  four.  They  are  giving  these 
children  the  best  education  possible.  Mr.  Stone 
has  two  brothers  and  two  sisters  and  the  mother  of 
his  wife  is  still  living  on  her  farm  in  Pope  County 
at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  Her  father  died  in 
August,  188G,  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventy-two , 
years. 


LONZO  G.  BENSON  was  born  in  Bloom- 
field  Township,  Johnson  County,  III.,  in 
1853.  He  is  a  son  of  James  M.  Benson, 
wlio  was  born  in  Sangamon  County,  111., 
in  1822,  and  lie  was  the  son  of  Charles  R.  Benson 
and  his  wife,  Polly  Riggin,  the  former  of  Kentucky, 
and  the  latter  of  Tennessee.  Thej-  came  from 
Kentucky  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Sangamon  County 
about  1821.  TI1C3',  however,  returned  to  Kentuck}* 
and  lived  there  some  eight  years,  wlien  they  again 
came  to  Illinois,  locating  this  time  in  Gallatin 
County,  where  they  bought  wild  land  and  made  a 
permanent  home.  At  this  home  Mrs.  Pollj-  (Rig- 
gin)  Benson  died  in  1838,  in  the  prime  of  life, 
leaving  six  children,  five  sons  and  one  daughter, 
of  whom  James  M.  was  the  eldest.  Charles  R. 
Benson  was  married  again,  and  by  his  second  wife 
he  had  two  daughters.  He  died  in  Missouri,  where 
he  had  gone  on  a  liunting  excursion,  in  18.50,  aged 
aljout  sixty  years.  As  stated  before,  James  M.  is 
the  eldest  of  the  family.  The  next  eldest  is  An- 
drew II.,  living  near  Shawneetown,  III.;  next  is 
Ignatius  M.,  of  BloomHeld  Township;  John  F.,  who 
went  to  Oregon  in  1853  to  engage  in  gold  mining, 
but  is  now  a  farmer  of  that  State;  Dr.  V.  S.,  of 
Hamilton  County;  Mary  Weber,  who  died  in  Gal- 
latin County,  111.;   and  Charles  B. 

The  latter  volunteered  to  defend  the  flag  of  his 
country  in  the  year  18G2,  from  Vienna,  going  out 
in  Conjpany  I,  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois 
Infantry.  He  lost  his  left  arm  and  was  wounded 
in  his  side  at  Guntowu,  Miss.,  and  died  at  Annap- 
olis, Md..  in  1804,  of  elironic  diarrha-a,  contracted 


ill  til'-  pii-"ii  |iiii  at  Andei-sonville.  He  was  con- 
fined tliei'c  uiany  months  and  soon  after  his  relea.se 
by  exchange  he  died,  at  the  age  of  about  thirty 
years.  He  left  a  wife  and  three  children.  James 
M.,  the  father  of  Alonzo  G.,  was  a  soldier  from 
Johnson  County,  enlisting  in  Company  K,  Sixtieth 
Illinois  Infantry,  being  elected  Orderly-Sergeant 
of  the  company  at  the  time  of  its  organization.  He 
was  afterward  promoted  to  beFirst  Lieutenant  and 
was  most  of  the  time  in  command  of  the  compa- 
ny, Capt.  (joddard  being  generally  in  poor  health. 
AA^'liile  he  was  not  wounded  yet,  he  was  broken 
down  in  health  from  exposure,  and  came  home  af- 
ter having  served  one  and  a-iialf  3-ears. 

The  wife  of  James  M.  Benson,  and  mother  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  Miss  Celinda  Slack, 
of  Johnson  County,  and  daughter  of  William  and 
Mary  (Phinney)  Slack.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benson  were 
married  about  1848  and  lived  until  1851  in  Galla- 
tin County,  when  thej-  moved  to  their  present 
home  in  Bloomfield  Township,  Johnson  County. 
They  have  buried  nine  children,  all  of  whom  died 
either  in  infane3-  or  early  childhood,  and  also  a 
daughter,  Lizzie,  who  died  in  January,  1888,  in 
her  twenty-eighth  year.  Those  living  are  as  fol- 
lows: Dr.  N.  J.  Benson,  of  Anna,  III.,  a  hospital 
physician;  Maggie,  wife  of  Col.  John  P.  Carson,  of 
Johnson  County,  a  farmer;  James  M.;  and  James 
N.,  a  farmer  of  Tunnel  Hill  Township.  James  ^I. 
is  now  in  his  seventy-first  year  and  his  wife  is  in 
her  sixty-eighth  year.  The^'  are  in  fair  health  for 
their  age  and  are  living  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances. They  have  given  their  children  the  best 
education  within  their  power,  though  they  can 
leave  them  but  little  property. 

Alonzo  G.  Benson,  beside  the  education  he  re- 
ceived in  common  schools,  attended  both  Ewing 
and  McKendree  Colleges,  and  taught  school  nine 
terms,  beginning  at  twent3'-one  years  of  age,  some 
of  the  time  teaching  eight  months  per  year.  He 
remained  ^t  home  with  his  parents  until  his  mar- 
riage. April  14,  1878,  to  Miss  Sydney  A.  Chap- 
man, of  Johnson  County,  and  daughter  of  Daniel 
C.  and  Mary  (Rose)  Chapman.  After  living  a 
short  time  in  Bloomfield  Township  they  removed 
to  their  present  home  and  farm  in  September,  1878. 
Here  he   bought  forty  acres  for  5525,  and  later  he 


320 


PORTRAIT  ANT)  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


added  to  it,  until  now  lie  has  one  liundred  and  fif- 
teen acres,  all  choice  and  tillable  land.  He  built 
his  present  fine,  large  two-stor3'  frame  house  in 
1883;  it  is  18x3G  feet  in  size  and  has  an  L  14x24 
feet.  This  hojiisc  stands  on  a  fine  site  and  com- 
mands a  view  of  a  beautiful  landscape,  and  is  one 
of  the  best  houses  in  the  county. 

Mr.  Benson  |)lanned  and  prepared  a  pleasant 
home  and  was  properly  and  justly  proud  of  it, 
but  his  hopes  of  happiness  therein  were  disap- 
pointed, as  his  wife  died  August  12,  1888,  aged  but 
thirty  3'ears.  She  left  him  four  children,  two  sons 
and  two  daughters,  viz:  Eva  A.,  fourteen  years 
old;  Arthur  C,  twelve;  .John  S.,  ten;  and  Mary  C, 
seven.  Of  these  children  their  father  is  justly 
proud,  for  they  are  both  intelligent  and  good.  He 
is  keeping  them  in  school  in  order  that  they  may 
be  well  fitted  for  such  duties  in  life  as  may  fall  to 
them  to  jjerform.  He  carries  on  general  farming, 
raising  wheat  and  corn,  oats  and  rye.  He  keeps 
from  six  to  eight  horses  and  a  few  cattle,  sheep  and 
hogs,  and  sells  a  little  of  all  his  products  except 
corn.  He  is  a  Master  Mason  and  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  .Episcopal  Church,  and  his  wife  was  a 
member  of  tliiscluirch  too  until  her  death.  In  poli- 
tics, Mr.  Benson  is  au  unswerving  Republican,  and 
has  the  highest  esteem  of  his  neighbors  and  friends. 


eALEB  P.  TUNE  is  one  of  the  extensive  and 
progressive  farmers  of  township  13,  range 
5,  his  homestead  comprising  three  hundred 
acres  on  section  25.  In  addition  to  carrying  on 
general  farming,  he  is  largely  interested  in  raising 
horses,  mules,  cattle  and  hogs.  He  is  one  of  the 
many  citizens  of  this  county  who  have  reached 
prosperity  and  an  influential  position  among  their 
fellow-men  entirely  through  their  own  efforts. 
Commencing  without  anything  except  a  good 
constitution  and  willing  hands,  he  has  hewed  out 
his  own  way,  has  steadily  overcome  the  obstacles 
in   his  path   one   by   one,  has   climbed  the  hill  of 


success,  and  can  look  back  over  the  vantjuished 
years  of  effort  with  a  feeling  of  satisfaction  that 
he  has  pressed  thus  bravely  foi'ward,  undaunted 
by  the  difficulties  he  encoinitered. 

Mr.  Tune  was  born  in  Bedford  County,  Tenii., 
February  8,  1838,  and  is  the  son  of  .lohn  and 
Mary  Tune,  botii  natives  of  the  Old  Dominion. 
The  father  of  the  former,  William  Time,  was  also 
a  native  of  Virginia,  and  owned  considerable  prop- 
erty' in  that  State.  .Tohn  Tune  removed  to  Ten- 
nessee in  an  early  day,  and  was  one  of  the  leading 
farmers  of  Bedford  County  for  many  years.  He 
owned  two  hundred  acres  of  land,  on  whicii  he 
engaged  in  general  agricultural  pursuit-s,  and 
there  reared  his  large  family  of  fifteen  children, 
eight  of  whom  were  sons  and  seven  daughters, 
and  all  of  whom  grew  to  mature  years.  William 
Tune  was  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  served  until 
the  end  of  that  conflict  with  the  Mother  Country. 
He  died  in  Tennessee  in  1882,  at  the  age  of 
uinet3'-one  years.  His  wife  had  departed  this  life 
many  years  previously,  at  the  age  of  sixty  years. 

In  his  native  State,  Mr.  Tune  attended  in  liis 
boyhood  days  the  primitive  log  schoolhouse.  His 
privileges  in  an  educational  way  were  not  exten- 
sive, he  having  attended  school  not  more  than  a 
year  altogether.  He  remained  with  his  parents 
until  reaching  the  age  of  twenty-two  years,  when 
he  considered  it  time  for  him  to  branch  out  for 
himself.  Coming  to  Illinois,  he  purchased  a  tract 
of  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Pope  County,  and  has 
since  that  time  engaged  continuously  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  He  has  been  very  successful  as  a 
farmer,  and  the  fact  that  he  is  a  i)rogressive  one  is 
shown  by  the  thrifty  and  neat  appearance  of  the 
farm-yard,  and  the  various  buildings  on  the  place. 
From  time  to  time,  as  his  financial  resources  in- 
creased, he  added  to  his  first  small  farm,  until  he 
is  now  the  owner  of  three  hundred  acres,  which 
are  thoroughly  improved  and  form  a  valuable 
farm. 

In  this  county  on  March  20.  1877,  Mr.  Tune 
and  Theodocie  Dixon  were  united  in  marriage. 
Mrs.  Tune's  birth  occurred  in  October,  1858,  her 
father  being  a  native  of  Kentucky,  while  her  mo- 
ther was  from  Tennessee.  Six  children  have 
blessed  the  heart  and  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tune, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


321 


in  order  of  birtli  as  follows:  Otis,  Mamie,  John, 
Allie,  ISIaiT  Ellen  and  Corby  Lewis.  The  family 
are  attendants  at,  and  the  older  ones  members  of, 
tiie  United  Baptist  Church  at  Columbus,  in  tlie 
work  of  which  tiiey  are  all  much  interested.  Mr. 
Tune  has  been  School  Director  for  four  years,  and 
for  three  years  has  been  Road  Supervisor.  He 
casts  his  ballot  in  favor  of  the  Republican  prin- 
ciples, and  has  always  tried  in  every  way  possible 
to  advance  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  this 
community. 


=^ 


•^^- 


RS.  MARY  M.  SHEERER,  widow  of  the 
late  David  E.  .Sheerer,  of  New  Burusidc, 
Johnson  County-,  was  born  in  Christian 
County,  K_y.,  and  is  the  daughter  of 
J.  and  Elizabeth  (Matthews)  Hester,  na- 
tives of  Virginia  and  Kentucky-,  respectively. 
Mr.  Hester  was  a  farmer  in  Kentucky,  as  were  his 
parents  before  him.  He  and  his  wife  came  to  Illi- 
nois in  the  year  1852,  locating  fii-st  in  Randolph 
County,  and  three  years  later  removing  to  John- 
son County,  where  they  are  still  living,  he  in  his 
seventy-fifth,  and  she  in  her  seventy -second  year. 
He  has  been  Sheriff  of  Johnson  County,  Marshal 
of  the  village  of  New  Burnside,  and  is  now  Cor- 
oner. They  have  buried  five  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, all  of  them  dying  in  }'Outh.  Thej'  have  now 
living  four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters, 
viz:  Samuel  W.,  of  Metropolis;  Mrs.  Mary  M. 
Sheerer;  Newton  J.,  a  farmer  of  Pulaski  County; 
and  Addie  Renfrow. 

The  lady  whose  name  heads  this  sketch  was  mar- 
ried when  eighteen  3'ears  of  age,  at  Vienna,  III.,  bj' 
Rev.  Samuel  Copeland,  to  David  E.  Sheerer,  who 
was  a  son  of  John  Sheerer, of  Johnson  Count}',  and 
of  (ierman  descent.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  .Sheerer  began 
married  life  near  CrealSpriugs,Williamson  County, 
where  the  former  kept  a  store  of  general  merchan- 
dise. They  lived  there  ten  years,  at  which  time  he 
moved  his  stock  of  goods  to  New  Burnside.  Mr. 
Sheerer   sold    his    farm    in    Williamson    County, 


bought  six  village  lots  in  New  Burnside,  and 
erected  the  present  large  frame  house  in  which 
Mrs.  Sheerer  resides,  and  a  store  building  now  oc- 
cupied as  a  clothing-store.  The  house  is  a  one 
and  one-half  story  structure,  but  one  of  the  best 
frame  buildings  in  the  village.  It  was  the  best  in 
the  place  in  1879,  when  it  was  erected,  and  the 
only  Gothic  cott.age  in  the  place.  Mr.  Sheerer 
died  June  14,  1887,  in  his  fifty-first  year,  leaving 
by  a  will  his  fine  property  to  his  widow  and  five 
children.  There  are  three  infant  children  de- 
ceased, and  there  arc  now  living  two  sons  and 
three  daughters,  viz:  Ida  A.,  wife  of  D.  E.  Clymer, 
wlio  has  one  son  and  two  daughters;  James  C, 
who  resides  at  Danville,  III.,  and  has  a  wife  and 
one  daughter;  Melissa  E.,  wife  of  O.  M.  Elrod, 
now  in  Tennessee;  Clara  V.,  a  3'Oung  lady  living 
at  home;  and  AValter  W.,  a  lad  of  twelve  years 
living  at  home  and  attending  school.  Mr.  Sheerer 
sought  no  office,  and  was  not  a  partisan  in  pol- 
itics. He  was  a  Notary  Public  for  many  years, 
and  also  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows.  He  and  his  wife  were  members  of 
the  Christian  Church,  in  which  the  latter  yet  re- 
tains her  membership.  The  children  have  enjoyed 
excellent  school  advantages  and  are  well  educated. 
Physically,  Mr.  Sheerer  was  not  a  strong  man,  but 
he  was  intelligent  and  energetic,  and  in  his  brief 
lifetime  accomplished  much  good,  leaving  not 
onlj-  a  competency'  to  his  widow  and  children,  but 
also  a  good  name,  which  is  to  them  worth  more 
than  riches. 


^^BEDIAIl  RICH,  who  owns  one  hundred 
:|  11  .acres  of  land  on  section  5,  of  Burnside 
^^^  Township,  was  born  near  Marion,  William- 
son County,  October  31,  1839.  His  father,  Obe- 
diah  Rich,  was  born  in  Kentucky  about  1798,  and 
died  in  Williamson  County,  III,  in  October,  1839, 
a  short  time  before  the  birth  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  He  w;is  a  boot  and  shoe  maker  by  tr.ade, 
and  followed  his  calling  most  of  his  life.     He  mar- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


ried  Miss  Polly,  a  ihiugliler  of  Thomas  and  Nancy 
(Fell)  C'rossland,  who  was  a  native  of  Noi-th  Caro- 
lina, where  her  fatlier  followed  fanning  for  an  oc- 
cupation, lie  removed  from  North  Carolina  to 
Middle  Tennes.see,  and  some  years  later  to  southern 
Illinois,  buying  a  farm  in  Williamson  County 
from  the  Government,  upon  which  he  and  his  wife 
lived  and  died,  he  at  eighty,  and  she  about  the 
same  age,  dying  a  short  time  before  him.  The^' 
had  ten  children,  all  of  whom  grew  to  maturity 
and  married  a  long  time  before  the  parents  died. 
The  latter,  who  married  in  Illinois  about  1830, 
went  to  Kentucky,  where  they  lived  until  183',). 
When  they  came  to  Illinois,  the  father  died  on 
their  journey,  in  Williamson  County,  at  the  home 
of  a  sister,  at  which  time  there  were  two  sons  and 
two  daughters  in  the  family,  and  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  added  to  the  number  a  few  weeks 
afterward. 

Mrs.  Rich  remained  a  widow,  kept  her  children 
together,  and  reared  them  to  maturity.  Her  hus- 
band had  served  in  the  Black  Hawk  Wm;  and  the 
laud  warrant  he  had  received  from  the  Govern- 
ment in  recognition  of  his  services  was  laid  out  on 
eighty  acres  of  land  three  miles  from  the  present 
home  of  our  subject.  On  this  tract  he  built  a 
small  log  cabin,  16x18  feet  in  dimensions  and  one 
story  high,  which  was  superseded  some  six  years 
later  by  a  good  hewed-log  house,  and  here  the 
family  was  reared.  All  left  home  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Obediah,  who  remained  with  his  mother 
until  his  marriage,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  \'ears, 
to  his  first  wife,  Mary  A.  Jane  Burns,  daughter  of 
.lohn  and  Anna  Burns,  after  which  his  mother 
made  her  home  with  him.  Obediah's  wife  died 
leaving  one  daughter,  Mary  Jane,  now  the  wife 
of  James  Alexander,  a  prominent  farmer  of  Burn- 
side  Township,  and  who  has  one  son  and  two 
daughters.  His  second  and  present  wife  was 
Rachael  Goddard,  daughter  of  John  and  Susan 
(Casey)  (loddard.  Just  prior  to  his  first  marriage 
Obediah  bought  eighty  acres  of  land  for'  about 
^100.  of  which  about  fifteen  acres  were  improved, 
with  a  fairly  good  house  thereon.  To  this  house 
he  took  his  first  wife,  and  his  heroic  mother  lived 
with  him  here  until  her  death,  wjiich  occurred  in 
February,  18G5,  aged  fifty-four  yeais;  she  left  the 


following  children:  Valentine,  a  farmer  of  Frank- 
lin County;  Polly  Ann,  widow  of  the  late  Will- 
iam Burns,  wii()  lives  at  Creal  .Sjirings;  and  Obe- 
diah. 

Mr.  Rich,  of  this  sketch,  sold  his  first  farm  at  a 
profit  and  since  then  has  owned  several  farms,  and 
moved  to  his  present  home  in  1880.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  about  three  years  spent  in  defense  of 
the  flag  of  his  couutr3',  he  has  been  a  farmer  all 
his  life.  He  enlisted  in  Company  G,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  in  October, 
1803,  under  Capt.  Wliiteaker,  but  spent  a  long 
time  in  the  hospital  in  Memphis,  Tenn.,  while  sick 
with  the  typhoid  fever  and  smallpox,  during 
which  time  he  was  six  weeks  unconscious,  hover- 
ing on  the  brink  of  the  grave.  After  sufficiently 
recovering  he  rejoined  his  regiment  and  was  in  six 
or  eight  battles,  including  the  memorable  siege  of 
Vicksburg.  lie  remembers  well,  and  was  a  great 
admirer  of,  Gen.  John  A.  Logan,  one  of  the  best 
and  bravest  of  the  Union  soldiers.  Soon  after  Mr. 
Rich  returned  to  his  wife  and  mother  the  latter 
died,  as  did  also  one  infaut  daughter  by  his  first 
wife  and  one  by  his  present  wife.  He  has  two 
children  living:  Valentine,  a  barber  at  New  Burn- 
side,  who  married  Minnie  Burton  and  has  one 
daughter,  and  John,  a  young  man  of  twenty- 
one  years,  who  is  at  home  on  the  farm,  and  both  ho 
and  his  brother  Valentine  are  considered  well-ed- 
ucated 3'oung  men.  Our  subject  is  a  Republican 
politically,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Baptist  Church. 


■JllOHN  W.SANDERS,  a   resident  of   Tunnel 

d'  I  Hill  Township,  Johnson  Count3-,  was  born 
!  in  Caroline  County,  Va.,May  30,1825.  His 
^.^J,'  father,  James  Sanders,  was  born  in  Scotland 
in  1790  and  came  to  the  United  States  a  j'oung 
man  of  twenty  with  an  elder  brother,  and  with  but 
little  capital.  He  served  in  the  War  of  1812,  and 
married  in  1815  Miss  Mary  Ann  Orrell,  who  was 
of  English  parentage.     Her  father  was  in  the  Rev- 


PORTRAIT  AND    niOClJAlMIK'AI.    UKVIKW. 


S23 


olutionary  War,  serving  in  the  ranks  of  the  patri- 
ots five  yeai-s.  He  was  a  successful  and  prosperous 
farmer,  and  by  his  two  wives  had  eight  children,  of 
whom  John  W.  was  the  second  child  born  to  the 
first  wife.  They  lived  in  Virginia  until  1835, 
when  thej-  lemoved  to  Middle  Tennessee,  where 
they  lived  three  years,  and  then  came  to  southern 
Illinois,  bringing  with  them  their  family  of  four 
children,  viz:  Frances,  who  became  the  wife  of 
William  Hopkins;  John  W.;  Adeline,  Mrs.  Risley 
Tilton,  who  died  at  Mt.  C'armel,  III.,  aged  forty- 
six  years;  and  Mary,  now  the  widow  of  William 
Malian,  and  living  in  Arkansas.  The  family  re- 
moved to  Illinois  by  means  of  their  own  horse 
team  and  covered  wagon,  in  the  same  mannerasthe 
journey  from  Virginia  to  Tennessee  was  performed, 
when  they  were  six  weeks  on  the  wa}\  The  jour- 
ney to  Illinois,  which  occupied  one  mouth,  was 
made  in  October  in  compan\-  with  the  Cherokee 
Indians,  who  were  then  going  to  their  home  in 
Indian  Territory. 

The  family  first  settled  near  where  Reynolds- 
burgh  was,  on  eighty  acres  of  land,  on  which  they 
lived  two  yeare.  Mr.  Sanders  then  sold  his  iin- 
proxement  and  took  up  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  near  by,  which  he  occupied  six  years.  He 
again  sold  his  improvements  and  bought  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-si-<;  and  one-half  acres  of  im- 
proved deeded  land,  upon  which  the  family  lived 
until  the  death  of  the  falher,  who  died  in  his  fifty- 
si.xth  3'ear,  in  February,  1817.  The  widow  then 
sold  this  farm  and  went  to  the  home  of  her  only 
son,  John  W.,  who  had  received  but  about  nine 
months' schooling,  three  of  which  were  spent  under 
Lawrence  W.  Fern  and  three  under  A.  J.  Ku\-ken- 
dall.  then  the  best  teachers  in  this  part  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Sanders  was  married  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years,  in  January,  1846,  to  Miss  Nancv  Harper, 
daughter  of  James  and  Rhoda  (Cross)  Harper,  who 
was  born  in  Tennessee  and  came  to  Illinois  in 
1838  with  the  Sanders  family.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  San- 
ders had  been  children  together  in  Tennessee,  and 
when  ten  years  old  the  former  removed  to  Tennes- 
see with  his  parents,  where  lie  lived  for  three 
years  and  then  came  to  Illinois.  Our  subject  and 
his  wife  iiegan  on  new  land,  upon  which  they  lived 
three  years,  and  then  sold  the  improvements  to  Mr. 


< .  iln  laini  being  now  occupied  by  C.  H. 
CuKIwcli.  Tliey  later  bought  an  improvement, 
paying  $175  for  the  clearing  of  ten  acres,  a  log 
cabin  and  a  barn,  and  here  the}-  have  lived  the  past 
fortyyears.  In  1853  Mr.  Sanders  bought  on  deed 
eighty  acres  at  $1.2.5  per  acre,  and  two  years  later 
I)urchased  one  hundred  and  three  acres  more  at 
twelve  and  one-half  cents  per  acre  under  the  Bitt 
Act, and  now  has  eightj'  acres  of  this  land  under  a 
good  state  of  cultivation,  with  hut  little  waste  or 
broken  land. 

AVith  the  exception  of  the  three  years  during 
which  he  was  in  the  service  of  the  Government 
aiding  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  oiir  subject  has 
lived  on  this  farm  since  1846.  He  was  a  member 
of  Company  II,  Fourteenth  Illinois  Cavalry,  hut 
was  transferred  afterward  to  Com|)an3-  G.  Going 
out  as  a  private  soldier,  he  was  mustered  out  of  ser- 
vice as  a  First  Lieutenant  and  was  in  command  of 
the  company,  Capl.  William  Perkins  having  been 
wounded  and  discharged  for  disability.  The  com- 
pany had  then  but  sevent}-  men.  Mr.  .Sanders  was 
wounded  in  the  riglit  leg  by  a  gunshot  breaking 
one  bone  at  the  battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and 
was  in  the  hospital  two  months,  with  the  exception 
of  which  time  he  was  always  with  his  regiment. 
He  has  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  Morgan  raid  in 
1863  and  of  the  Stonemau  raid  in  M.acon,  Ga.,  in 
both  of  which  his  regiment  took  an  active  part,  and 
suffered  heav\-  loss  at  the  last-named  place.  Al- 
though two-thirds  of  his  regiment  and  fort}' of  his 
company'  were  captured,  he  took  French  leave  and 
got  away  to  the  Federal  lines,  notwithstanding  he 
was  fired  upon  in  his  fiight.  He  was  mustered  out 
Jul}-  31,  1865,  at  Pulaski,  Ten n.,  and  was  dis- 
charged at  N.ashville,Tenn.,  August  8.  He  reached 
his  home  and  family  August  18,  perfectly  satisfied 
to  remain  in  civil  life. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sanders  have  buried  two  daugh- 
ters: Rhoda,  who  died  when  but  two  years  of  ao-e; 
and  Adeline,  wife  of  William  Whitehead, who  died 
when  twenty-one  yeai-s  old.  They  have  seven 
children  living,  viz:  Mary  Jane,  wife  of  James 
Fowler,  a  farmer  near  by,  and  who  has  two  sons 
and  one  daughter;  Dorali  A.,  wife  of  J.  R.  Hood. a 
farmer  on  the  home  farm;  James  R..  a  farmer  in 
Williamson  County,  whose  wife  was  Mary  Bradley, 


321 


lY)in'RAIT  AND    BIOORAPinCAL    KFAIKW. 


and  who  has  two  sons  and  three  daughters;  Jlartha, 
wifu  of  (Jeorge  Kader,  living  in  Lawrenceville,  111., 
and  who  has  one  son  and  two  daugliters;  William 
.1.,  a  farmer  near  l)y,  whose  wife  was  Mary  Taylor, 
and  who  lias  three  sons;  Eliza,  wife  of  Elijah 
Hood,  living  at  Creal  Springs,  and  who  has  two 
sc)ns;  and  Louemma,  wife  of  Hubert  Lennon,  liv- 
ing at  home,  and  who  has  one  daughter.  Mr. 
.Sanders  has  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  one 
term  of  four  years  and  is  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity,  and  was  Secretary  of  Reynolds- 
burgh  Lodge  eleven  and  a-half  years,  being  the 
representative  to  the  Grand  Lodge  in  1873.  He 
and  his  wife  liave  been  members  of  the  Methodist 
Kpiscopal  Church  for  fortj'-seveu  and  forty-nine 
years  respectively.  The  latter  is  a  daughter  of  a 
Methodist  preacher.  Mr.  Sanders  has  been  a  Dem- 
ocrat for  thirty-two  years,  previous  to  which  time 
he  was  a  Whig.  He  stands  high  in  the  commun- 
ity in  wiiich  he  lives  and  is  respected  by  all  who 
know  him. 


!^+^l 


y^yH>LlAM  .1.  REEVES,  was  born  in  Burnside 
'  Township,  Johnson  County,  near  his  pres- 
\^^  ent  home,  in  1849.  His  father  was  Elijah 
Reeves,  a  native  of  Alabama,  who  at  seven  years 
of  age  was  taken  b3'  his  parents  to  Kentuckj'  to 
what  is  now  Marshall  County.  He  was  a  son  of 
Reuben  and  Nancy  (Fox)  Reeves,  both  of  Ala- 
bama, who  lived  on  a  farm  for  man}- years  in  Ken- 
tucky and  reared  a  large  family  of  children.  The 
grandfather  of  William  J.  Reeves  died  there  at 
the  age  of  sixty  3'ears,  after  which  his  widow  came 
to  southern  Illinois  to  the  home  of  her  son  Elijah, 
where  she  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years. 
The  first  wife  of  Elijah  Reeves,  and  the  mother 
of  William  J.,  was  Nancy  Reeder,  daughter  of  Jesse 
Reeder.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reeves  lived  some  ten 
veai-s  on  their  farm  in  Kentucky,  and  came  to 
Johnson  County  with  their  three  children  during 
the  winter  of  18-48-49,  making  the  journey  with 
their  own    team   and   driving   their   cattle    before 


them.  They  were  in  humble  circumstances,  and 
took  up  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  one 
and  a-half  miles  from  the  present  liome  of  William 
J.,  to  whom  they  sold  their  claim  two  years  after 
settleiiient,  when  they  bought  a  claim  of  another 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  one  and  a-half  miles 
west,  with  a  small  clearing,  on  which  they  built  a 
small  lude  log  house  and  there  made  a  permanent 
home.  They  improved  one  hundred  and  fortv 
aci'cs  of  the  land,  and  erected  a  good  frame  house 
and  barn,  residing  here  some  thirty  years,  the  mo- 
ther dying  in  1881,  aged  sixty-five  3'ears.  They 
here  buried  four  children,  two  dying  in  infancy, 
and  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Levi  Lay,  who  died  at  the 
youthful  age  of  eighteen  years,  and  Martha,  wife 
of  Crayton  Wood,  who  also  died  in  her  eighteenth 
year.  There  are  now  four  living:  John  W.  Reeves, 
a  farmer  in  Kansas;  Mary  .lane,  wife  of  Joseph 
Holland,  a  farmer  in  Arkansas;  William  J.,  and 
Minerva,  wife  of  Samuel  Burrel,  a  resident  of 
Carmi,  111.  The  father  of  this  family  died  at 
Ozark  in  August,  1892,  aged  seventj'-three  years. 

William  J.  Reeves,  in  his  boyhood  days  secured 
but  little  education,  and  that  was  obtained  in  the 
district  school,  which  afforded  but  few  advantages. 
He  was  reared  to  farm  life  and  labor,  and  re- 
mained at  home  until  his  marriage  in  his  twentieth 
j'ear  to  Lucinda  Reeves,  a  distant  relative.  She 
was  born  in  Kentucky  and  was  the  daughter  of 
Wilson  and  Betsy  (Nichols)  Reeves.  To  this  mar- 
riage have  been  born  six  sons  and  one  daughter, 
of  whom  three  died  in  j'outh.  There  are  three 
.sons  and  a  daughter  living:  Lewis  W.,a  farmer  of 
Pope  County,  who  has  a  wife  and  one  son;  Cora 
W.,  a  young  lady  now  at  home;  John  W.,  a  j^outh 
of  sixteen  years,  who  is  still  under  the  parental 
roof,  and  Fred  O.,  who  is  eight  years  old,  and  at 
home  attending  school.  Mr.  Reeves  appreciates  a 
a  good  education,  and  is  doing  what  he  can  to  ed- 
ucate his  children.  He  and  his  wife  began  life 
without  means,  even  borrowing  mone.y  to  pay  for 
the  marriage  license.  He  rented  land  for  two 
years,  and  then  bought  one  hundred  and  six  .acres 
for  ^490;  this  was  one  and  one-half  miles  from 
his  present  home.  To  the  original  farm  he  added 
forty  acres,  and  within  seven  years  traded  it 
for  his  present  farm  of  two  hundred  and  twenty 


PORTRAIT  AND  RIOORAI'IIICAL    RKVIEW. 


325 


acres,  going  in  debt  to  the  extent  of  t>2,000. 
During  tlie  eleven  years,  he  has  lived  upon  tliis 
farm,  lie  lias  paid  oflf  his  debt  and  he  is  now  one 
of  tlie  most  prosperous  farmers  in  this  part  of  llie 
State.  He  built  his  tine,  large  stock  and  hay  barn 
in  1891,  wliich  is  64x64  feet  in  dimensions,  has 
twenty-five  foot  posts  and  nine  roomy  box  stalls. 
It  was  built  at  a  cost  of  *1,120,  and  is  the  best 
liani  in  the  county.  Mi'.  Reeves  is  one  of  the 
thorough  farmers,  who  believes  in  doing  thii.gs 
well.  lie  is  a  stock  farmer  and  is  dealing  in  stock 
and  grain,  of  which  he  bu3'S  and  ships  many  car- 
loads during  the  year  in  partnership  witii  H.  S. 
Pai-sons.  They  ship  to  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Toledo, 
and  to  Southern  points.  He  has  been  in  the  stock 
trade  ten  years,  and  in  the  grain  trade  two  years. 
He  has  no  time  for  public  office  but  by  a  unani- 
mous vote  was  elected  School  Director,  and  is  also 
a  Master  Mason  and  votes  the  Democratic  ticket, 
though  for  some  years  our  subject  has  taken  but 
little  interest  jn  politics.  At  present  (1893)  he  is 
doing  business  at  the  old  stand,  whicii  is  at  Wash- 
ington Cit}'. 


^^^S-^">^ll^#!^ 


OMX  A.  STA LIONS  was  born  in  Trigg 
fount}",  Ky.,  July  17,  1837,  and  now  resides 
in  township  11,  Pope  County.  His  father  was 
()^^  \V.  P.  Stalions,  of  the  same  county,  born 
March  21,  1811.  who,  like  his  father,  Reuben  Stal- 
ions, was  a  farmer.  Reuben  Stalions  was  a  native 
of  North  Carolina,  and  at  an  early  day  became  a 
settler  in  Kentucky.  lie  was  twice  married,  :ind 
liy  liis  tirst  wife  had  three  sons:  Moses,  Aaron 
and  Joshua.  Of  these  Moses  and  Aaron  were 
soldiers  in  the  War  of  1812  under  Gen.  Jackson. 
By  the  second  marri.ige  he  had  four  sons  and  three 
daughters,  and  of  these  children  W.  P.  Stalions  was 
the  third  child  and  second  son.  Mr.  Stalions  died 
in  middle  life,  his  wife  living  to  be  alwut  seventy 
years  of  age. 

W.  P.  Stalions,  our  subject's  father,  was  married 
four  times,  having  by  the  first  wife  one  daugh- 


ter, and  by  the  second   «  ,  :uiil    three 

daughters,  our  subject  being  the  t-hlfsi  of  the  four 
cliildien.  By  tiie  third  wife  he  had  two  daughters 
and  one  son.  The  first  wife  of  W.  P.  Stalions  w.as 
in  her  maiden  days  Nancy  Armstrong,  of  Ken- 
tuckj'.  Her  only  child  was  Elizabeth,  wife  of 
Samuel  Lampson,  who  died  in  the  prime  of  life, 
leaving  a  family  of  children.  The  second  wife  of 
W.  P.  Stalions  was  Melinda  Thomas,  daughter  of 
Richard  and  Sarah  (Barnes)  Thomas,  of  Kentucky, 
who  was  born  May  3,  1819,  and  died  April  8,  1846, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years.  Her  children  were 
as  follows:  John  A.;  Mary  Jane,  who  died  in 
earl}-  childhood;  and  Amanda  M.,  who  died  in 
Hardin  County,  III.,  in  February,  1886,  aged  forty- 
two  years.  The  latter  was  married  twice,  her  first 
husband  liaving  been  John  Quinc^'  Adams,  named 
after  the  fourth  President  of  the  United  Stales, and 
her  second  husband  T.  L.Jenkins.  The  third  wife  of 
Mr.  Stalions,  and  the  stepmother  of  our  subject,  was 
formerlj-  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Parish,  nee  Matthews, 
daughter  of  John  and  .Sarah  Matthews,  and  the 
widow  of  George  Parish.  By  her  first  husband  she 
had  five  children,  four  sons  and  one  daughter,  and 
b\'  her  marriage  to  Jlr.  Stalions  she  had  two  daugh- 
ters and  one  son:  Slary  .\nn,  deceased  wife  of  James 
Matthews;  Bethany,  now  Mrs.  William  O'Neal,  of 
Williamson  County;  and  Samuel  K.,  a  farmer  of 
Union  Township.  The  fourth  wife  of  Mr.  Stal- 
ions was  Martha  Bruce,  widow  of  Cornelius  Bruce, 
who  died  soon  after  her  marriage.  Mr.  Stalions 
died  in  Caldwell  County.  Ky.,  October  1.5,  18.57, 
in  his  forty-sixth  year. 

Johri  A.  Stalions  w.as  reared  on  the  farm  and 
received  what  little  education  he  could  in  a 
subscription  school.  He  was  married  October  1, 
1857,  fifteen  days  before  his  father's  death,  to 
Miss  Mary  E.  Lowery,  of  Crittenden  County.  Ky., 
daughter  of  James  anil  Elizabeth  Lowery.  in 
Septeml)er,  1858,  they  emigrated  to  Illinois  by 
means  of  their  team  and  located  first  near  Eldo- 
rado, Saline  County,  on  a  rented  farm.  Aug- 
ust 15,  1862,  Mr.  Stalions  enlisted  in  Company  E, 
One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Illinois  Infantry,  George 
Burnett  Iteing  his  captain.  He  served  as  a  private 
soldier  until  June  8,  1865,  and  was  mustered  out 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  on  that  da^-,  at   which   time 


:V2fi 


poirrii.vrr  anj)  uioohaimiicai.  ufa'ifav. 


he  w!i>  :i  ineinl)(M-  of  Company  H,  of  tlie  same  regi- 
iiiont.  Ik'  was  not  off  duty  save  a  few  times,  a 
ilay  or  two  at  a  time,  when  unfit  for  service  on 
account  of  sickness,  lie  endurerl  the  hardships  of 
the  war  bettt>r  than  the  great  majority  of  his  com- 
rades, and  also  escaped  the  measles,  a  disease  from 
wiiich  many  of  them  suffered  and  died.  His  first 
liglit  was  at  Perryville,  Ky.,  where  lie  displayed 
great  courage  and  valor,  and  lie  was  also  in  a 
skirmish  at  Cumberland  Gap,  the  battle  of  Stone 
Hiver,  Chattanooga,  Clnckamauga,  Missionary 
Ividge,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  in  tlie  famous  march  from 
Atlanta,  and  charged  the  batteries  at  Jonesborough 
tiic  day  that  city  fell.  In  this  charge  many  of  his 
comrades  fell  near  him,  but  he  escaped  unhurt,  and 
marched  witii  ohl  Tecumseh  to  the  sea,  thence  up 
into  the  Carolinas,  where  he  saw  Gen.  Johnston 
surrender,  after  wliich  he  returned  to  his  wife  and 
three  children   at   his  home   in    Union  Township. 

In  this  township  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of 
land  for  $400,  which  had  been  improved,  and  upon 
which  he  built  a  good  hewed-log  house,  now  a 
part  of  his  present  fine  large  residence.  It  has 
been  improved  by  siding  up  outside  and  ceiling 
inside,  until  now  it  has  the  appearance  of  being  a 
frame  house,  and  is  doubtless  more  comfortable 
than  a  frame  house  would  be.  The  main  part  of 
the  house  is  20x50  feet  in  dimensions,  and  the  L 
part  is  H.'clS  feet  in  measurement  and  is  one  and 
a-half  stories  high.  He  has  added  to  what  ma}^  be 
called  his  home  farm  proper,  which  is  the  eighty 
acres,  from  time  to  time  until  he  now  owns  two 
hundred  and  fifty-five  acres,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  acres  of  which  are  under  cultivation. 

Mr.  Stalions  also  owns  fortj'  acres  of  land  upon 
which  his  son  lives,  besides  a  forty-acre  tract  of 
timber  land,  on  which  he  is  carrying  on  general 
farming.  lie  built  his  commodious  store  in  the 
spring  of  1892,  and  put  in  a  stock  of  general  mer- 
chandise. He  is  a  stalwart  Republican  and  was 
appointed  Postmaster  at  the  new  postoffice  called 
Colorado  when  it  was  established,  and  has  served 
the  township  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  three  terms. 
He  was  elected  County  Commissioner  and  on  the 
expiration  of  one  term  was  ajjpointed  to  fill  a  va- 
cancy m  the  same  olliee.  He  also  served  some 
eight  years  as  Township  Treasurer,  and  as  District 


Clerk  and  Treasurer  of  Highways.  He  is  a  Uoyal 
Arch  Mason  and  since  1881  lias  been  an  Odd  Fellow 
in  good  standing.  He  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  United  Haptist  Church,  and  are  the  fond 
parentsof  the  following  children:  W.  11,,  living  on 
the  farm,  and  having  a  wife  and  four  children, 
two  sons  and  two  daughters;  Amanda  M.,  wife  of 
I.  F.  Jenkins,  a  farmer  near  by,  who  has  two  sons 
and  four  daughters;  Ann  V.,  wife  of  W.  W. 
Matthews,  who  is  working  the  home  farm  and  has 
one  son  and  tiiree  daughtei-s;  Serilda  J.,  wife  of 
W.  M.  Gee,  a  farmer,  whom  she  bore  one  son  and 
two  daughters;  Mary  E.,  wife  of  Frank  Hancock, 
and  wiio  lias  one  daughter;  Samuel  S.,  wlio  mar- 
ried Nora  Rose;  John  T.,  a  3'outh  of  sixteen,  at 
home;  and  Ida  Belie,  a  miss  of  thirteen  years,  in 
school.  They  have  all  had  a  good  common-school 
education,  and  are  well  informed  on  current 
events.  Miss  Melinda  M.  Stalions,  a  sister  of  Mr. 
Stalions,  has  made  her  home  with  him  for  some 
time.  He  was  married  the  .second  time,  Novem- 
ber 19,  I880.  to  INIiss  Sarah  A.  Kirby,  of  Union 
Township,  but  who  was  born  in  Tennessee,  and  is 
a  daughter  of  Pleasant  and  Harriet  M.  (Wood) 
Kirby,  who  came  from  Tennessee  in  the  spring  of 
1855.  The  mother  died  at  their  farm  home  in 
Union  Township  in  1858,  in  middle  life,  leaving 
her  husband  and  eight  children.  The  father  is 
still  living,  and  is  in  good  health  for  a  man  of  his 
years,  as  at  the  present  writing  he  is  nearly  eighty 
years  old.  Mr.  Stalions  is  a  man  of  sterling  quali- 
ties, of  high  moral  standing,  and  is  thoroughly  re- 
spected by  his  fellow-citizens  and  h)ved  by  friends. 


-^=-^^>^^<m^-^ 


llj^iLUFORI)  W.  ROSE  was  born  in  Pope 
jL>^  County,  in  1846.  He  is  a  son  of  Joel  and 
,/^  J;  Elizabeth  (Bradford)  Rose,  the  former  of 
^^^'  Georgia  and  the  latter  of  Tennessee.  They 
were  married  in  Pope  County  in  1824,  he  at  the 
age  of  twenty  and  she  at  the  age  of  twontj--four 
years.  Joel  R'ose  was  a  sou  of  Thomas  Rose  and 
liis  wife,  who  was  a  Miss  Bronuer.     The  grand- 


RE.51DENCC0F    LOGAN     RAN  DOLPH  ,  SeC.S:  .  1  P.  15  ,  R  .  :; .   POPF    CO.  I  LL. 


t<    LIVERY fc^FEED  STABLE 


GROCERY. 

RESTAURANT, 


BUSINESS  PROPERTY  OF   J.  C.COOLEY,   METROPOLIS  CITY.  ILLINOIS. 


I 


roKTKAIT  AND  liKXiKAl'lIKAL  KEVIEW. 


329 


parents  of  our  subject  had  twelve  children,  eight 
of  whom  were  sons,  and  Joel  was  the  eldest  of  the 
family.  The  father  of  this  large  family  kept  a 
wood-yard  for  steamboats  on  the  Ohio  River  at 
Rock  Quarr^v.  Pope  County,  at  the  raoutli  of  Grand 
Pier  Creek.  Here  his  wife  died  at  a  ripe  old  age, 
and  he  too  passed  away  some  four  years  later,  at 
about  the  age  of  eighty  years.  Of  the  family  left 
by  them,  John  D.  lives  in  Jackson  Count3-,  111., 
and  has  been  a  merchant  all  his  life;  Eratio,  tlie 
next  younger  of  the  family,  was  a  Baptist  preacher 
and  is  probably  living  in  Texas. 

The  fatlier  of  our  subject  died  in  J.ickson 
County,  111.,  at  the  age  of  sixty  years,  lie  liad  been 
a  consumptive  for  many  3'ears,  and  in  the  advanced 
stage  of  that  disease  lie  was  taken  to  Arkansas  with 
their  first  two  children,  wliere  he  so  far  recovered 
liis  heallli  as  to  be  able  to  return  to  Illinois  in 
1832.  He  was  a  boot  and  shoe  maker  by  trade, 
and  followed  his  trade  when  able  to  work.  Sub- 
sequently, he  lived  a  few  ^-ears  in  Missouri  and 
Arkansas,  and  again  returned  to  Illinois,  three 
years  before  his  death.  He  and  his  wife  had  six 
sous  and  one  daughter,  tlie  latter  dying  in  infanc3', 
and  one  son  dying  while  very  yonng.  They  also 
buried  Thoma-s,  a  man  of  family,  who  died  in  Mis- 
souri about  18r)8.  Elbert  left  home  in  1862  and 
has  never  been  heard  from  since.  The  others  are 
Basil  B.,  a  farmer  of  Scott  County,  Ark.,  now  in 
his  sixties;  and  William,  a  farmer  and  partner  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  with  whom  lie  is  en- 
gaged in  merchandising  at  Cedar  Bluff. 

B.  \V.  Rose  was  reared  to  farm  life,  and  in  bo3'- 
hood  attended  school  about  one  month  altogether. 
His  education  has  been  obtained  since  then  by 
reading,  observation  and  practical  experience. 
He  was  converted  when  about  twenty-nine  3-ears 
of  age  to  the  faith  of  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian Church  and  has  been  exhorting  and  preach- 
ing ever  since.  He  has  been  engaged  most  of  the 
time  very  successfully  in  revival  work,  though 
he  has  had  pastorates  all  these  years.  He  was 
married  October  !),  1867,  to  Sarah  Turner,  of 
Hardin  Count}'.  They  have  lost  two  sons  and 
one  daughter,  all  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  There 
are  three  sons  and  three  daughters  living,  viz: 
Charles  I.,  a  Methodist  preacher  in  the  regular 
17 


work  in  Missouri,  who  has  a  wife  and  one  daugh- 
ter; Nora  A.,  wife  of  Samuel  Stalion;  Aurilla  M., 
wife  of  .Samuel  Morse,  who  has  one  son  and  one 
daughter;  Willis,  aged  seventeen  years  and  at 
home;  Joel,  sixteen  years  old;  and  Lollie  M.,  who 
is  four.  Mr.  Rose  is  a  Master  Mason  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  of 
the  third  degree.  Politically,  he  is  non-partisan, 
with  Republican  tendencies.  His  brother  B.  B.,  of 
Arkansas,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Confederate  service 
until  he  made  his  escape,  when  he  joined  the 
Union  army,  and  he  is  now  a  radical  Republican  in 
Arkansas.  Mr.  Rose  is  not  onl}-  an  honorable  and 
influential  citizen,  but  a  whole-souled,  kind-hearted 
gentleman,  who  by  his  untiring  zeal  and  industry 
has  won  for  himself  a  well-deserved  reputation, 
being  a  successful  business  man. 


.RESTON  HARNER,  who  did  his  duty 
right  nobly  as  a  brave  and  patriotic  sol- 
dier when  war  threatened  this  country 
with  disunion  and  destruction,  was  one  of 
the  earl}-  settlers  of  Bloomfield  Township,  where 
he  owns  and  occupies  a  fine  farm,  which  he  pur- 
chased nearly  half  a  century  ago,  and  lias  since  re- 
deemed from  the  wilderness. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Knox  County,  Tenn., 
December  28,  1817.  His  father,  Philip  Ilainer, 
was  a  native  of  Wythe  County,  Va.,  and  a  son  of 
Christopher  Ilarner,  who  was  born  in  this  country, 
but  was  of  German  antecedents.  He  removed 
from  Virginia  to  Knox  County,  Tenn.,  and  later 
to  Hardin  County,  where  lie  died.  Philip  Harner 
was  a  young  man  when  he  left  his  early  Virginian 
home  to  live  in  Tennessee.  He  was  married  there 
to  Miss  Katie  Copras,  who  is  thought  to  have  been 
born  in  Virginia.  She  died  in  Knox  County  in 
1819,  and  the  father  married  a  second  time.  After 
marriage  Mr.  Ilarner  continued  his  residence  in 
Knox  County  until  1819,  when  he  removed  to 
Roane  County,  and  settled  ten  miles  from  Kings- 
ton.   Six  years  later  he  went  from  there  to  Hardin 


330 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


County-,  boiiglil  land  and  improved  a  farm,  and 
resided  there  unlil  1816.  In  that  year  he  left 
Tennessee  to  avail  himself  of  the  advantages 
offered  by  the  eht'a|)  land  and  rich  soil  of  Illinois, 
and  eoming  to  Johnson  County,  he  entered  a  tract 
of  land  from  the  Government  in  what  is  now 
Rloomliold  Township.  lie  built  upon  it,  improved 
the  land,  and  made  it  his  home  until  death  closed 
his  mortal  career. 

The  subject  of  this  sketcii  lost  his  own  mother 
before  his  remembrance,  and  was  reared  by  a  step- 
mother. He  remained  an  inmate  of  the  parental 
home  until  lie  was  fourteen  years  old,  and  at  that 
age  commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of  saddler, 
at  which  he  worked  ten  months.  Returning 
home,  he  remained  three  months,  and  after  that 
lie  worUod  at  the  trade  of  a  shoemaker  a  few 
montiis.  His  next  employment  was  as  a  farm 
hand,  and  he  continued  working  out  by  the  month 
in  Hardin  County-  for  some  time.  He  B'as  there 
married,  in  his  twenty-third  year,  and  from  that 
time  farmed  on  his  own  account  on  rented  land 
until  1844.  In  January  of  that  year  he  came  to 
Illinois,  traveling  by  the  way  of  the  Tennessee 
and  Ohio  Rivers  on  a  flatboat,  bringing  household 
goods,  stock  and  tools.  After  his  arrival  he  bought 
a  claim  to  a  tract  of  Government  land  in  what  is 
now  Bloomfield  Township,  on  which  a  log  cabin 
had  been  built  for  a  dwelling  for  his  family. 
The  same  year  he  exchanged  that  claim  for  the 
one  where  he  now  lives,  and  later  entered  it 
from  the  Government  at  $1.25  an  acre.  This 
purchase  included  eighty  acres  of  land,  and  there 
was  a  log  house  on  the  place  when  it  came  into 
his  possession.  He  has  since  bought  other  laud, 
and  now  has  a  fertile  and  well-cultivated  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  acres,  which  is  pro- 
vided with  good  buildings  and  is  otherwise  finely 
improved. 

The  work  that  he  li.as  accomplished  in  reclaim- 
ing this  choice  farm  from  a  state  of  nature  entitles 
Mr.  Harner  to  an  honorable  place  among  the  most 
useful  pioneers  of  the  county,  to  whose  develop- 
ment he  h.as  thus  niateriall3'  contributed.  When 
he  came  here  this  and  adjoining  counties  were  but 
sparsely  settled,  most  of  the  land  w.as  owned  by 
the  Government,  and  there  were  but  few  improve- 


ments. There  were  no  railways  for  several  3'ears, 
and  deer  and  other  kinds  of  wild  game  were 
plentiful,  roaming  at  will  over  the  prairies  and 
through  the  forests. 

Our  subject  is  also  worth}'  of  all  respect  for  his 
conduct  during  the  war,  when  he  threw  aside  his 
work  to  take  his  place  among  the  defenders  of 
our  country's  honor.  When  Ft.  Sumter  was  fired 
upon,  his  patriotism  was  aroused,  and  believing 
with  all  his  heart  that  the  Union  should  be  pre- 
served, he  offered  his  services  to  assist  in  its  salva- 
tion, enlisting  in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and 
Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry',  and  during  the  three 
long  and  trying  years  that  followed  he  had  a  full 
experience  of  the  trials  .and  privations  of  a  soldier's 
life,  and  displayed  good  fighting  qualities  whenever 
his  regiment  met  the  eneni}'  in  battle.  He  was  dis- 
charged after  being  in  the  army  three  3'ears  and 
twenty  days,  on  account  of  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  enlistment.  He  voted  for  Abraham  Lin- 
coln in  1864,  and  is  still  a  Republican,  though  he 
now  votes  with  the  People's  party.  He  and  his 
wife  are  members  in  high  standing  of  the  Baptist 
Church. 

Mr.  Harner  was  married  in  November,  1841,  to 
Nancy,  daughter  of  William  and  Margaret  Shelly, 
and  a  native  of  Trigg  Count}',  K}'.  To  her  and 
our  subject  have  been  born  three  children:  Eliza 
A.,  wife  of  Jerome  Watkins,  and  mother  of  six  chil- 
dren; John  C.  B.,  who  married  Sarah  J.  Parker, 
and  h.as  four  children;  and  Martha  A.  who  married 
Thom.as  Darter,  and  has  five  living  children  and 
one  deceased. 


e 


r 


HRISTIAN   WALTER   is  the  happy  po.sses- 
sor  of  a  model  farm,  which  is  situated  on 


Count}'.  When  only  twenty-two  vears  of  age  he 
became  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  in  this  same  township,  afterward  purchasing 
an  additional  tract  of  the  same  extent,  thus  mak- 


rORTUAIT   AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


331 


ing  his  home  place  one  of  two  hundred  and  thirtj' 
acres.  He  has  himself  cleared  the  most  of  his 
farm,  erected  a  substantial  house  and  farm  buikl- 
inj^s  and  otherwise  improved  it.  He  is  engaged  in 
general  stock-raising,  having  horses,  mules,  cattle 
and  hogs,  and  raises  such  cereals  as  corn,  wheat 
and  oats.  He  has  been  blessed  with  bountiful  re- 
turns for  the  labor  and  care  he  has  bestowed  upon 
his  place,  and  has  secured  a  competence  for  old 
age. 

In  the  city  of  Hanover,  Germany,  on  the  11th 
of  January,  1839,  occurred  the  birth  of  our  sub- 
ject, who  was  the  son  of  William  and  Lena  (Man- 
son)  Walter,  both  natives  of  the  Fatherland.  The 
paternal  grandparents  of  our  subject  were  Daniel 
and  Catherine  Walter.  In  .Tuly,  1852,  William 
Walter  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  being  tossed 
to  and  fro  on  the  broad  Atlantic  for  over  thir- 
teen weeks.  On  his  arrival  he  at  once  started  for 
the  West,  settling  in  Pope  County*,  not  far  from 
the  town  of  Waltersburg,  on  a  tract  of  eighty 
acres,  to  the  cultivation  of  which  he  gave  his  at- 
tention until  his  death,  in  1851.  He  left  a  wife 
and  live  children,  the  former  of  whom  continued 
to  run  the  farm,  upon  wliich  she  resided  until  she 
also  was  called  to  her  final  rest. 

Christian  Waller  attended  the  schools  of  his  na- 
tive land,  and  received  a  good  German  education, 
but  after  coming  to  America,  was  unable  to  attend 
school,  as  he  was  needed  at  home  to  work  on  the 
farm  as  soon  as  he  was  large  enough  to  help  sup- 
port the  family.  On  the  25th  of  May,  1861,  Mr. 
Walter  and  Miss  Mary  Klink  were  'inited  in  mar- 
riage. The  lad^'  was  born  in  Wittenberg,  Ger- 
man}', May  24,  1845,  and  by  her  marriage  has  be- 
come the  mother  of  ten  children,  who  are  living, 
and  in  order  of  birth  are  as  follows:  William  C, 
John  C,  George  P.,  Elizabeth  M.,  Annie  Marj', 
David  W..  Laura  D.,  Philip  A.,  Carl  R.  and  Delia  H. 

For  eight  years  Mr.  Walter  has  served  as  School 
Director,  which  position  he  still  holds.  He  has  al- 
ways been  active  in  educational  matters,  and  has 
given  his  children  the  benefits  of  which  to  a  large 
extent  he  was  deprived.  For  two  terms  he  has 
served  his  friends  and  neighbors  as  Supervisor, 
and  in  a  number  of  ways  has  manifested  the  inter- 
est  he    feels  for   everything  connected  with  the 


progress  of  his  adopted  country.  He  is  a  worthy 
representative  of  the  German-American  citizens, 
who  arc  justly-  numbered  among  the  very  best  of 
Columbia's  children.  He  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  German  Methodist  Church  at  Walters- 
burg, and  in  political  faith  he  casts  his  ballot  in 
favor  of  the  nominees  of  the  Republican  party. 


P'  RANCIS  A.  SWENNER,  a  prosperous  mer- 
;  chant    of    Parker,   Johnson    Count}-,   was 
.  born  in  Logan   County,  Ky.,  September  7, 

1854.  His  father.  Richardson  Swenner,  was  born 
in  North  Carolina,  Februar}-  9, 1814,  to  John  Swen- 
ner, who  was  a  native  and  farmer  of  Virginia,  and 
died  on  his  own  farm  in  Tennessee  at  a  ripe  old 
age.  He  had  nine  children,  five  sons  and  four 
daughters,  of  whom  Richardson,  who  married  Miss 
Tabitha  Hunt,  of  Tennessee,  was  one  of  the  eldest. 
Richard  Swenner  and  his  wife  removed  from  that 
State  to  Kentucky  about  1850,  and  from  Kentuck}' 
to  southern  Illinois  in  1860,  making  the  last 
journey  by  wagons  drawn  by  a  yoke  of  oxen  in 
true  emigrant  style.  The}'  settled  near  Eldorado, 
Saline  County,  renting  a  farm  there  for  two  years, 
after  which  they  bought  eighty  acres  of  wild  land 
of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company  near 
Carbondale,  upon  which  they  built  a  rude  log 
cabin  in  the  woods  and  lived  there  about  three 
years. 

When  our  subject's  parents  came  to  Illinois  they 
had  eight  children,  five  of  whom  were  sons,  and 
one  daughter  was  born  to  them  after  their  arrival 
in  Illinois,  making  a  family  of  nine.  One  sou, 
George  W.,  remained  in  Kentucky.  In  1867  they 
sold  out  their  improved  farm  near  Carbondale  for 
$1,600  and  returned  to  Eldorado,  where  they  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  two  hundred  acres,  which  they 
sold  in  1872  and  tliei-  removed  to  another  farm  near 
Stone  Fort,  in  Saline  County.  In  1875  they  dis- 
posed of  this  land  and  removed  to  Johnson 
County,  one  and   a-half   miles    from  Parker  City, 


332 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


where  they  bought  one  hunrli-ed  and  sixtj-  acres 
and  lived  upon  this  last  purchase  until  their  death, 
the  father  dying  .luly  ''>.  188fi,  in  his  seventy-third 
year,  and  his  widow  in  January,  1890,  aged  sixty- 
eight  years.  Those  of  their  children  who  are  liv- 
ing are  as  follows:  George  \V.,  a  mechanic  in  Lo- 
gan County,  Ky.;  James  W.,  a  farmer  of  William- 
son County;  William  C,  a  wealthy  farmer,  also  of 
that  county;  Henry,  residing  near  Parker  City; 
Mary  E.,  wife  of  William  Wall,  a  farmer  of  Will- 
iamson County;  Martha  xVnn,  wife  of  Thomas 
Wall;  and  Sarah  C,  wife  of  A.  R.  Russell,  of  John- 
son County. 

Krancis  A.  Swenner  had  but  few  adv.antages  in 
tiie  educational  line  in  his  youth,  but  had  plenty 
of  hard  work  to  do,  his  father  being  a  tobacco 
grower,  and  young  Francis  had  to  assist  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  crops.  He  remained  at  home 
until  he  was  twenty-four  years  old,  when  he  was 
married,  September  26,  1878,  to  Malinda  Choat,  of 
Tunnel  Hill,  daughle'r  of  Siljis  and  Emily  (Vaughn) 
Choat.  The  father  died  in  the  year  1888,  .aged 
flft^'-eight  years,  leaving  a  widow  and  five  chil- 
dren, three  sons  and  two  daughters.  Her  mother 
is  still  living  at  Tunnel  Hill  on  her  farm. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Swenner  followed  farming  in 
Johnsfjn  County  until  1890,  at  which  time  they 
removed  to  Parker  City,  where  they  are  now  rent- 
ing their  farm  and  carrying  on  general  merchan- 
dising. Mr.  Swenner  was  appointed  Postmaster 
of  the  town  in  1892,  and  h.as  been  a  life-long  Re- 
publican, as  was  his  father  before  him.  His  brother, 
IJeujamin  F.,  w.as  a  member  of  the  Fifty-sixth  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  serving  from  1862  until  he  was 
lost  on  the  warship  "General  Lyons"  in  1865. 


J'^'OHN  M.  CHRISMAN.     It   is  by  persever- 
ance and  good  management  that  this  gen- 
tleman now  owns  one  of  the  best  farms  of 
Pope  County.     He  is  located  on  section  26, 
township   13,  range  5,  and  is  a  native  of  Wayne 


County,  Ky.,  his  birth  having  taken  place  on  the 
26tli  of  November,  184G.  His  father,  Charles 
S.  Chrisman,  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade  and  fol- 
lowed that  occupation  for  a  living.  He  was  reared 
in  Kentucky,  going  there  when  a  lad  with  his  par- 
ents, and  after  reaching  his  majority  he  l)egan  life 
on  his  own  .account  and  purch.ased  land.  He  mar- 
ried the  lady  of  his  choice,  who  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Mary  Simpson  and  was  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky. In  his  chosen  occupations  as  blacksmith 
and  farmer,  he  was  so  prospered  as  to  make  a 
good  living  for  himself  and  family. 

The  father  of  our  subject  moved  to  Illinois  in 
1860,  and  when  war  was  declared  between  the 
North  and  South,  he  enlisted  in  the  Sixth  Illinois 
Cavalry,  Company  D,  in  which  he  went  to  the 
front  and  served  as  army  bl.aeksmith,  receiving 
his  honorable  discharge  in  1864.  At  that  period 
he  returned  to  Illinois  and  purchased  land,  on 
which  he  resided  for  about  two  years,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  he  sold  out  and  removed  to  Kansas. 
Staying  there  but  two  3'ears,  he  returned  to  Illi- 
nois and  is  now  living  at  Birds-Eye,  Pope  County, 
with  his  aged  companion,  who  is,  with  her  hus- 
band, enjoying  good  health.  She  was  born  De- 
cember 11,  1815,  and  her  husband's  birth  occurred 
in  September,  1820. 

Our  subject  remained  at  home  with  his  parents 
until  seventeen  years  old,  attending  school  .about 
two  terms  in  his  native  State,  Kentucky.  AVhen  his 
parents  emigrated  to  Illinois,  he  of  course  came 
along,  driving  the  ox-team  and  enjoying  camp 
life  for  about  three  weeks' time.  Being  of  a  pa- 
triotic nature,  he  also  answered  President  Lin- 
coln's call  for  troops,  and  when  but  seventeen 
years  old  enlisted  in  the  Twent}--ninth  Illinois 
Infantry,  Company  F,  at  Columbus,  on  the  9th 
of  August,  1864.  He  fought  in  the  siege  of 
Mobile  and  the  eug.agements  at  Ft.  Blakeley,  Span- 
ish Fort,  and  several  minor  skirmishes,  remain- 
ing in  servii'c  until  the  close  of  the  war.  lb- 
was  discharged  at  MiUican.  Tex.,  and  was  paid  in 
full  at  Springliold,  111.,  in   Xuvcnihor.  l.S(;.-,. 

Returning  home,  young  Chrisman  staged  with 
his  parents  three  years,  and  in  1869  purch.ased  a 
farm  of  eighty  acres  in    this  county,  in    township 


PURTHAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   liKMKW, 


333 


13,  range  5,  on  which  he  lived  for  two  years,  and 
then  sold  out  in  order  to  purehasu  the  farm  on 
wliich  he  now  lives  and  which  comprises  one  hun- 
dred improved  acres.  The  house  that  stands 
thereon  has  been  remodeled,  and  with  the  farm  is 
ke])t  in  such  shape  as  to  signify  a  model  farmer  is 
its  owner.  Mr.  C'hrisman  is  now  ensfaging  in  the 
raising  of  stock,  horses,  cattle  and  sheep,  and  real- 
izes large  crops  of  corn,  wheat,  oats  and  other 
cereals. 

Our  subject  was  married  November  2i),  1869,  to 
Mary  K.  Dixon,  who  was  born  June  2t,  1849,  and 
whose  parents  were  natives  of  Kentucky  and 
Illinois,  respectively.  She  died  August  26,  1892. 
The  maiden  name  of  our  subject's  present  wife 
was  Ellen  Noel,  and  she  has  always  made  her  home 
in  Pope  County.  She  is  a  most  estimable  lady, 
and  is  highl3-  regarded  in  the  social  circles  of  this 
communitv. 


y"  IL]>IAM  15.  PARSONS,  who  for  the  past 
twenty-six  years  has  resided  at  his  present 
„  „  home  in  township  1 1,  Pope  Count}', was  born 
in  AlbeniarleCounty,Va.,  in  1828.  His  father,  Will- 
iam Parsons,  was  born  in  Virginia  about  1800,  and 
followed  farming  for  a  livelihood.  He  was  one  of 
four  children,  three  sons  and  one  daughter.  Will- 
iam B.  Parsons  knows  but  little  of  his  grandparents, 
but  there  is  little  doubt  that  his  grandfather 
Parsons  was  born  in  England,  and  was  brought  to 
the  Fnited  .States  by  his  parents,  who  settled  in 
Virginia.  The  grandparents  died  in  that  State, 
the  grandmother  surviving  her  husband  many 
years,  dying  at  the  great  age  of  one  hundred  and 
four  years.  William  Parsons  was  married  three 
times.  Ilis  first  wife,  the  mother  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  Mary  Moran,  of  Virginia,  where 
they  were  married.  They  removed  to  Lincoln 
County,  Ky.,  near  Crab  Orchard,  in  1838,  when 
William  B.  was  a  lad  of  ten  years,  taking  with 
them  their  family  of  two  .sons  and  four  daugiitcrs. 
This  removal  was  made  in  October  with  teams  of 


horses  and  wagons,  and  required  about  four  weeks' 
time.  The  father  took  charge  of  a  toll-gate  on  the 
turnpike  from  Louisville  to  Crab  Orchard.  The 
family  settled  on  new  land,  where  the  mother  died 
in  March,  1839.  Mr.  Parsons  lived  thirty  years  af- 
ter her  death,  and  was  afterward  twice  married,  b}' 
his  third  wife  becoming  the  father  of  two  sons.  In 
1855  he  removed  to  Sangamon  County,  111.,  and 
four  years  later  returned  to  Kentucky  and  located 
in  Breckenridge  County,  where  he  died  in  1871, 
over  seventy  j-ears  of  age. 

William  B.  Parsons  was  reared  to  farm  life,  as 
had  been  all  his  forefathers,  so  far  as  he  knows, 
none  of  whom  ever  took  anj'  part  in  the  war,  ex- 
cept his  father,  who  served  as  a  substitute  in  the 
War  of  1812.  Mr.  Parsons  had  fourteen  days' 
schooling  when  a  boy,  and  was  married  to  Miss 
Nanc3'  Jane  Reagan,  daughter  of  Preston  and  Me- 
linda  (Waters)  Reagan.  They  were  married  Au- 
gust 18,  1850,  and  removed  to  Sangamon  County, 
111.,  in  the  fall  of  1856  with  their  three  children. 
They  made  this  removal  with  their  own  teams  and 
wagon  in  regular  emigrant  style,  camping  out  by 
the  roadside  at  night.  Besides  their  outfit  they 
brought  with  them  but  little  means.  In  the  fall  of 
1859,  they  removed  to  Johnson  County,  near  to 
Old  Reynoldsburgh.  Up  to  this  time  Mr.  Parsons 
had  farmed  on  rented  land, and  in  Johnson  County 
he  raised  a  crop  of  tobacco  on  leased  land,  making 
enough  money  to  buy  his  first  forty  acres  of  land 
in  the  woods.  He  erected  a  good  hewed-log  house, 
which  now  forms  a  part  of  his  present  residence. 
He  owns  ninety-two  acres,  of  which  seventy-two 
acres  are  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  on 
them  he  carries  on  farming  on  a  small  scale,  and 
is  taking  a  merited  and  well-earned  rest  in  his 
old  age.  Mrs.  Parsons  has  borne  her  husband  three 
daughters  and  six  sons,  all  of  whom  are  living  but 
one,  Mary  Elizabeth,  who  was  an  invalid  for  twelve 
years  and  died  in  1870  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
years.  The  living  members  of  the  family  are  as 
follows:  James  P.,  a  farmer  living  near  our  sub- 
ject; Hiram  S.,  a  farmer  of  Johnson  County;  Me- 
linda  M.,  wife  of  James  Bundren,a  farmer  of  Union 
Township;  Eliza  Jane,  wife  of  R.  F. Throgmorton; 
Robert  M.,  Joseph  T.,  William  F.,  all  married  and 
living  not  far  from   the  old   home  except   Robert 


334 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


M.,  a  young  man  who  has  been  blind  for  the  past 
year,  and  .losepli  T.  Mr.  Parsons  is  a  Democrat 
in  polities,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  tlie 
General  Free-will  Baptist  Church.  They  have 
four  <,'randd:iughters  anil  ten  liiandsons. 


'S|  AMES  R.  STEAGALL  is  one  of  the  exten- 
sive farmers  and  prosperous  business  men 
,-— ,  of  Pope  County,  owning  a  well-improved 
(^^  tract  of  land  on  section  32,  township  13, 
range  6,  where  he  carries  on  general  farming  and 
makes  a  specialtj'^  of  raising  fine  stock.  He  owns 
a  herd  of  registered  Shorthorn  cattle,  and  in  ad- 
dition to  this,  deals  extensively  in  horses,  cattle 
and  hogs,  and  raises  large  quantities  of  corn, 
wheat,  oats  and  hay.  In  the  3'ear  1888  he  en- 
gaged in  the  mercantile  business,  carrying  a  gen- 
eral stock  of  goods  in  a  well-equipped  store  in 
the  village  of  Columbus.  He  is  a  prominent  man 
in  political  and  public  circles,  having  filled  vari- 
ous Oilices  of  trust  and  importance  within  the  gift 
of  the  people.  He  is  a  prominent  man  in  polit- 
ical and  public  circles,  having  filled  various  of- 
fices of  trust  and  importance  within  the  gift 
of  the  ijeople.  For  four  years,  from  1866  until 
1870,  he  was  Justice  of  the  Peace,  served  one  term 
as  County  Commissioner,  and  for  one  term  was  a 
member  of  the  Twenty-ninth  General  Assembly. 

Tlie  subject  of  this  life  histor}'  was  born  in 
Rutherford  County,  Tenn.,  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1833.  His  father,  Obediah  G.  Steagall,  who  was 
a  native  of  Virginia,  was  a  farmer,  owning  a  con- 
siderable tract  of  land  in  Tennessee,  where  he  fol- 
lowed agricultural  pursuits  and  stock-raising  dur- 
ing almost  his  entire  life.  His  death  occurred  on 
the  old  homestead  in  1890,  at  which  time  he  had 
reached  the  good  old  age  of  eighty-six  years. 
Our  subject's  mother,  who  was  in  her  maiden  daj's 
Miss  Mary  Hodge,  was  born  in  Tennessee,  and 
there  passed  her  entire  life. 

James  R.  Steagall  attended  school  in  Lincoln 
Countv,  of  his  native    State,  for  about  two  terms 


onh',  the  opportunities  in  the  way  of  education 
of  former  days  being  extremely  limited  and  little 
to  be  compared  with  those  afforded  the  youth  of 
these  times.  The  schoolhouse  was  made  of  logs, 
with  puncheon  lloor,  and  during  the  winter  was 
heated  by  means  of  a  huge  fireplace.  A  gap  was 
left  along  one  side  of  the  wall  for  a  window, 
which  was  unprotected  b3'  window  glass,  and  con- 
sequently it  was  rather  cold  during  the  winter. 
In^ver^'  severe  weather  the  floor  was  removed  and 
a  fire  built  in  the  middle  of  the  room.  The  seats 
were  made  by  splitting  open  logs,  hewing  one 
side  fairly  smooth  and  making  a  sort  of  a  bench 
with  four  pins  for  legs.  In  spite  of  all  his  dis- 
couragements and  disadvantages,  how-ever,  our 
subject  was  blessed  with  an  active  and  intelligent 
mind,  and  made  the  best  of  what  ojjportunities 
he  had,  studying  and  reading  by  himself,  and 
thus  acquiring  a  practical  knowledge  of  men  and 
affairs,  which  has  served  him  in  good  stead.  He 
remained  under  the  parental  roof  until  reaching 
his  majority,  devoting  himself  to  assisting  his  fa- 
ther in  the  homestead. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  our  subject  started 
out  of  his  own  accord  to  make  his  way  in  the 
world,  first  commencing  in  1854  to  farm  on  shares, 
and  continuing  on  that  basis  for  about  ten  years 
in  his  native  State.  In  the  year  1864  he  removed 
to  this  State,  going  by  railroad  to  Nashville, 
whence  he  i)roceeded  by  boat  to  Golconda.  His 
first  purchase  of  land  in  this  countj^  was  on  sec- 
tions 23  and  'HI,  township  11,  range  G,  where  he 
continued  to  live  until  1877,  or  for  thirteen  3-ears. 
During  that  time  he  added  more  land  to  his  orig- 
inal tract  from  time  to  time,  until  he  owned  over 
eleven  hundred  acres,  of  which  he  has  since  dis- 
posed to  good  advantage.  His  present  place  com- 
prises some  six  hundred  acres,  which  are  all  under 
good  cultivation  and  thoroughly  improved.  Mr. 
Steagall  is  a  progressive  and  enterprising  farmer, 
using  the  most  approved  modern  methods  and  the 
latest  devices  for  saving  labor  and  carrying  on 
general  agriculture. 

On  January  /),  18.34,  occurred  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Steagall  and  Miss  Nancy  Catlierine  Hix.  Both 
Mrs.  Steagall  and  her  parents  are  natives  of  Ten- 
nessee, where    her  marriage    was    celebrated   with 


PORTRAIT  AM)    BlOGRArilK  Al,    RKVIEW, 


335 


our  subject.  Their  union  was  blessed  with  a  fam- 
ily of  twelve  children,  ten  living,  who  in  order  of 
liirth  are  as  follows:  William  O.,  Elizabetli,  Me- 
lissa, Thomas  R.,  Mary  M.,  Eliphus  R.,  Laura, 
Arthur  H.,  John  R.  and  Aloconna.  Mr.  Steagall 
lias  given  his  children  good  school  advantages, 
as  he  has  felt  the  need  of  such  preparation  for 
the  battle  of  life  for  himself  greatly  at  times,  and 
has  carried  out  his  resolve  that  his  cliildren  sliould 
be  thus  blessed.  The  farail}-  are  good  citizens,  much 
respected  in  tlie  communities  where  they  make 
their  homes.  Mrs.  Steagall,  one  daughter  and 
three  sons  are  members  of  the  United  Jjaptist 
Church,  while  three  daughters  are  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Our  subject  is  a  member  of  Golcouda  Lodge 
No.  131,  A.  F.  it  A.  M.,  and  also  of  Cliapter  No. 
1  ()2,  of  that  place.  lie  votes  the  straight  Republican 
ticket  and  has  always  taken  a  commendable  inter- 
est in  political  and  local  affaii-s,  doing  all  in  his 
power  to  advance  all  worthy  measures  as  a  true 
American  citizen  should.  By  his  wortliy  qualities, 
strictly  honorable  career  and  unblemished  repn- 
tion  he  lias  won  a  host  of  friends,  who  hold  him 
in  the  hii^hest  esteem. 


*^^l 


1^^^ 


|~^  EXJAMIN  WALTIIER  is  a  prominent  and 
L--S  prosperous  farmer  owning  a  well-cultivated 
j^  I  tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  on 
^—^  section  22,  township  13,  range  6,  Pope 
County,  wliere  he  follows  general  farming  and 
stock-raising,  making  a  specialty  of  horses,  cattle, 
mules  and  sheep.  Our  subject  was  born  in  this 
county  June  27,  1848,  and  is  a  son  of  Benjamin 
and  Catherine  (Burrick)  Waltber.  both  natives  of 
Germanv.  Our  subject's  paternal  grandfather, 
Benjamin  Walther,  emigrated  from  the  Fatherland 
to  Illinois,  locating  in  Pope  County,  in  1842,  where 
he  purchased  land  and  resided  until  his  deatli. 
His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Mar^-  Elsie  Bur- 
ick,  she  also  being  a  native  of  Germany.  Our 
subject's  father  was  a   stone    mason  b}-  trade  and 


followed  that  occupation  and  farming  for  a  living. 
He  came  to  the  United  .States  with  his  parents, 
purchased  land  in  this  county,  and  upon  the  home- 
stead reared  his  little  family.  He  departed  this 
life  April  i),  1893. 

The  subject  of  this  brief  life  sketch  remained 
with  his  parents  assisting  them  in  whatever  manner 
he  could  until  arriving  at  the  age  of  twent3'-five 
years.  He  then  considered  himself  old  enough  to 
start  out  in  life  for  himself  and  about  that  time 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Martha  N.  War- 
ner, the  ceremony'  being  performed  January  30, 
1872.  Mr.  Walther's  school  advantages  had  been 
very  limited,  he  being  enabled  to  go  only  about  four 
months  altogether,  as  he  was  the  eldest  boy  in  the 
family  and  was  needed  at  home.  He  has  alwa3-s 
been  of  an  active  and  enquiring  mind,  however, 
and  has  endeavored  with  might  and  main  to  make 
up  for  anj-  deficiency  in  his  early  education  b}- 
general  stud^'  and  observation.  In  his  boyhood 
the  country  was  very  wild,  bearing  little  resem- 
blance to  the  prosperous  and  well-populated  county' 
it  has  now  become.  Wild  game  was  plentiful,  and 
deer,  wolves  and  bear  were  frequently  seen.  The 
mother  used  to  card,  weave  and  spin,  and  until  our 
subject  reached  adult  j-ears  he  had  never  possessed 
a  suit  of  "store"  clothing. 

As  previously  stated,  Mr.  Walther  started  out 
to  make  his  wa}'  in  the  world  at  the  age  of  t\vent3-- 
five  years,  then  purchasing  a  farm  of  flft^'-four 
acres,  on  which  he  erected  a  log  house.  He  cleared 
the  land,  and  after  devoting  himself  to  its  im- 
provement and  cultivation  for  seven  years  he 
sold  the  farm  and  purchased  the  place  where  he 
now  resides.  He  owes  his  present  condition  of 
prosperity  and  comfort  to  the  fact  that  he  has 
ever  evinced  industry,  sturdy  pei*scveraneeand  un- 
remitting attention  to  his  business  interests.  He 
has  served  in  various  positions  of  honor  and  trust, 
having  been  elected  School  Director  in  District  No. 
6,  serving  for  seven  years  and  still  occupying  the 
position.  For  some  time  he  has  been  Road  Com- 
missioner in  District  No.  4,  and  in  various  ways 
has  shown  the  interest  he  feels  in  his  neighbors 
and  the  welfare  of  the  community  at  large.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Honor,  belonging 
to  Bayard  Lodge   No.   1,754,  at  Golconda.     He  is 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


also  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Cluircli,  and  casts 
Ids  ballot  in  favor  of  the  candidates  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.  Mrs.  Walther  was  born  in  Pittsburg, 
I'a.,  November  13,  1852,  lier  parents  being  natives 
of  llesent-Landt, Germany,  and  to  herself  and  hus- 
band have  been  born  two  children,  who  are  named 
respectively  John  Adams  Hcnjamin,  and  Louisa 
Klora. 


eALEB  M.  TAYLOR  owns  and  operates  a 
farm  of  seventy  acres  on  section  14,  town- 
ship 12,  range  (i.  Pope  County,  which  he 
purchased  in  1872,  paying  for  it  ^630.  The  farm, 
which  was  but  little  improved  then,  onl}'  forty 
acres  being  under  cultivation,  and  having  no 
buildings  upon  it  except  an  old  log  house,  has 
been  greatl}'  changed  in  appearance,  and  our  sub- 
ject now  has  it  in  good  condition,  raising  crops  of 
corn  and  wheat  principally.  He  is  a  successful 
farmer,  and  uses  the  latest  methods  in  carrying  on 
his  work. 

For  over  twenty  years  Mr.  Taylor  has  been 
prominently  connected  with  the  welfare  of  this 
community  as  a  farmer,  and  has  indeed  spent  his 
entire  life  in  the  county,  as  he  was  born  here, 
March  13,  185.3.  His  father,  James  P.  Taj'lor,  who 
was  born  in  Indiana  in  1825,  emigrated  to  Illinois 
at  an  early  day,  settling  in  Hardin  Count}',  where 
he  was  a  prominent  and  leading  agriculturist  for 
many  years.  A  sketch  of  his  life  appears  on  an- 
other page  of  this  volume. 

Our  subject  is  third  in  a  family  of  six  living 
children,  as  follows:  Jonathan  F.,  who  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Carbondale,  and  a  prominent  lawyer  and 
politician  of  that  city;  Spencer  B.,  who  is  engaged 
in  farming  in  Golconda  Township;  Richard  F.,  an 
attorney-at-law  and  State's  Attorne}'  at  Elizabeth- 
town,  Hardin  Count\-;  William  F.,  a  practicing 
physician  in  Poplar  Bluff,  Mo.;  and  Priscilla  I.,  the 
wife  of  Daniel  Flannery,  who  is  engaged  in  farm- 
ing in  this  localit}'.  Two  sisters  and  a  brother 
died  in  early  childhood. 

Our  subject  was  early   inured  to  farm  life,  and 


receiv^ed  a  fair  common-school  education.  When 
twenty  years  of  age,  he  received  a  certificate  and 
taught  school  for  one  term,  leaving  home  at  that 
time.  He  was  united  in  marriage  December  28, 
1876,  to  Miss  Minerva  Flanner^',  who  bore  him  six 
children,  two  daughters  and  four  sons.  Of  the  six 
children,  a  son  and  the  two  daughters  died  in 
earl}'  childhood.  Those  living  are  Richard  R.  and 
Henry  O.,  aged  respectively  thirteen  and  eleven, 
who  are  attending  school,  and  James  D.  now 
seven  years  of  age.  The  mother  departed  this  life 
in  1887,  aged  thirty-three  j'ears.  Some  time  later 
our  subject  was  again  married,  Miss  Sarah  ('., 
daughter  of  Samuel  Gullett,  becoming  his  wife, 
April  8,  1888.  To  them  has  been  born  a  bright 
little  girl,  Orpha  D.,  now  three  years  of  age. 

Soon  after  his  first  marriage,  Mr.  Taylor  re- 
moved to  his  father's  old  farm,  in  which  he  owned 
an  interest,  and  which  he  carried  on  for  about  a 
year,  then  selling  his  share  in  the  former  place,  he 
purchased  his  present  farm,  but  previous  to  loca- 
ting upon  it,  he  engaged  in  working  leased  land 
for  about  five  years.  In  1892  he  was  elected  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace.  Polilicall}',  he  is  a  Democrat, 
and  he  is  an  influential  man  in  this  region,  one 
who  is  well  known  and  thoroughly  liked. 


i^ELIX  G.  MORSE,  who  has  resided  on  his  pres- 
ent farm  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  on 
section  12,  township  11,  range  5,  Pope 
County,  for  the  past  twentj'-five  years,  was  born 
in  the  same  precinct  in  which  be  now  lives  in  18  1 1. 
His  father,  Samuel  Morse,  was  a  native  of  South 
Carolina,  and  came  to  Illinois  in  1818,  a  few 
months  before  the  State  was  admitted  to  the  Union. 
He  was  born  in  South  Carolina  in  1811,  and  bis  fa- 
ther, John  S.  W.  Morse,  was  also  a  native  of  that 
State.  When  the  latter  removed  to  Illinois  he 
brought  with  him  his  wife  and  three  children.  He 
was  but  eighteen  years  old  when  his  first  child. 
Samuel,  was  born.  He  married  Sarah  Cowan,  of 
South  Carolina,  who  was  then  a  young  girl.    The}- 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


337 


were  in  liiunble  circumstances,  and  when  they  re- 
iiioveci  to  Illinois  it  was  \vitii  other  families  and  b}' 
means  of  an  ox-team.  They  were  farmers  by  occu- 
pation and  lived  as  scjnatters  on  ditfcrent  claims  in 
this  portion  of  Illinois  for  some  time,  but  before 
iiis  deatli  Mr.  Moi-se  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  fort^'  .acres.  His  wife  died  at  about  tliirty- 
tive  years  of  age  and  left  him  eleven  children,  six 
sons  and  five  daughters.  He  never  married  again, 
and  died  in  18(!4,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years. 

Samuel  Morse,  father  of  our  subject,  married 
Mis-s  Lucinda  Sbuffelbarger,  of  Virginia,  and  of 
(rerman  ancestry.  Upon  first  coming  to  Illinois 
he  purchased  one  hundred  and  twentj'  acres  of 
land  at  8l.2.^  per  acre,  and  later  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  at  one  shilling  per  acre.  He  also 
bought  otlier  lands  and  settled  all  his  six  children 
on  farms.  He  died  in  1882.  at  the  age.  of  sevent}'- 
one,  leaving  a  widow  and  five  children,  all  sons. 
They  had  buried  three  infants,  and  S.  W.  Morse 
died  in  the  hospital  in  February,  1862,  aged 
twenty-three.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Twentj'- 
seventh  Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  in  the  battle  of 
Ft.  Donelson  shortly  before  he  was  taken  sick 
with  fever,  which  caused  his  death.  William  H. 
Morse  died  on  his  farm  in  1868,  aged  twenty- 
seven,  leaving  a  wife  and  three  children.  David, 
the  youngest  child,  died  in  1882,  one  month  be- 
fore his  father's  deatli,  aged  twenty-three.  The 
children  living  are  as  follows:  .Samuel  Lewis,  now 
a  resident  of  Golconda;  Felix  G.;  Milo,  a  farmer 
living  near  by;  John,  a  farmer  in  the  vicinitj'; 
and  Gilbert,  a  farmer  living  near  Glendale,  Pope 
County.  The  mother  of  these  children  was  boi-n 
in  1811,  and  now,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine,  is 
bright  and  active  .and  makes  her  home  with  her 
son  Felix  G.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  one 
of  the  associate  judges,  and  served  two  terms  of 
three  years  each  in  that  capacity. 

Felix  G.  Morse  had  a  good  common-school  edu- 
cation and  was  reared  to  the  pursuit  of  agricul- 
ture. He  was  married  when  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  October  29,  186H,  to  Miss  Melvina  E.  .lenkins, 
of  Pope  County,  and  a  daughter  of  W.  C.  and 
Jane  (Travis)  Jenkins.  Tliej-  have  resided  at  their 
present  home  since  their  marriage  and  have  been 
the  parents  of  thirteen  children,  seven  sons  and  six 


daughters,  four  of  whom  are  deceased.  David 
and  Lyman  died  at  the  age  of  two  j^ears,  and  a 
daughter,  Maud,  passed  awaj'  at  about  the  same 
age.  Those  living  are  .as  follows:  Miranda  E., 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  and  wife  of  S.  O.  Hollo- 
way;  Edward,  a  3'oung  man  of  eighteen  years  at 
home;  Anna  R.,  sixteen  years  old;  William  S.; 
Mary  E.,  twelve;  Herman  E.,  eight;  Effie  M., 
seven;  Montie,  four;  and  Loren,  a  baby.  Mr. 
Morse  is  a  Republican.  He  carries  on  general  farm- 
ing and  is  giving  his  children  a  good  education. 
He  is  well  known  as  an  excellent  citizen  and  a 
kind  neighbor. 


m^-^<^ 


,Tr^i  OBERT  W.  STONE.  Prominent  among  the 
lii^  stead\'  business  men  of  the  county  is  the 
ciiWi  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  sketch, 
^^  who  is  a  progressive  merchant  of  Simpson, 
Johnson  Count\',  born  in  Pope  Count}',  111.,  Febru- 
ary 20,  1860.  He  is  a  son  of  John  and  Almcdia 
(Jackson)  Stone,  the  former  a  native  of  Tennessee, 
as  was  also  his  grandfather  and  grandmother. 
John  Stone  was  a  farmer  in  Tennessee,  but  sold  out 
and  came  to  Illinois  at  an  early  da}-,  purch.asing 
land  in  Johnson  County,  which  he  afterward  sold 
and  then  removed  to  Pope  County,  where  he  pur- 
chased two  hundred  acres  of  uncultivated  land, 
which  he  improved  and  lived  upon  until  his  death. 
During  his  life  he  was  regarded  as  one  of  the 
leading  farmers  of  the  county. 

Our  -subject  remained  at  home  until  lie  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  then  went  to  Loui- 
siana, where  he  stayed  but  a  short  time,  later  go- 
ing to  Texas,  but  not  long  afterward  came  back 
to  Illinois,  where  he  engaged  in  farming  for  a 
time,  after  which  he  ran  a  huckster  wagon  to  very 
good  advantage.  He  next  followed  the  mercantile 
business  in  Simpson,  opening  up  in  1888.  and  by 
skillful  management  is  now  the  leading  merchant 
of  this  thriving  little  village.  He  carries  a  gen- 
eral stock  of  merchandise  and  his  trade  extends 
miles   around  and  is  well   known  as  being  con- 


338 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


ducted  upon  correct  and  lionest  principles.  He 
was  married  October  11,1882,  to  Rebecca  Koch, 
and  by  this  union  became  the  father  of  four  chil- 
dren: Ernest  C,  Lula,  Charlie  and  Homer.  He 
is  a  member  of  Simpson  Lodge  No.  772,  L  O.  O. 
v.,  and  is  liberal  in  his  religious  views.  Politic- 
ally, Mr.  Stone  is  a  warm  supporter  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic principles  and  platform,  for  which  he  has 
cast  his  vote  for  a  number  of  years. 


lOBERT  H.  WISE,  Esy.,  .lustice  of  the  Peace 
of  New  Burnside,  was  born  in  Haywood 
County,  W.  Tenn.,  July  22,  1832.  His 
i)father,  William  J.,  who  was  a  son  of  Will- 
iam Wise,  a  native  of  AVaj'nc  County,  N.  C,  was 
born  and  reared  on  his  father's  farm  in  that 
State.  The  grandmother  of  our  subject  was  a 
Miss  Howard,  of  the  same  vicinit^^  an  aunt  of 
the  well-known  and  highly  distinguished  Mem- 
ber of  Congress  from  the  Seventh  Illinois  District, 
Thomas  J.  Henderson,  who  served  in  Congress 
twenty-eight  years.  William,  the  grandfather,  was 
in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  rising  from  a  Col- 
onel to  be  Brigadier-General.  He  reared  three 
sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom  William  J.  was 
the  eldest.  The  grandparents  both  lived  to  a  ripe 
old  age,  and  died  in  North  Carolina  within  a  few 
years  of  each  other.  The  wife  of  William  J.  Wise, 
and  mother  of  Robert  H.  Wise,  was  a  Miss  Re- 
becca Lawhorn,  of  North  Carolina.  He  and  his 
wife,  within  about  one  3-ear  of  their  marriage,  came 
from  North  Carolina  to  Illinois  with  one  daughter, 
and  lived  a  year  in  Vienna  Township,  whence  the3' 
removed  to  West  Tennessee  and  lived  there  about 
eleven  3'ears  on  a  farm.  They  then  sold  the  farm 
and  returned  to  Vienna  Township,  making  these 
journeys  by  teams,  and  the  first  trip  was  made  in  the 
old-time  one-horse  cart  drawn  b^-  two  horses  driven 
tandem  style.  They  began  life  together  with 
about  $300  capital,  and  experienced  all  the  rough 
and  rugged  realities  of  pioneer  life. 

When    the    fatiier    and    mother   of  our  subject 


came  to  Illinois  the  second  time,  they  brought  six 
children,  of  whom  Robert  II.  was  the  youngest, 
and  the  baby,  but  this  move  was  made  in  a  more 
comfortable  manner,  in  a  covered  wagon  drawn 
by  a  team  of  horses.  After  returning  to  Illinois 
tlie}^  lived  three  years  in  Vienna  Township,  from 
the  spring  of  1837  to  the  spring  of  1840.  when 
they  removed  to  New  Burnside  and  bought  a 
claim  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  Goveni- 
ment  land  of  a  squatter,  and  at  once  moved  into 
his  rude  log  cabin.  This  they  made  their  home  for 
many  3'ears,  but  at  length  erected  a  good  hewcd- 
log  house  and  purchased  two  hundred  acres  more 
land.  In  1857  they  sold  this  farm  of  three 
hundred  and  sixt^^  acres  for  ^1,800,  and  purchased 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres  five  miles  to  the 
northward  from  it  in  Williamson  County  for 
$1,000.  Here  Mrs.  Wise  died  in  1871,  .at  the  age 
of  seventy  years,  and  Mr.  Wise  followed  her  to 
the  tomb  in  1873,  aged  seventy  years.  They  had 
buried  one  daughter  at  the  age  of  one  and  a-half 
years,  and  a  son,  Thomas  C,  at  the  age  of  five. 
A  daughter,  Sarah,  the  wife  of  W.  W.  Hall,  died 
in  the  prime  of  womanhood,  before  the  death  of 
her  parents,  and  left  four  sons  and  one  daughter. 
The  eldest  of  these,  Thomas  W.  Hall,  is  now 
Cashier  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Harrisburg. 
Saline  County,  111.  The  3'oungest  brother  of 
Robert  H.  Wise,  Oliver  J.  Wise,  died  in  New 
Burnside  at  the  age  of  forty-seven  years,  leaving 
three  children.  Lewis  E.  Wise,  the  eldest  brother 
of  Mr.  Wise,  and  the  first-born  of  the  famil}',  was 
in  the  South  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  He 
was  one  of  the  wounded  "Louisiana  Tigers"  in  the 
first  battle  of  Manassas  and  was  sent  to  the  hos- 
pital, this  being  the  last  tidings  that  were  ever  re- 
ceivid  of  him. 

A  sister  of  Mr.  Wise,  Elizabeth  ,1.,  wife  of  Will- 
iam R.  Mounce,  died  at  their  home  farm  in  Will- 
iamson Gounty,  111.,  in  1880,  aged  forty-eight 
years,  leaving  two  sons  and  four  daughters.  Those 
of  the  family  now  living  are  as  follows:  Hiram 
AVise,  aged  sixt3'-five3'ears,  a  farmer  and  a  law3-er, 
retired  from  active  labor,  but  living  on  his  farm 
in  Johnson  Count3-;  William  J.  Wise,  sixt3'-three 
years  old,  a  retired  fanner  living  in  Union  County, 
111.;   Curtis   P.   Wise,  forty-nine    years  of   age.  a 


I 


PORTKAir  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW. 


339 


farmer  of  Saline  Coimt^',  111.;  and  Robert  H.  Wise, 
who  was  reared  on  tlie  f:irm.  and  li.-is  followed 
farming  most  of  his  life. 

Our.-iubjcct  w.as  married  in  the  spring  of  1857  to 
Miss  Emily  C.  Wright,  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Mary  (Arnold)  Wright,  both  from  Tennessee,  and 
pioneers  in  this  part  of  Illinois,  wlio  settled  in  Will- 
iamson County.  This  daiigliter  was  born  in  1811, 
and  her  father  died  on  his  farm  in  1860,  her  mother 
dj'ing  in  1885,  when  nearly  eighty  years  of  age. 
Mr.  Wise's  first  wife  died  in  her  forty -second  year, 
February  IG,  188:3.  She  bore  him  nine  children, 
five  sons  and  four  daughters,  all  but  two  of 
whom  have  died:  Mary  E.,  widow  of  Christopher 
Heir;  and  Robert  H.,  a  youth  of  seventeen  3'ears, 
at  home  and  in  school.  August  6,  1883,  Mr.  Wise 
was  married  a  second  time,  to  Sarah  E.  Boozer, 
wild  was  horn  in  Kentucky,  and  is  the  daughter 
of  Tl las  .1.  and  Eliza  (McEuan)  Boozer. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wise  reside  in  the  village  of  New 
Burnside,  which  has  been  their  home  since  May, 
1883.  Mr.  Wise  enlisted  August  15,  18G2,  in  the 
One  Hundred  and  Twentj'-cight  Illinois  Infantry, 
as  a  Sergeant  in  Company  F,  and  was  transferred 
to  Company  (i.  Ninth  Illinois,  under  the  command 
of  '-Old  Ike'"  Clemets, Captain.  On  July  28,  1861, 
the  regiment  was  consolidated  with  six  companies 
of  another  regiment,  and  Mr.  AVise  became  Com- 
missary Sergeant  of  Company  A,  of  the  consoli- 
dated regiment,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until 
he  was  discharged.  July  18,  1865.  During  his  ser- 
vice in  the  army  of  nearly  three  years,  while  he 
had  some  very  close  calls,  he  was  never  wounded, 
and  participated  in  ninety-four  battles  and  skir- 
mishes, being  on  duty  all  the  time  he  was  a 
soldier.  He  was  farming  when  the  war  broke  out, 
and  left  the  field  of  husbandry  for  the  field  of 
carnage,  his  wife  and  four  small  children  remaining 
at  home  to  be  cared  for  bj'  neighbors  and  friends. 
He  returned  from  the  war  to  iiis  old  home,  where 
he  continued  to  live  until  1871,  when  he  sold  his 
farm  and  bought  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
in  Williamson  County,  to  which  he  then  removed. 
There  he  lived  from  1871  to  1880,  and  was 
County  Commissioner  from  1873  to  1877,  during 
which  time  the  notorious  bandits  of  the  county 
were  brought   to  grief,  one  going  to  the  gallows 


and  seven  lo  prison  for  twenty-five  years.  In  the 
winter  of  1879-80  he  removed  to  Howell  County, 
Mo.,  where  he  was  for  three  years  engaged  in  pur- 
chasing supplies  for  the  Kansas,  Springfield  it 
Jlemphis  Railroad,  then  in  process  of  construction. 
Ill  May,  1883,  he  returned  to  New  Burnside  and 
bought  out  a  grocery  store,  which  he  sold  again 
within  six  months,  and  since  then  he  has  most  of 
the  time  been  Police  Magistrate,  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  etc.  He  is  fifty-six  years  old,  and  has  never 
had  any  legal  papeis  served  on  him  worse  than  a 
subpQ3na.  He  has  been  a  Ma.son  and  an  Odd 
Fellow,  and  is  now  a  member  of  Post  No.  538, 
G.  A.  R.,  having  joined  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  in  1885.  Up  to  1874  he  was  a  Democrat, 
but  since  then  he  has  been  a  supporter  of  the  Re- 
publican party  in  politics. 


•frrz:'fr==<f 


_y 


EWIS  LAVENDER  is  a  son  of  George  Lav- 
ender, a  native  of  Virginia,  who  was 
^  brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  received  but  a 
limited  education.  Coming  to  Illinois  in  1828  he 
settled  ill  Hardin  County.  Selecting  a  tract  of 
United  States  lead  land  he  opened  and  improved 
a  farm,  upon  which  he  resided  until  his  death.  He 
was  married  to  Elizabeth  Shoemaker,  daughter  of 
James  Shoemaker,  a  native  of  A'irginia,  by  whom 
he  had  seven  children,  three  of  whom  are  still  liv- 
ing: Mahala,  wife  of  Franklin  .laekson,  living  at 
Ilarrisburgli,  III.;  Harriet,  widow  of  John  Brink- 
ley,  and  Lewis,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Our  subject  w.as  born  in  Botetourt  County,  Va., 
September  22,  1814,and  was  brought  up  on  his  fa- 
ther's farm,  securing  his  early  education  in  a  sub- 
scription school,  which  was  taught  in  a  house  built 
of  logs,  which  had  a  dirt  tloor  and  fence  rails  for 
seat*.  The  window  In  this  schoolhouse  consisted 
of  a  piece  of  paper  stretched  across  an  opening 
made  by  cutting  out  a  portion  of  one  of  the  logs 
at  one  side.  Notwithstanding  all  the  disadvan- 
tages of  his  youth  he  secured  a  fair  education,  and 


:M(i 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


came  to  Ilardin  County,  111.,  with  his  fatiier  in 
1828,  where  he  worked  on  tlie  farm  until  1840,  was 
then  elected  Sheriff  of  Ilardin  County',  serving 
111  that  capacity  seventeen  years,  after  which  he 
was  elected  County  Commissioner,  served  one 
year  and  then  resigned.  He  was  married  Febru- 
ary 8,  1849,  to  Inda  Whitesides,  daughter  of  John 
Whitesides,  of  Oeorgia.  Hy  this  marriage  he  had 
eight  children,  seven  of  whom  are  now  living: 
Katie,  living  at  home  with  her  parents;  George, 
single  and  living  at  home;  Josephine,  wife  of  S.  S. 
IJarger,  living  at  Ilarrisburgh,  111.;  James,  at  home; 
John  M.,  superintendent  of  the  rock  quarry  at 
Shetlerville,  111.;  Adda,  single  and  living  at  home, 
and  Charlie,  living  in  Hardin  County.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  brief  sketch  always  votes  with  the 
Democratic  party.  Although  he  is  now  seventy- 
eight  3'ears  old  he  can  see  to  read  the  finest 
print  without  glasses.  He  has  always  been  su(v 
cessful  as  a  business  man  and  financier,  and  as  a 
consequence  he  is  one  of  the  wcaltiiiost  men  in  the 
county. 


I, 


IVILLIAM  HENRY  ALBRIGHT,  who  lives 


A  /  on  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  ninety 
^^'  acres  on  section  26,  and  who  also  owns  sev- 
enty acres  on  section  35,  in  Tunnel  Hill  Township, 
Johnson  County,  was  born  in  1850.  His  father, 
John  C.  Albright,  was  born  in  East  Tennessee, 
September  18,  1820,  and  was  the  youngest  son  of 
Luke  Albright,  a  Kentuckj'  farmer,  who  reared 
four  sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom  John  C.  was 
the  youngest.  Luke  Albright  died  on  his  own 
farm  in  Jlissouri  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years, 
his  wife  having  died  previousl}-,  at  a  great  age. 
Their  children  are  also  all  deceased.  The  wife  of 
John  C.  Albright  was  Letha  Simmons,  daughter 
of  Wilej-  Simmons,  a  Kentucky  farmer,  who  came 
to  Illinois  about  1835  with  small  means,  and  set- 
tled two  miles  east  of  Vienna.  His  first  dwelling- 
house,  built  of   logs  scalped   down  in  the  wall,  is 


still  standing,  and  is  preserved  by  his  son  as  a  relic. 
Mrs.  Albright  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1827,  and 
her  father  became  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Illinois 
and  died  on  his  farm,  then  one  and  a-half  miles 
from  Vienna,  at  nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  He  left 
four  sons  and  four  daughters,  his  widow  surviving 
him  about  two  years  and  dying  at  nearly  the  same 
age  as  her  husband.  In  her  profession  as  midwife 
and  nurse,  she  was  a  grand  and  useful  old  lady 
up  to  within  a  short  time  of  her  death.  Hut  five  of 
her  family  are  now  living. 

John  C,  the  father  of  our  sul)ject  ami  his  wife 
settled  on  Government  land  two  and  one-half 
miles  east  of  Goreville,  where  most  of  their  chil- 
dren were  born,  and  there  owned  at  one  time  five 
hundred  acres  of  land.  AVilliam  Henry  is  the 
third  child  and  second  son  of  a  family  of  ten 
children,  of  whom  one  son,  a  small  child,  is  dead, 
and  four  sons  living:  Lewis  J.,  a  farmer  near 
by;  Franklin  P.,  a  farmer  of  Williamson  County; 
John  Thaddeus,  a  farmer  in  Missouri;  and  James 
Marshall,  unmarried  and  living  in  Missouri,  near 
Cape  Girardeau.  The  sisters  aie:  Mary  E.,  widow 
of  Samuel  O.  McMahan,  living  on  her  farm  near 
Parker  City;  Emeline,  wife  of  James  Mohler,  a 
farmer  residing  south  of  Creal  Springs;  Letha 
Jane,  wife  of  A.  H.  Bass,  a  farmer  on  the  old  home 
place;  and  Amanda  M.,  wife  of  James  Carlton,  a 
prosperous  farmer  residing  two  and  one-half  miles 
south  of  Goreville. 

William  Henry  Albright  was  brought  up  on  a 
farm,  and  was  educated  in  the  common  schools. 
He  taught  school  one  winter,  but  on  account  of 
failing  health  he  gave  up  the  profession;  at  that 
time  he  weighed  but  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
pounds,  whereas  he  now  weighs  two  hundred 
and  ten  pounds.  He  remained  at  home  until  he 
was  married,  in  his  twenty-fourth  year  in  1873,  to 
Miss  Annette  Uugger,  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Elizabeth  (MeConnell)  Dugger,  from  Calloway 
County.  K}'.,  where  she  was  born.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Albright  began  married  life  on  a  forty-acre  farm 
near  the  old  homestead,  where  they  lived  for  less 
than  a  year,  and  sold  out  and  bought  one  hundred 
and  eighty-five  acres  two  and  a-half  miles  northeast 
of  Goreville.  After  farming  there  for  four  years 
lie    again    sold  out   and    bought  a    farm    of    one 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   RK^'IE^V. 


341 


himdred  and  fifty-five  acres  of  Lis  wife's  father  in 
Williamson  County,  for  which  farm  was  paid 
*.'5,r)()0.  Here  he  remained  for  four  \ears,  when 
\h'  bought  out  his  father-in-law  near  Tunnel 
Hill,  living  there  for  five  years,  and  then  bought 
his  present  farm  of  one  hundred  and  ninety  acres, 
coming  to  this  place  in  the  fall  of  1887.  He  also 
fnviis  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  acre  tract  from 
which  he  moved  last.  He  cairies  on  mixed  farm- 
ing, and  raises  much  good  stock  of  all  kinds;  has 
dealt  in  and  ship])ed  sheep,  hogs,  cattle  and  mules 
for  the  past  ten  years.  He  keeps  a  flock  of  about 
one  hundred  sheep,  Cotswold  and  Southdown 
breeds,  and  fifteen  head  of  horses  and  mules.  He 
always  keeps  a  jack  and  a  stock  horse,  and  ships 
as  high  as  one  hundred  and  fifty  cars  of  stock  per 
year,  but  averages  one  carload  per  week.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1889  he  traveled  and  bought 
stock  all  winter,  which  was  a  successful  enterprise. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Albright  have  lost  one  son,  Albert, 
who  died  when  one  3'ear  old.  They  now  have  live 
sons  and  one  daughter:  William  J.,  who  is  fifteen 
years  old;  Claudius,  thirteen;  liertha,  nine;  Au- 
gustus, five;  Cecil,  three;  and  Ruel,  a  babe  of  six 
months.  The  four  eldest  ones  are  in  scliool,  and 
are  doing  well  in  their  studies.  Mr.  Albright  is 
a  Master  Mason  and  a  member  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  poli- 
tics, and  is  well  known  as  an  enterprising  farmer 
and  dealer  in  stock.  He  started  without  capital, 
and  has  l)ecome  one  of  the  most  successful  farmers 
and  liii>ini'.->s  iiicii  in  tliis  part  of  the  State. 


ip^MOMAS  xNEWTON  LArUENCE,  one  of 
/^^^  the  prominent  farmers  of  Pojie  County,  has 
V^'  lived  for  the  past  forty  years  on  his  present 
farm  of  about  three  hundred  acres  on  section  .S2, 
township  1  1 ,  range  .j,  east.  He  was  born  in  IJut- 
Um  County,  Ky.,  October  21,  182(j.  His  father, 
Henry  (i.  Laurence,  was  born  in  the  same  county 
about  1807,  and  was  a  son  of  Thomas  Laurence,  a 


Revolutionary  soldier,  Vho  served  three  j'ears  in 
the  latter  part  of  that  war.  He  was  a  Virginia 
farmer,  but  removed  to  Kentucky-  at  an  early  day. 
and  there  reared  a  large  family',  having  had  two 
wives,  and  died  at  nearly  seventy  years  of  age. 

Thomas  Newton  Laurence  was  reared  at  home 
on  the  farm,  in  the  Western  Purchase  of  Ken- 
tucky. When  he  was  a  boy  he  had  little  oppor- 
tunity to  secure  an  education,  and  what  education 
he  did  receive  was  in  the  rude  round-log  school- 
house,  with  dirt  floor  and  stick  and  clay  chimney, 
and  a  fireplace  more  than  twelve  feet  wide. 
There  were  no  glass  windows  in  this  house,  the 
light  coining  in  at  the  door  and  through  an  open- 
ing made  b^'  the  omission  of  a  log  extending  the 
entire  length  of  the  building  about  ten  or  twelve 
inches  wide.  The  desk  to  write  upon  was  half  a 
log  resting  on  pins  driven  into  the  wall,  and  the 
seats  were  made  in  the  same  manner.  Some  of 
the  happiest  liours  of  Mr.  Laurence's  life  were 
passed  in  that  schoolhouse,  sitting  on  the  punch- 
eon seats,  with  his  toes  in  the  ashes,  and  peering 
into  the  blazing  fire  extending  the  entire  width  of 
the  fireplace.  When  he  was  eighteen  3-ears  old, 
he  received  about  fifteen  months' schooling,  which 
enabled  him  to  transact  all  ordinaiT  business  and 
to  go  through  life  in  a  fairly  satisfactory  manner. 
He  was  married  in  Marshall  Count3',  Ky.,  Novem- 
ber 29,  1849,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  3'ears,  to 
Marj^  T.  Feezor,  of  that  county,  who  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  George  and  Alary  (Ivy)  Feezor,  the  former 
of  whom  was  of  German  ancestry. 

Our  subject  had  no  cash  ea[)ital,  and  began  with 
about  *80  worth  of  household  goods.  He,  however, 
had  one  cow,  which  was  a  part  of  the  wife's  dowry, 
and  which  was  brought  along  when  the3'  moved 
to  Illinois.  They  arrived  November  25,  1850,  in 
Johnson  County,  and  Christm.as  Day  of  that  saiiio 
3'ear  they  removed  to  Pope  County,  to  the  bay  at 
Rich  Point,  where  Mr.  Laurence,  in  company  with 
his  brother  William,  bought  an  iin|)rovement  for 
1^30,  for  which  he  borrowed  money.  This  improve- 
ment they  soUl  for  an  eighty-acre  land  warrant, 
which  they  laid  out  on  land  in  .lohnson  County,  and 
afterward  traded  for  fort3-  acres  in  Pope  County, 
and  $20  in  money.  This  land  is  now  a  part  of  his 
present  farm.  He  took  also  as  a  part  of  the  bargain 


31-2 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


a  note  for  *40,  wliicti  he  traded  for  a  good  mare. 
From  this  beginning  lie  kept  on  and  prospered, 
woriving  hard  and  i)racticing  economy,  and  from 
time  to  time  added  other  Land  to  his  farm,  until 
he  had  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres.  He  now 
owns  iwo  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  of  which 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  are  improved. 

September  10,  18G1,  our  subject  left  his  wife  and 
children,  and  enlisted  in  Company  B,  Sixth  Illi- 
nois Cavalry,  under  Capt.  Morra^-,  and  went  out  as 
a  private,  but  was  promoted  to  be  Commissary  Ser- 
geant. He  was  mustered  out  of  service  November 
5,  186.5,  one  of  the  veterans  of  the  war,  who  had 
sacrificed  everything  for  his  country.  He  was  a 
very  stout  and  rugged  man, standing  six  feet  four 
inches,  and  weighing  two  hundred  and  sixteen 
pounds,  but  the  war  experience  was  severe  on  his 
health.  He  narrowly  -  escaped  death  by  being 
dragged  some  distance  by  a  vicious  mule,  he  liang- 
Ino-  by  one  foot  in  the  stirrup.  While  Mr.  Lau- 
rence is  to  all  appearances  a  healthy  and  well-pre- 
served man,  he  is  past  ail  hard  work,  and  is  prac- 
tically retired  from  active  life.  His  first  wife,  who 
died  January  22,  187.5,  bore  him  eleven  children, 
six  sons  and  five  daughters,  of  whom  eight  still 
survive.  Mr.  Laurence  was  married  the  second 
lime,  to  Mrs.  Nancy  E.  Harris,  widow  of  V.  B.  S. 
Harris,  and  a  daughter  of  W.  L.  and  Mary  (Har- 
wood)  Wootton.  By  her  first  husband  this  ladj' 
had  four  children,  three  sons  and  one  daughter,  of 
whom  only  one,  tlie  first-born,  James  William  Har- 
ris, is  now  living,  a  young  man  of  twenty-four 
years,  at  home. 

By  this  union  with  Mrs.  Harris,  our  subject  has 
become  the  father  of  three  sons  and  two  daughters, 
and  of  his  sixteen  children,  thirteen  are  still  liv- 
ing, the  youngest  being  a  bright  boy  eight  years 
of  age.  These  thirteen  children  are  as  follows: 
Belinda  J.,  wife  of  E.  F.  Wootton,  who  served  in 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  and  is  now  well-to-do 
and  retired  from  business,  living  at  Metropolis; 
George,  a  farmer  near  Olendale,  who  has  a  wife, 
three  sons  and  two  daughters;  Martha  E.,  wife  of 
A.  L.  Bradshaw,  «  farmer;  William  M.,  a  farmer  of 
Johnson  County,  who  has  a  wife,  one  son  and 
three  daughters;  Margaret  J.,  wife  of  W.  F.  F'riz- 
zell,  a  farmer,  who  has  five  sons  and   two  daugh- 


ters; Eveline,  wife  of  M.  F.  Sailes,  a  farmer  of 
Pope  County,  who  has  one  son  and  one  daughter; 
Susan  A.,  wife  of  T.  J.  F'eezor,  who  died  in  1892; 
Travis  .\.,  a  farmer;  John  II.,  a  farmer  in  John- 
son County,  who  is  married;  Mary  E.,  a  young 
lady  of  sixteen  years;  Joseph  W.,  fourteen  years; 
Samuel  A.,  twelve  years;  Minnie  G.,  ten  years; 
and  Edward  H.,  eight  years  of  age.  The  last 
five  children  were  born  of  the  second  wife.  A 
son,  II.  C,  died  on  the  19th  of  February,  1877, 
leaving  a  wife  and  one  sou.  Mr.  Laurence  is  a 
Royal  Arch  Mason,  and  a  member  of  the  Mission- 
ary liaptist  Church.  He  has  always  been  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  and  has  served  as  County  Com- 
missioner four  years;  also  acted  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace  four  years.  By  means  of  his  farming,  which 
has  been  of  a  general  nature,  he  has  accumulated  a 
competence  for  his  old  age,  and  is  now  in  a  degree 
enjoying  a  well-earned  rest  from  the  hard  labors 
of  the  farm. 


. —        I  Va  9* 


(i^^HOMAS  BEAN  was  born  in  Kentucky,  Au- 
(ff(^^  gnst  4,  1827,  and  now  resides  in  Belknap, 
V^^'  Johnson  Count}'.  He  is  a  son  of  Thomas 
and  Filizabeth  (Martin)  Bean,  who  were  both  na- 
tives of  Tennessee;  the  former  owned  a  farm  in 
Kentucky,  where  he  followed  farming  until  his 
death,  which  took  place  in  1827.  Thomas  Bean 
remained  at  home  until  he  wiis  twenty-three  years 
old,  iiaving  had  duiing  his  home  life  about  three 
months'  schooling  in  all.  After  the  death  of  his 
father,  the  mother  sold  the  farm  in  Kentuck}'  and 
moved  to  Illinois  by  wag-jn,  crossing  the  Ohio 
River  at  New  Liberty  Landing, and  purchased  land 
in  Johnson  County  in  December,  1850.  She  lived 
there  until  1860,  when  she  sold  her  land  and  lived 
with  her  children  until  her  death,  in  1866. 

When  the  war  came  on,  our  subject  enlisted  .-it 
Pisgaii,  Johnson  County,  as  a  member  of  Company 
C,  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry, 
and  served  until  March  u,  I8C.'5,  when  he  was  hon- 
orably discharged  on  account  of  physical  disability. 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


343 


He  was  in  poor  health  all  the  time  he  was  in  the 
service,  and  after  receiving  his  dismissal,  he  re- 
turned home  and  rented  his  mother's  farm,  on 
wiiicli  he  lived  about  ten  3'ears.  At  that  time  he 
rented  another  farm  in  tlie  same  count}',  and  in 
188(1  and  1882  he  purchased  land  on  sections  2 
and  85,  Cache  Township,  which  is  now  as  good  a 
farm  as  there  is  in  the  township,  and  upon  which 
the  house  and  other  buildings  are  also  first  class. 

The  gentleman  of  whom  we  write  was  married 
.lanuary  22,  18.i2.  to  Martha  .1.  Bryant,  who  died 
on  the  27th  of  December,  18.52.  After  the  death 
of  his  first  wife,  Mr.  Bean  was  married  the  second 
time,  .September  24,  18.')1,  to  Naomi  Jones,  who 
was  born  in  Kentucky  .July  20,  18;?;].  Mr.  and 
Mis.  Bean  have  seven  children:  .Martha. I. .Thomas 
M..  William  Findley,  Mary  Ann,  Anna  T.,  Carlos 
('.  and  Sarah  C.  Mr. and  Mrs.  Bean  are  both  active 
nicmbors  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
he  is  also  connected  with  the  Grand  Army  Post  at 
Belknap.  Politically,  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Re- 
piiltlican  party,  for  wliicli  hcexertsall  his  intluence. 


■Jf/OSJAII  T11K(_)(;. MORTON,  who  has  been  a 
prosperous  farmer  for  sixteen  years  in 
Burnside  Township,  and  also  thirteen  years 
on  his  present  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  acres  on  sections  24  and  2o,  was  born 
in  .lohnson  County  in  18.55.  His  father,  Josiah 
Thrograorton,  was  born  in  North  Caiolinaiu  1811, 
and  was  reared  and  married  in  that  State.  His 
first  wife  was  a  Miss  McSwain,  who  bore  him  three 
ehilc'rcn  and  died  in  North  Carolina.  He  was 
married  the  second  time,  to  Martha  Pierce,  the 
mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and  by  her 
he  iiad  six  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom  .lo- 
siah  was  the  seventh  child  in  order  of  birth. 
One  daughter  died  in  infancy;  .lohii  was  a  soldier 
ill  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  w.as  wounded  in  the 
battle  of  Shiloh  and  probably  died;  Eliza  died 
about  1873  at  the  .ige  of  twenty-three  years.  The 
father  of  these  children  died  in  1872  at  the  age  of 


sixty-two.  He  came  to  Illinois  with  his  second 
wife  and  four  children  well  into  the  '40s  a  poor 
man,  but  with  his  own  team  of  oxen.  He  took  up 
Government  land  in  .lohnson  County  and  |)iir- 
chased  a  farm  under  deed  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  upon  which  he  lived  some  twenty 
3'ears.  This  farm  he  then  sold,  and  he  bought  in 
Burnside  an  eightj'-acre  farm,  on  which  he  resided 
until  his  death.  His  widow,  aged  seventy-four 
years,  is  still  living  in  Williamson  County  with 
her  son  Pinkey,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  late  war. 

•losiah  lived  at  home  on  the  farm  and  attended 
school  a  part  of  the  time,  and  learned  the  com- 
mon English  branches,  until  he  was  married  in 
November,  1875,  to  Miss  Lizzie  Reeves,  a  native  of 
Kentucky,  and  daughter  of  Absalom  and  Louisa 
(Blackstone)  Reeves,  both  of  whom  died  in  Ken- 
tucky. Our  subject  and  his  wife  began  life  on  a 
rented  farm  in  this  county  and  within  three  years 
were  enabled  to  buy  forty  acres  of  laud,  to  which 
he  soon  afterward  added  ten  acres.  To  this  tract 
were  added  thirty  acres  more,  then  twent^'-five, 
next  fifteen,  and  finally  fort3'-seven  acres,  making 
one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  broad  and  fertile 
acres,  for  which  he  has  paid  from  $5  to  $15  per 
acre.  He  has  improved  much  of  this  land  and  has 
planted  five  acres  in  orchard  trees,  apples,  pe.aches, 
pears,  plums,  cherries  and  grapes.  His  farming  is 
mixed  husbandly,  he  growing  more  winter  wheat 
than  any  other  crop,  but  also  a  considerable 
amount  of  corn.  His  corn  yields  about  thirt^'-five 
bushels  and  his  wheat  averages  twenty  bushels  to 
the  acre,  and  a  number  of  cattle,  horses,  sheep  and 
hogs  will  be  found  on  this  well-kept  farm. 

Mr.  Throgmortou  is  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
.School  Directors  and  is  Overseer  of  the  Poor.  He 
is  a  Master  Mason  and  also  a  member  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  All  of  his  eight 
children  arc  living:  Martha  Louisa,  sixteen  j'ears 
of  age;  John  Henry,  fourteen  years;  Thomas  Ar- 
thur, twelve;  Eininet  P.,  ten;  William  A.,  eight; 
Walter  Lee,  six;  Nellie  Pearl,  four;  and  Norris, 
two  years  old.  They  are  all  in  school  except  the 
eldest  and  the  two  youngest,  the  purpose  of  Mr. 
Throgmortou  being  to  give  them  a  good  educa- 
tion. This  honored  gentleman  built  his  present 
fine,    large,   two-story    frame    house   in    1890;    it 


344 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


is  36x38  feet  in  size,  has  eight  rooms,  and  is  one 
of  tlie  best  and  most  modern  farmhouses  in  this 
county.  Mr.  Throgmorton  is  a  Republican  in  [xil- 
itics,  and  a  highly-respected  citizen  Of  Johnson 
County,  whose  acquaintances  regard  him  with 
much  favor  because  of  his  sterling  qualities  and 
genial  social  nature. 


*^^[ 


mm.^: 


l^^m- 


^=^E()RGE  W.  .SMITH  has  made  his  own  way 
(Ij  (=■  in  the  world  since  his  eighth  year,  and,  con- 
^^1  sidering  the  disadvantages  in  his  pathway- 
from  that  tender  age  onward,  he  has  certainly 
made  a  marked  success  of  his  life.  Me  owns  a  well- 
improved  farm  on  section  9,  township  11,  range  7, 
Pope  County,  and  is  also  the  owner  of  a  fine 
large  store,  20x38  feet  in  dimensions,  located  at 
Grand  Pier  Park,  where  he  is  doing  a  good  busi- 
ness in  general  merchandise,  and  carrj'ing  a  well- 
selected  stock,  amounting  at  the  present  time  to 
about  $3,000.  On  his  farm  he  has  erected  a  com- 
modious and  pleasant  farm  residence,  and  has  im- 
proved it  in  various  ways. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  ISaline 
County,  111.,  in  1856,  his  father,  William  W.  Smith, 
having  been  a  native  of  the  same  county.  The 
latter  was  a  prosperous  farmer,  and  mai'ried  near 
his  birthplace  Miss  Susan  A.  Marshall,  who  became 
the  mother  of  our  subject.  She  was  called  from 
this  life  in  1864,  when  George  W.  was  a  lad  of 
eight  years,  and  six  years  later  the  father  also  de- 
parted this  life,  at  the  age  of  forty-four  years. 
He  left  four  children:  Mary  E.,  widow  of  Jolin  C. 
Williams;  William  ,J.,  a  farmer  of  Saline  County; 
George  W.,  our  subject;  and  Nancy  J.,  wife  of 
William  Seets,  of  Saline  County.  For  a  number 
of  years  Mr.  Smith  of  this  sketch  worked  out  by 
the  month  or  year,  receiving  in  return  for  his  la- 
bor at  first  onl3'  his  board,  and  for  many  years  he 
never  received  more  than  $18  per  month.  Being 
brought  up  as  a  farmer  lad  it  was  very  natural 
that  on  arriving  at  man's  estate  he  should  con- 
tinue in  the  same   occupation,  and  until  1885  he 


gave  his  entire  time  to  agricultural  pursuits.  In 
that  year  he  first  embarked  in  merchandising,  and 
ill  this  line  of  business  he  has  been  quite  succes.s- 
ful,  having  trade  from  the  adjoining  townships. 

Mr.  Smith  was  married  May  26,  1881,  to  Louisa 
A.  Ortmaun,  a    native    of   Saline    County',  where 
tlieir    marriage  was  celebrated.     She  is  the  daugli- 
ter  of  Theodore  and  Dora  (Feller)    Ortinann,  who 
were  both  natives  of  Gerrnanj%  but  were  married 
in  Saline  County  in  1858.     The  former  emigrated 
from    the  Fatherland  in    1851,  and  on  his  arrival 
in  New  York    City  was   almost   entirely    without 
means.     He  was  unable  to  speak  a  w^ord  of  English, 
Ijul  liad  a  good  German  education  and  was  happily 
possessed  of  industrious  and  persevering  qualities, 
by  which  means  he  was  enabled  to  rise  in  the  world. 
In  his  native  land  he  had  learned  the  blacksmith 
trade   and  the  manufacturing  of    fine  tools.     For 
three  years  he  worked  in  New  York  making  den- 
tal implements,  and  then  went  to  Chicago,  where 
he  worked  in  a  machine   shop.     In    1856  he  pur- 
chased an  interest    in  a  sawmill  in  Wisconsin,  at 
Foundry  Lake,  where,  however,  he  remained  but  a 
short   time,  later  removing  to  Saline  County,  and 
locating  on  a  farm.     During  the  war,  as  there  was 
great  demand  for  such  work  as  he  could  turn  out, 
he  went  into  a  foundry  at  Evansville  Ind.,  where 
he  obtained  $18  per  week  for  his  services,  and  there 
remained  in  business  for   two  j'ears.     In  1864  he 
returned  to  his  farm  of  two   hundred   and    thirty 
acres,  which  he  engaged   iu  cultivating  until  the 
spring  of  1892.     He  then  removed  to  his  present 
home  with  our  subject,  and  has  since  been  engaged 
in    merchandising    with    him.     Mr.  Ortmann  was 
born  in  1816,  his  father   being    Charles    Ortmann, 
an  artificer  in  brass,  who  was  a  man  of  considerable 
wealth    and    the    owner  of   a  brass  foundry.     He 
died  in  1831,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years,  leaving 
a  widow,    whose    maiden    name  was  Caroline  Dc 
Teet.     She  survived    him  ten  years,  dying  at  the 
age  of  sixty.     They  had  four  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, all  of  whom  are  now  deceased  but  Theodore 
Ortmann.     The  five  children  of  the  latter,  one  son 
and  four  daughters,  are  well-known  cilizenst)f  Sa- 
line County. 

Soon  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Smith  and  his  young 
wife  commenced  life  together  on  a  rented  farm  in 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


347 


a  very  humble  way,  but  so  industrious  and  care- 
ful were  they,  that  by  their  united  efforts  at  the 
end  t)f  a  year  the3'  became  possessed  of  forty  acres 
(if  land  in  Saline  County,  which  our  subject  con- 
tinued to  cultivate  until  the  year  1885,  when 
lie  sold  it  for  a  oroodly  sum  and  rented  a  small 
store  and  cabin  near  his  present  location.  He  soon 
afterward  erected  his  present  commodious  dwell- 
ing, and,  buying  a-half  acre  of  ground,  built  a 
store  also.  In  1888  he  established  a  post-office, 
which  was  later  removed  to  Herod  Springs.  In 
view  of  the  obstacles  he  has  met  all  along  his  path- 
way, Mr.  Smith  has  been  quite  successful  as  an 
agriculturist  and  business  man,  and  well  merits 
the  high  resepct  in  which  he  is  held  in  this  neigh- 
ImjiIkkkI.     In  [xiliiio  iie  is  a  Democrat. 


e^H^^ 


ANIEL  TURXEH,   hotel-keeper  at  Parker 
]Jj   City,  111.,  was  born  in  New  York  Cit}-  in 
1823.     His  father,  Amaziah  Turner,  whose 
"^  ancestors    were   among    the    first    settlers 

from  Holland  on  Manhattan  Island,  was  a  native 
of  New  York,  born  near  Peekskill  in  1804.  The 
mother  of  Daniel  Turner  was  Mary  Ann  Rossiter, 
of  New  York  City,  and  a  daughter  of  Timothy 
Rossiter  and  a  Miss  Schermerhorn,  of  Dutch  na- 
tivity. The  father  of  Daniel  was  a  farmer  on  the 
Hudson, and  was  married  in  New  YorkCit}',  where 
he  engaged  in  the  grocery  trade.  He  served  on 
the  police  force  for  some  j-ears,  and  being  a  tem- 
perate man  was  for  some  years  one  of  the  emer- 
gency men.  In  the  spring  of  183()  he  removed  to 
Ohio,  by  steamer  to  Albany,  bj'  canal  to  Buffalo, 
and  then  by  steamer  to  Toledo.  He  settled  in 
Lucas  Count}'  on  wild  Government  land,  making 
a  permanent  home  on  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  which  he  cleared  up  and  converted  into  a 
good  farm.  The  playmates  of  Daniel  were  the 
little  Indian  boys,  there  being  at  that  time  but 
three  white  families  witliin  nine  nnles,  and  the 
nearest  store  and  mill  were  twenty  miles  away,  at 
Adrian,  Mich.     The  parents  of  Daniel  lived    there 

18 


until  their  death,  the  mother  dying  in  1853,  about 
fifty  years  of  age,  and  the  father  some  3'ears  later, 
at  the  age  of  seventy' -seven  years.  Thej'  left  a 
family  of  six  children,  of  whom  our  subject  is  now 
the  only  living  son.  His  l)rolher  fieorge  died  there 
at  thirty  years  of  age. 

From  the  age  of  twelve  to  that  of  twenty-one 
3'ears  of  age  Daniel  Turner  was  brought  up  at 
home  on  the  farm,  ;md  at  the  age  of  twenty-two 
was  married  to  Emeline  Thorp,  of  Cherry  Valley, 
N.  Y.,  whose  father  was  one  of  the  early  settlers 
in  Ohio,  going  there  some  ten  years  after  the  Tur- 
ners. Mrs.  Turner  died  in  early  years  of  consuni])- 
lion,  and  her  only  child  died  soon  afterward.  Our 
subject  was  a  regularly  enlisted  soldier  in  the  car- 
penter corps,  and  was  in  the  service  one  year, 
from  1862  to  1863.  He  went  from  Parrysburgh. 
Wood  County,  Ohio,  where  he  served  a  regular 
apprenticeship  to  the  carpenter's  trade,  at  which 
he  has  since  worked  most  of  Ins  life.  He  was 
married  the  second  time,  to  Parraelia  Plummer, 
in  184:7,  near  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  while  there  on  a 
visit,  and  brought  his  bride  to  Ohio.  She  lived 
ten  years  and  bore  him  five  children,  three  boys  and 
two  girls,  of  whom  one  of  the  former  and  two  of  the 
latter  are  still  living,  namel}-:  Philemon,  Eliza 
and  Luc3'.  Philemon  has  been  a  railroad  man  at 
Port  Clinton  on  the  Lake  Shore  A  Michigan  South- 
ern Railroad  for  the  past  two  years.  He  served  in 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion  during  the  entire  strug- 
gle, and  came  out  as  Orderh-  to  his  Colonel  in  the 
cavalry.  Eliza  is  the  wife  of  Ror}'  Moahler,  of 
Ohio,  and  Lucy  is  the  wife  of  David  Ensminger,  of 
Ohio.  The  mother  of  thesechildren  died  in  1857, 
at  the  age  of  thirt}-  j'ears.  Some  time  after  Jlr. 
Turner  was  married  to  Mrs.  Martha  Earls,  nee 
Pike,  of  Dinwiddle  Count3',  Va.  The}-  were  mar- 
ried in  Cheatham  Count3',  Tenn.,  in  1870.  They 
have  had  two  children,  one  of  whom,  a  daughter, 
is  deceased,  and  the  son,  Louis  F.,  is  now  a  3'oung 
man  of  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  has  recentl}- 
married  Miss  Mary  Akin,  of  Nashville,  III. 

Our  subject  went  from  Ohio  to  Missouri  in  1867, 
and  from  that  State  he  came  to  Illinois  in  1872. 
He  worked  at  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  most  of 
the  time  he  lived  in  Missouri,  living  in  Dutchtown, 
Cape  Girardeau  Count}-.     He  has  lived  at  Tunnel 


.•!t8 


POKIl.'AI  r   AM)  lUOflRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


Hill  eighteen  3'e:u-s.  and  (luring  that  time  has  heen 
engaged  in  farming,  hotel-keeping  and  building. 
He  huill  a  (larl  of  his  large  hotel  in  the  fall  of 
|H!)(),  and  on  Novemlter  5,  that  ^ear,  the  anniver- 
sary of  his  birth,  he  gave  a  house-warming  and  a 
line  dinner  as  an  opening,  Ills  house  is  32x64 
feet  in  size,  is  two  full  stories  in  height,  and  has 
twenty-foot  posts.  This  house  is  at  the  junction 
of  two  railroads,  called  Parker  City,  where  he  feeds 
many  hungry  travelers,  serving  two  dinners  every 
day  in  the  year.  He  has  a  wide  reputation  as  a 
(irst-class  landlord,  and  has  built  up  a  good  trade. 

Mr.  Turner  is  a  loyal  Republican  in  polities. 
While  he  has  never  been  in  robust  healtli,  he  has 
held  his  own  remarkably  well,  considering  the  var- 
ied career  he  has  experienced,  lie  spent  three  win- 
ters in  Florida  for  the  benelit  of  his  health,  and 
recently  sold  his  hotel  at  Tunnel  Hill  and  removed 
to  this  township. 

In  religious  affairs  our  subject  is  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Christian  Church  of  New  Burnside,  to 
which  he  contributes  liberallj',  and  exerts  his  in- 
lUience.  He  has  attained  his  success  in  life  by  his 
own  industry,  and  great  credit  is  due  him  for  his 
perseverance,  economy  and  thrift,  as  well  as  his 
good  management. 


Ii-^i"i^il^#i^ 


RS.  SARAH  E.  STANSBERRY,  wife  of  C. 
W.  Stansberry,  is  a  daughter  of  George  W. 
Gossage,  who  was  born  in  Caswell  County, 
X.  C.  near  the  Virginia  line,  December 
26,  IS  12.  Her  grandfather,  William  Gossage,  was 
born  in  1773,  and  probably  in  Maryland,  where 
he  followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer,  which  his 
father  pursued  before  him.  The  latter,  who  was 
defrauded  of  a  large  fortune  in  England  to  which 
he  was  the  rightful  heir,  was  also  a  silk  weaver 
by  tr.ide,  and  came  from  England  and  settled  in 
Maryland.  When  he  was  a  boy  of  fifteen  he  was 
present  at  the  crowning  of  (ieorge  III.  His  first 
wife  died  in  Maryland,  leaving  four  sons  and  one 
daughter,  after  which  he  removed  to  North  Caro- 


lina, where  he  was  again  married.  He  died  in  Cas- 
well Count}',  N.  C,  in  his  ninety-seventh  year. 
When  ninety-six  years  old  he  walked  two  miles  to 
church,  and  also  did  some  plowing,  working  in 
this  way  up  to  within  two  weeks  of  his  death. 
His  funeral  sermon  was  a  very  able  and  remark- 
able one,  from  the  text,  "Man  dieth  and  wasteth 
away;  yea,  a  man  giveth  up  the  ghost  and  where  is 
he?"  This  sermon  was  preached  by  a  Baptist 
preacher  who  was  born  blind.  Mr.  Stansberry  left 
four  children,  three  sons  and  one  daughter,  of 
whom  William  Gossage  was  the  second  child  and 
son  in  order  of  birth.  He  married  Mary  Fergu- 
son of  South  Carolina,  and  in  1820  they  removed 
to  East  Tennessee,  where  both  died  near  Knox- 
ville  on  a  farm,  and  left  four  sons  and  live  daugh- 
ters, of  whom  George  W.  Gossage,  the  father  of 
Mrs.  Stansberry,  was  the  third  child  and  second 
son.  The  sons  were:  James  Patton,  George  W., 
William  and  Andrew  Jackson;  and  the  daughters: 
Nancy,  Betsy,  Peggy,  Mary  and  Sally.  All  have 
died  except  George  W.,  the  father  of  ]\Irs.  Stans- 
berry, and  his  sister  Mary,  widow  of  John  Chilton, 
residing  on  her  farm  in  Jefferson  County,  and  in 
her  seventy-sixth  year. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  married  in  1832, 
to  Nancy  Hart,  of  Bedford  Count}',  Tenn.,  where 
thej'  lived  until  1854,  iu  October  of  which  year 
they  removed  to  Illinois  with  their  own  teams  and 
covered  wagons  in  regular  emigrant  style,  bring- 
ing with  them  their  eleven  children.  They  had 
in  all  thirteen  children,  two  of  -whom  were  born 
in  Illinois.  Thej-  buried  their  seventh  son  when 
an  infant,  and  also  their  son  James  W.,  who  died 
in  La  Grange,  Tenn,  in  1863.  He  was  a  volunteer 
in  the  Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry, served  two  years,  and 
died  of  disease  at  the  age  of  thirty-one  years,  leav- 
ing a  family.  Mary  A.,  wife  of  John  H.  Hester, 
died  in  Saline  County,  111.,  in  1869,  leaving  a 
large  family.  Fanny  M.,  wife  of  Isaac  M.  Robert- 
son, died  in  Johnson  County,  111.,  in  1888,  aged 
forty-two  years,  leaving  seven  children.  The  liv- 
ing children  are  as  follows:  Mrs.  Sarah  E.  Stans- 
berry; William  D.,  a  farmer  of  Pope  Count}',  who 
has  by  two  wives  ten  children;  H.  I.,  a  farmer  of 
Pope  County,  and  also  a  preacher,  the  head  of  a 
large  family;  Thomas  D.,  a  farmer  of  Missouri,  with 


POUTUAIT  AND    lUUGRAl'IUCAL    REVIEW. 


349 


a  family  of  seven  children;  Mahulda  C,  wife  of  J. 
W.  Hancock,  wlio  is  the  nioliier  of  sixteen  children; 
Nanc\',  the  widow  of  William  Williams,  witli  a 
family  of  live  children;  George  W.,  Jr.,  a  farmer 
of  the  sanu'coiinty,  with  a  familj-  of  seven  children  ; 
Andrew  J.,  who  has  a  wife  but  no  children;  and 
Virginia,  wife  of  Asa  Owen,  who  has  nine  children. 
The  mother  of  these  children  died  at  the  home 
of  her  son,  Henry  L.,  July  4,  1890,  aged  sevent}'- 
four  years.  The  father,  who  is  still  living,  vigor- 
ous in  body  and  mind,  at  the  age  of  eighty  is  the 
grandfather  of  ninety-six  children,  and  the  great- 
grandfather of  tiftj'-one.  His  activity  is  remark- 
able, he  being  able  now  to  jump  up  and  strike  his 
heels  together  twice  before  again  coming  down  on 
the  floor.  Two  of  his  sons,  Henry  L.  and  Thom.is 
I).,  were  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  during 
the  AVar  of  the  Rebellion.  Mrs.  Stansberry  resides 
in  Cobden,  where  her  husband  is  Cit}-  Marshal. 
Her  son,  George  W.  Stansberry,  is  the  agent  of  the 
Adams  Express  Company'  at  Rock  Island  and  Po- 
lice Magistrate.  Her  second  son,  S.  Finley,  is  a 
printer  in  Cobden,  and  is  married.  Her  daughter 
Nannie  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Bahr,  and  her  daugh- 
ter Emma  is  the  wife  of  Thomas  O.  Milton.  Our 
subject  is  a  lady  possessing  an  amiable  and  social 
disposition,  and  i<  liked  by  all  who  know  her. 


I 


l>^^<^^-<' 


I  IftlLLIAM  G.  WHITE,  M.  D.,  a  practicing 
\^//  i""'  eminent  physician  of  Elvira  Town- 
V^^  ship,  was  born  in  Brcckenridge  County, 
Ivy.,  May  21,  1853,  His  father,  Jacob  S.  White, 
M.  D.,  was  born  in  Columbiana  Count}-,  Ohio,  and 
his  father  was  born  In  Scotland.  Emigrating 
to  the  Fnited  .States,  he  settled  in  Columbiana 
County,  Ohio,  purchased  a  farm  and  spent  the  rest 
of  his  days  there.  He  was  the  only  member  of  his 
family  that  ever  came  to  the  United  States.  Jacob 
S.  White  left  the  parental  roof  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen, and  ever  afterward  cared  for  himself.  He 
at  first  went  to  Louisiana,  and  was  engaged 
at   various    kinds    of    work    there.     He  was  very 


industrious  and  made  the  best  of  his  oppor- 
tunities to  acquire  property  and  knowledge,  and 
early  in  life  turned  his  attention  to  the  study 
of  medicine.  He  was  graduated  from  the  Jeffer- 
son Medical  College  at  Philadelphia,  and  was  al- 
most immediately  appointed  surgeon  on  one  of  the 
steamers  plying  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  In  1850 
he  resigned  and  went  to  Breckenridge  Countj-, 
Ky.,  and  practiced  his  profession  there  until  1857, 
i  when  he  removed  to  Kokomo,  Ind.,and  was  in  ac- 
tive practice  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war. 

When  war  was  declared,  the  father  of  our 
subject  was  appointed  surgeon  of  tiie  Thirty- 
fourth  Regiment  of  Indiana  Infantry,  in  which 
position  he  served  until  failing  health  compelled 
him  to  resign.  He  found,  however,  that  his  health 
was  permanently  broken,  and  his  death  occurred 
October  17,  1865.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Elizabeth  A.  Grant,  a  native  of  Breckenridge 
County,  Ky.,  and  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Grant,  of 
Virginian  ancestry.  Her  mother  was  Adeline 
Barger,  who  was  born  near  Spottsylvania  Court 
House,  Va.,  where  some  of  her  relatives  still  live. 
Dr.  William  G.  White  was  twelve  years  old 
when  his  father  died,  and  he  was  reared  by  his  ma- 
tenial  grandparents  until  he  was  sixteen  years  old, 
in  the  meantime  learning  the  trade  of  a  wood  en- 
graver. At  the  age  of  seventeen  years  he  began 
clerking  in  a  drug  store,  and  continued  thus  en- 
gaged five  3'ears,  in  which  time  he  turned  his  at- 
tention to  the  stud}'  of  medicine,  and  in  March, 
1882,  was  graduated  from  the  Indiana  Medical 
College,  and  immediatel}-  located  in  Jonesborough, 
111.,  and  engaged  in  the  pr.ictice  of  his  profession 
there  until  1885,  when  he  was  severel}'  injured  by 
being  thrown  from  a  carriage,  and  was  consequently 
compelled  to  abandon  his  practice.  He  went  to 
Indianapolis  and  remained  there  until  sullicientl}- 
recovered  to  resume  his  professional  labors,  and 
then  went  to  King's  Mills,  Ohio,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed as  physician  by  the  Great  Western  Powder 
Company,  remaining  in  their  employ  two  3'ears. 
He  then  located  at  Buncombe,  Johnson  Connty, 
where  he  at  once  entered  upon  a  very  successful 
practice.  In  February,  1870,  he  was  married  to 
Flora  Bossaman,  a  native  of  Indiana,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Adam  and  Saionie  Bossaman.    Dr.  White  and 


350 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


liis  wife  are  tlie  parents  of  four  children,  viz:  Addie 
Z.,  (;ui.tavia,  Nellie  S.  and  William  S.  Mrs.  White 
is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
the  Doctor  is  a  member  of  the  Southern  Ijodge  I. 
().  ().  1'..  of  .lonesboro,  also  of  the  Knights  of 
I'ylliias.  Not  only  has  he  proved  of  great  benefit 
to  this  community  in  the  alleviation  of  suffering, 
but  he  also  worthili'  does  his  part  in  the  advance- 
ment of  local  affairs,  and  is  numbered  among  the 
substantial  citizens,  ever  ready  to  aid  in  all  good 
work  and  meritorious  enterprises. 


3.i..j..{..}.'^;^'^.{.^..5.F 


l'  OllN  (^  A.  Li:i)BETTKR  is  a  son  of  .lames 
A.  Ledbetter,  a  native  of  Christian  County, 
Ky.,  and  now  makes  his  home  in  Elizabeth- 
''  town.  Hardin  County.  .lames  A.  Ledbetter 
was  born  in  1827,  and  though  he  had  but  little 
education  in  school,  yet  be  was  a  man  of  accurate 
observation,  and  by  contact  with  the  world  has  ac- 
(luired  a  good  practical  education.  He  was 
brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  also  learned  the  car- 
penter trade.  He  removed  to  Hardin  County  in 
1843,  where  he  followed  farming  and  carpentering 
until  1847,  when  he  removed  to  Desha  County, 
Ark.  Remaining  there  until  the  spring  of  1850, 
he  returned  to  Illinois  and  bought  forty  acres  of 
land  in  Hardin  County,  to  which  he  devoted  his 
time,  cultivating  and.  improving  it  until  1856, 
when  he  removed  to  Elizabethtown,  111.,  and  fol- 
lowed his  trade  as  carpenter.  He  now  lives  at 
Cave  in  Rock,  ten  miles  from  Elizabethtown,  with 
his  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1845  and  who 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Mary  Scoggins.  She 
was  a  native  of  Hardin  County,  and  became  the 
mother  of  eight  children,  five  of  whom  still  sur- 
vive, and  who  are  in  comfortable  circumstances. 

John  Q.  A.  Ledbetter,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  December  23,  1849,  in  Desha  County, 
Ark.,  where  his  early  days  were  spent  on  the  farm, 
but  in  1856  he  engaged  with  his  father  on  a  trad- 
in<^  boat,  plying  up  and  down  the  Ohio  and  Miss- 
issippi Rivers.     His  early  education  was  obtained 


in  the  country  schools,  but  he  afterward  attended 
school  two  years  at  Evansville,  Ind.,  and  gradu- 
ated from  the  public  .school  of  that  [)lace,  after 
which  he  began  the  study  of  law  in  1871.  He  wa.s 
admitted  to  the  liar  in  1872  and  ever  since  he  has 
succe.ssfully  followed  the  practice  of  the  profession. 
He  was  elected  County  Judge  in  1873,  and  served 
in  that  capacity  four  years,  giving  the  best  of  sat- 
isfaction to  his  constituents.  In  1880  he  was 
elected  State's  Attorney  and  served  in  that  office 
eight  years,  and  also  held  the  office  of  Master  in 
Chancery  at  one  time.  By  close  attention  to  his 
duties  he  has  accumulated  quite  a  snug  little  for- 
tune, and  is  one  of  the  wealthiest  citizens  of  the 
county.  He  was  first  married  August  8,  1875,  to 
Artiraissa  Steele,  who  died  on  the  9th  of  August, 
1882,  leaving  two  children,  Gracie  and  Oakly 
A.  His  second  marriage,  which  occurred  on  the 
5th  of  February,  1884,  united  him  with  Miss  G. 
Ledbetter,  of  Kentucky,  by  whom  he  has  two  chil- 
dren. Wily  A.  and  Dossett  E.  Politically  Mr.  Led- 
better is  a  Democrat,  taking  an  active  part  in  the 
conduct  of  the  campaigns  of  the  party.  He  is  a 
Mason  and  belongs  to  Lodge  No.  276,  at  Eliza- 
bethtown and  is  also  a  member  of  Empire  Lodge 
No.  54,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  as  well  as  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic Chapter  at  Metropolis.  AVhile  he  is  not  a 
member  of  an}'  church,  he  is  an  earnest  worker  in 
the  interest  of  the  Christian  denomination,  to 
which  he  contributes  liberally. 


^ ^ 


^  OHN  HENRY  MOSELY,  a  prominent  and 
I  prosperous  farmer  of  LTnion  Township, 
Pope  County,  was.  born  in  Wilson  County, 
Tenn.,  in  1832.  His  father,  Asa  Mosely, 
was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  1800.  His  father 
bore  the  name  of  Drewry  Mosely,  and  was  also  of 
North  Carolina,  and  a  farmer,  as  was  his  son  Asa. 
Drewry  Mosely  married  Millie  Burnett,  also  of 
North  Carolina.  They  removed  to  Smith  County, 
Tenn.,  with  their  family  about  1819,  living  there 
some  years,  and    then    followed    their   sons  to  111- 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW, 


351 


iuois  in  the  fall  of  1821.  Asa  Mosel^'  came  to 
this  State  a  \'oiing  man,  but  later  returned  to 
Tenuessee  for  his  betrothed.  Miss  Frances  Ligou, 
formerly  of  ^'irginia,  and  a  daugliter  of  AVilliam 
Ligou,  of  the  vicinity  of  Rioliniond.  Asa  Mosely 
and  his  wife  came  to  Illinois  in  1840  from  Owen 
County,  K}'.,  to  which  county  they  had  removed 
from  Tennessee  some  six  j-eai-s  before.  They 
brought  with  them  a  family  of  eight  children, 
four  sons  and  four  daughters,  one  of  whom  was 
born  to  the  second  wife.  Our  subject's  grand- 
father, Drewr}'  Mosel}',  removed  to  Illinois  in  true 
emigrant  style,  with  bis  ox-teams  and  wagons, 
and  though  he  had  but  limited  means,  he  settled 
on  Government  land  in  AVilliamson  Countj',  where 
lie  lived  the  rest  of  his  life,  dying  in  the  year 
1847  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  j-ears.  His 
widow  survived  him  ten  years  and  died  at  an  ad- 
vanced age,  leaving  seven  children,  viz:  Daniel, 
who  was  born  in  1790,  and  who  participated  in 
the  battle  of  New  Orleans  under  Gen.  Jackson, 
and  died  in  Metropolis  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years,  leaving  a  large  estate  to  a  large  family'; 
Joseph,  who  died  in  Williamson  County  at  the 
age  of  eight}--four;  Asa,  father  of  our  subject, 
who  died  on  his  farm  in  the  year  1857;  Ket- 
urah,  wife  of  John  Jones,  who  died  in  Washing- 
ton County,  111.,  at  the  age  of  seventy  j'ears,  leav- 
ing a  large  family;  John,  who  died  on  his  farm 
when  he  was  seventy-eight  years  of  age;  Sallj', 
wife  of  Thomas  Fisher,  and  who  died  in  Washing- 
ton County,  111.,  at  the  age  of  nearl}'  sevent}' 
years,  leaving  a  family  of  children;  and  Allen,  who 
died  on  his  farm  near  (ioreville  about  1864,  in 
middle  life,  leaving  a  wife  and  children.  The 
wife  of  Asa  Mosely  died  on  the  old  farm  in  Will- 
iamson County  in  1877,  aged  scvent3--seven  years. 
John  Henry  Mosely  was  reared  at  home  until 
he  was  eighteen  year's  old,  when  he  went  to  Tenn- 
essee to  assist  in  removing  the  family  of  his  uncle, 
Joseph  Ligou,  to  Illinois.  Two  3'ears  later,  he 
went  to  Owen  County,  Ky.,  where  he  remained 
for  a  short  time,  and  in  his  twenty-first  year  he 
went  to  Madison  County-,  111.,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged as  a  teamster.  At  the  age  of  twent3'-lhrce 
he  was  married,  January  16,  1855,  to  Miss  Eliza 
Pittman,  of   Graves   County-,   Ky.,   a  daughter  of 


William  and  Margaret  (Parks)  Pittman,  who  came 
to  Illinois  in  1846.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mosely  settled 
on  a  farm  of  forty  acres  near  C'ral>  Orchard.  They 
made  several  moves  and  at  length,  on  September 
18,  1861,  lie  was  mustered  into  service  of  the  Un- 
ited States,  as  a  member  of  Company  C,  Thirty- 
first  Illinois  Infantry, and  served  three  vears,  with 
the  exception  of  three  furloughs  of  thirty  days 
each.  He  was  in  the  ranks  all  tlie  time  and  ready 
for  duty,  except  for  a  few  days  necessarily  spent 
in  the  hospital  on  account  of  a  wound  received  in 
the  face  during  the  engagement  before  Atlanta. 
He  was  also  bruised  in  the  breast  by  the  fragments 
of  a  shell  at  the  Bull  Pen  in  front  of  Yicksburg. 
He  participated  in  the  battle  of  Belmont,  at  F't. 
Donelson  (where  the  regiment  lost  one  hundred 
and  sixty  men),  was  at  the  second  battle  of 
Corinth,  at  Port  Gibson,  Raymond,  Jackson,  Ciiam- 
pion  Hills,  and  numerous  other  battles  and  skir- 
mishes. He  took  a  part  in  a  charge  at  Mcksbur"- 
which  proved  a  failure,  and  was  there  throughout 
the  siege,  and  was,  he  thinks,  in  the  first  regiment 
that  entered  the  cit^-  after  the  surrender,  and  was 
certainly  in  the  first  brigade  that  entered. 

Mr.  Mosely  has  lived  principally  in  Pope  County 
since  the  war,  moving  on  his  present  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  1888.  One  of  his 
children  died  while  he  was  in  the  army  at  the  front, 
in  March,  1862.  He  has  three  children  living 
by  his  first  wife,  viz:  Green  T.,  a  farmer  of  Union 
County,  Ky.,  who  has  a  wife  and  family;  Angeline, 
wife  of  Frank  MuUinx,  of  Union  County,  Ky., 
who  has  a  family  of  children;  and  Jennie  II.,  wife 
of  John  Darnell,  who  resides  in  Ozark,  and  who 
has  three  children.  :Mr.  Mosely  by  his  second 
wife  has  one  son,  Henry,  in  Ballard  County,  who 
has  a  wife  and  three  children.  Mr.  Mosely  buried 
his  first  wife  October  26,  1865,  when  she  was  but 
twenty-eight  years  of  age.  He  was  married  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1866,  to  Elizabeth  Cobeth  Caldwell,  a  sister 
of  J.  C.  Caldwell.  Mr.  Mosely  votes  as  he  fought, 
with  the  Republican  party,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  Church.  He  is  now  living  with  his  third 
wife,  who  was  a  Miss  Pha'be  Austin. 

Our  subject's  brother,  George  Mosely.  was  also 
in  the  army,  in  the  retreat  of  Sliiloh.  At  one 
time  in  Mr.  Mosely 's  experience  in  the  arm^',  when 


352 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


crossing  a  river  on  a  pontoon  bridge,  Kit  Harri- 
son stepped  oflf  the  l)ridge  and  but  for  the  prompt 
action  of  Mr.  Mosoly  and  Albert  Hendrickson, 
would  have  found  a  watery  grave.  Senator  Morris, 
who  was  in  tiie  same  companj'  with  Mr.  Mosely, 
says  that  in  the  heat  of  the  figlit  at  Orchard  Knob, 
when  the  rebels  were  shooting  their  cannister  at 
them  in  a  very  careless  manner,  he  called  out  to 
the  boys  "to  shoot  those  battery  fellows." 


^.^|<^^^ 


yASIIINGTON  C;.TII01MAS  was  burn  April 
8,1822,  in  Sumner  County,  Tenn.,  and  is 
'J^  now  a  well-known  resident  of  Simpson 
Township,  Johnson  County.  He  is  a  son  of  Henry 
and  Sarah  (Mungle)  Thomas,  both  of  whom  were 
natives  of  Tennessee.  Henry  Thomas  reared  his 
family  in  Tennessee,  and  afterward  bought  land 
in  Kentucky,  following  farming  very  successfullj' 
there  for  twelve  years.  He  then  sold  out  and 
went  to  Missouri,  and  purchased  another  tract,  on 
which  they  remained  two  years,  after  which  time 
he  emigrated  to  Illinois,  in  1839.  He  crossed  the 
Missouri  at  Richmond  and  the  Mississippi  at  St. 
Louis,  the  entire  journey  being  made  bj^  wagon 
and  requiring  about  three  weeks.  They,  like  all 
overland  travelers  of  those  days,  camped  and 
cooked  by  the  way.  Elis  father  took  up  Govern- 
ment land  in  Burnside  Township,  but  remained 
there  only  a  short  time,  and  then  sold  out  and 
bought  in  Simpson  Township.  He  soon  afterward 
disposed  of  this  farm  and  purchased  other  land  in 
the  same  township,  which  he  also  finally  sold,  lo- 
cating in  Burnside  Township,  and  he  here  passed 
his  last  days. 

Washington  G.  Thomas  remained  at  home  until 
he  was  twenty-three  j'ears  of  age,  when  he  married 
and  entered  land  in  Simpson  Township, on  section 
:i.  He  however  sold  this  in  a  very  short  time  and 
bought  land  on  section  9,  where  he  still  resides. 
He  at  one  time  owned  two  hundred  acres,  but 
has  since  divided  witli  his  children,  and  now  owns 
only  one  hundred  acres.     His  early  education  was 


olitained  in  Kentucky,  where  he  attended  school 
fifteen  months.  This  was  conducted  on  the  sub- 
scription plan,  in  a  sclioolhouse  which  was  of  the 
same  stjie  of  architecture  so  frequenll}-  described 
and  referred  to  in  these  pages,  with  puncheon  llof)r 
and  seats  without  backs  or  desks. 

Our  subject  was  married  to  Mary  Simpson,  .Jan- 
uary 22,  1846.  She  was  born  in  .Johnson  County, 
May  9,  1827,  and  is  the  daughter  of  William  Simp- 
son, a  native  of  Kentucky.  Washington  (i.  Thomas 
and  wife  have  the  following  children:  William  H., 
Josephus  B.,  C3'nthia,  Melinda,  John  L.,  Marj- 
and  Robert.  He  alvva3's  votes  the  Hei)ublican 
ticket,  and  is  a  member  of  the  church  of  the  I^atter- 
Daj-  .Saints.  Mr.  Thomas  is  a  gentleman  in  every 
respect,  industrious,  and  honest  to  a  fault,  and  has 
many  warm  friends  in  this  communitv. 


\t  AMES  W.  RANDOLPH.  Among  the  prom- 
inent and  successful  farmers  of  Polk  County 
is  the  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this 
sketch,  who  is  a  native  of  Middle  Tennessee 
and  is  now  located  in  township  11,  range  6.  He  was 
born  October  12,  1845,  to  R.  M.  Randolph,  who 
was  also  a  native  of  Tennessee  and  married  I^orinda 
Skurlock,  of  the  same  place.  They  removed  from 
Tennessee  to  Polk  County'  in  1846,  when  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  was  but  an  infant,  and  soon  after- 
ward returned  to  Tennessee.  Remaining  there  a 
short  time,  they  emigrated  to  Illinois  in  1847, 
where  they  settled  down  as  squatters  on  the  farm 
which  the}'  now  occupy.  AVithin  a  few  j'ears'  time 
they  bought  two  hundred  and  fortj'  acres,  part  of 
which  was  school  land,  and  for  which  they  received 
a  deed  under  the  Bitt  Act. 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  John 
Randolph,  who  died  in  Pope  County  about  1847, 
in  middle  life,  leaving  a  widow  and  eight  chil- 
dren. The  former  died  in  1884,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-two  years,  and  there  are  now  living  but 
four  of   the   family,   viz:  R.  M.,  the  father  of  our 


PORTRAIT  ANIJ  RIOGRAl'UK  Al,   RK\  IKW 


353 


subject,  who  is  hale  and  heart}',  though  seventy 
years  of  age;  N.  E.,  a  farmer  in  township  12,  range 
6,  Golconda  Precinct;  C'atiierine,  widow  of  the  late 
James  Robbs,  living  in  this  neighborliood;  and  F. 
M.,  a  farmer  and  preacher  in  this  section. 

James  W.  Randolph  is  the  eldest  of  eight  chil- 
dren, four  sons  and  four  daughters,  viz.:  James  W.; 
Henry  E.,  who  died  in  Februar}^,  1865,  in  his 
eighteenth  year;  Jasper  N.,  who  died  when  about 
twelve;  Mary  J.,  wife  of  E.  C.  IloUoway,  who  died 
in  1882,  at  about  twent3'-five  years  of  age;  Sarali, 
wife  of  Jesse  R.  Morgan,  of  Missouri;  Martha  A., 
wife  of  Ur.  .s.  F.  Hart,  of  Eddy  ville,  111.;  Nancy, 
wife  of  J.  G.  Hudson,  a  farmer  and  now  a  student 
of  the  Medical  College  at  Louisville,  K}-.;  and 
David  W.,  a  resident  of  Paducah,  Ky. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  to  farm 
life  at  home  and  received  a  common-school  edu- 
cation. He  was  married  when  nineteen  years  old, 
October  10,  1864,  to  Miss  Rebecca  Morgan,  daugh- 
ter of  Gabriel  Morgan,  of  Tennessee,  who  bore  him 
one  son,  Charles  M.,  now  a  farmer  of  Pope  County, 
who  had  a  wife  and  two  daughters,  one  of  whom 
died  August  15,  1866, aged  nineteen  and  a-quarter 
years.  Charles  Randolph  was  again  married,  this 
time  to  Nancy  Ann  Hall,  of  Georgia,  a  daughter  of 
Sebron  Hall,  the  wedding  taking  place  September 
29,  1867.  Mrs.  liandolph  died  January  26,  1880, 
leaving  six  children,  five  sons,  and  a  daughter, 
Martha  Ann  bj'  name,  who  died  when  she  was  but 
little  more  than  five  years  of  age.  The  sons  are 
William  A.,  a  farmer  near  bj',  who  has  a  wife  and 
one  son;  J.isper  D.  and  John  N.;  Samuel  T.  and 
George  W.,  the  latter  living  with  his  grandfather 
Randolph.  Our  subject  was  married  to  his  present 
wife,  September  23,  1880,  who  was  Louise  E.  Gul- 
lett,  daughter  of  Samuel  Gullett,  and  a  native  of 
Pope  County.  To  this  union  were  born  five  chil- 
dren, viz:  Henry  H.,  who  died  in  iufanc\';  Robert 
M.,  nine  years  old;  Jacob,  seven  years  of  age; 
Maud,  four;  and  Hiram,  an  infant. 

Mr.  Randolph  has  about  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres  of  laud,  of  which  eighty  are  under  cultivation. 
He  carries  on  diversified  farming,  but  raises  corn 
and  wheat  as  his  principal  crops.  He  works  horses 
and  mules  and  keeps  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs,  some 
of    which    he    places   on    the. market.     He  is  now 


serving. his  third  war  a-  Township  Treasurer,  has 
been  Constable  for  eight  years,  and  superintended 
the  Poor  Farm  in  1870.  Socially,  he  is  a  member 
of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  a  Dem- 
ocrat in  politics,  and  isnota  member  of  any  church. 


'    '    ^al 


J.'OSHL'A  S.  COPLAND.  Among  the  hon- 
ored early  settlers  of  Ma.ssac  Count}-  no  one 
is  more  entitled  to  a  place  in  its  history 
than  he  of  whom  we  write.  He  deserves 
also  special  credit  from  the  fact  that  starting  out 
in  life  a  poor  boy,  with  only  $5  as  his  stock  in 
trade,  he  has  surmounted  all  the  great  difficulties 
in  his  pathway,  being  energetic  and  industrious, 
and  not  easil}'  discouraged.  Beginning  the  pur- 
suit of  agriculture  on  a  most  humble  scale,  he  has 
risen  step  b}'  step  until  he  now  owns  a  valuable 
farm  of  four  hundred  acres,  winch  is  one  of  the 
best  in  the  county.  At  one  time  he  was  the  pos- 
sessor of  over  one  thousand  acres,  but  sold  off  a 
portion,  as  it  was  much  more  than  he  needed  or  de- 
sired. His  farm  is  located  on  section  31,  town- 
ship 14,  ranges,  and  upon  the  place  are  good  and 
substantial  buildings,  with  a  commodious  two- 
stor}'  house,  pleasant!}'  located  on  a  slight  eleva- 
tion of  ground. 

John  Copland,  our  subject's  father,  was  born 
in  Virginia,  September  30,  1775,  and  lived  in  his 
native  State  until  arriving  at  man's  estate.  Then 
he  removed  to  Tennessee,  where  he  engaged  in 
farming,  and  married  Miss  Sarah  Short,  who  was 
born  on  Christmas  Da}',  1778,  and  was  reared  to 
womanhood  in  Tennessee.  In  the  fall  of  1816, 
before  Illinois  had  been  admitted  to  the  sisterhood 
of  States,  Mr.  Copland  emigrated  to  Johnson 
County  with  his  family.  The  journey  was  made 
in  wagons,  and  with  him  came  six  colored  slaves, 
a  man  and  wife,  with  their  four  children,  which 
were  his  property. 

Mr.  Copland  believed  Illinois  would  be  a  slave 
Stale  and  having  been  brought  uj)  in  old  ^'irginia, 
he  was  deeply  imbued  with  the  belief  that  slavery 


354 


PORTRAIT^AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


was  perfectly  right.  Coiiseriuently,  after  becoming 
a  resident  of  Illinois,  he  was  one  of  the  most  act- 
ive advocates  of  slavery  in  the  State.  He  was 
nominated  to  the  Constitutional  Convention,  but 
was  defeated  by  a  few  votes.  On  his  arrival  m 
the  State,  he  located  on  Government  land  in  the 
midst  of  the  wilderness.  At  that  time  there  were 
no  schools,  churches,  or  even  mills,  in  this  portion 
of  the  country,  and  indeed  only  now  and  then,  at 
long  distances  apart,  could  be  found  the  humble 
cabins  of  farmers.  In  order  to  grind  their  corn, 
they  used  the  old  stump  method,  the  end  of  a  log 
being  burned  out  to  make  a  sort  of  mortar,  using 
a  pestle  on  a  springpole  to  pound  out  the  meal  by 
hand.  The  Indians  were  still  very  numerous  in 
this  portion  of  the  State,  not  having  yet  departed 
for  their  Western  reservation.  Wolves,  panthers 
and  bears,  as  well  as  deer,  turkeys  and  small  game, 
roamed  the  country  at  will,  adding  to  its  desola- 
tion and  wildness. 

Mr.  Copland,  Sr.,  was  in  favor  of  education  and 
helped  to  build  one  of  the  first  log  schoolhouses 
in  the  neighborhood,  which  was  carried  on  under 
the  subscription  plan  and  for  some  time  was  taught 
by  him.  He  improved  the  farm  where  he  had 
originally  located,  making  that  his  place  of  resi- 
dence until  the  fall  of  1833,  when  he  removed  to 
a  farm  three  miles  southwest  of  where  Vienna  now 
stands.  After  some  years  he  sold  the  place  to  a  Mr. 
Plummer,  of  Ohio,  and  with  that  money  purchased 
some  land  near  the  river,  in  what  is  now  Massac 
County,  a  tract  consisting  of  eighty  acres,  which 
had  been  partially  improved,  but  by  long  neglect 
everything  had  run  down  almost  to  its  primeval 
condition.  He  replaced  the  small  shanty  with  a 
well-built  hewed-log  house,  which  was  substantial 
and  comfortable.  He  brought  the  farm  under 
good  cultivation  and  there  resided  until  called  to 
his  eternal  home,  .January  2,  IS.'iS.  His  devoted 
wife  and  companion  had  died  four  years  previ- 
ously, on  June  24.  The  old  homestead  has  since 
been  sold  outside  of  the  family,  but  the  graves  of 
the  father  and  mother  are  in  a  quiet  nook  on  the 
farm,  and  to  that  peaceful  spot  the  memory  of 
their  descendants  often  fondly  returns. 

Our  subject  is  the  only  surviving  member  of  a 
family  of  ten   children,  the  record  of   whom  is  as 


follows:  James,  a  prominent  man,  and  at  one  time 
a  member  of  the  Legislature;  Sarah,  who  was  the 
wife  of  John  L.  Cooper,  also  deceased;  .Samuel, 
who  was  a  farmer  in  Johnson  County  and  a  prom- 
inent man,  having  been  Sheriff  for  twelve  years, 
Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  at  the  lime  of  his 
death.  Probate  Judge;  William,  who  died  in  Louis- 
iana, while  on  a  trip  down  the  Mississijipi  River; 
John,  who  followed  agricultural  pursuits  in  Pulaski 
County;  Joshua,  our  subject,  the  next  in  order  of 
birth;  Isaac,  who  was  a  farmer  of  this  county;  Jane, 
the  wife  of  J.  R  ^laybry,  who  is  also  deceased; 
Alfred,  who  was  a  well-known  farmer  of  this 
county;  and  Louisa,  the  wife  of  William  J.  Simp- 
son, both  deceased. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Sumner  County,  Tenn., 
on  the  27th  of  November,  1812.  His  boyhood 
was  passed  on  his  father's  farm,  where  from  earl^^ 
3'ears  he  was  accustomed  to  work  with  energy;  as 
it  was  his  nature  to  be  industrious.  As  his  father 
owned  slaves  he  was  not  required  to  work,  but 
nevertheless  he  often  went  into  the  field  and 
worked  along  with  them.  He  wasonlj'  four  years 
old  when  his  parents  came  to  the  Territory  of  Illi- 
nois, therefore  he  is  now  the  oldest  living  settler 
in  the  county,  and  of  the  large  family  which  gath- 
ered around  the  family  hearthstone  he  is  the  only 
remaining  one.  His  opportunities  for  an  educa- 
tion were  extremely  limited,  as  the  country  was 
new  and  the  demand  for  schools  not  great,  on 
account  of  the  few  settlers  in  this  locality.  He 
studied  in  an  old  subscription  log  schoolhouse,  but 
as  he  was  naturally  very  intelligent,  he  made  up 
for  the  lack  of  early  opportunities  later  in  life,  and 
secured  a  fair  practical  knowledge  which  has  served 
him  in  good  stead. 

When  reaching  his  majority  Mr.  Copland  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Elizabeth  Axle3%  whose 
parents  were  among  the  earl3'  settlers  of  the  coun- 
tiy,  her  grandfather  having  landed  with  a  few 
hardy  pioneers  in  Illinois  in  1810,  having  made 
the  trip  on  a  flatboat.  Mrs.  Copland  died  in  Oc- 
tober, 1855,  and  in  the  following  year  our  subject 
was  again  married,  Miss  Caroline  D.  Evers  becom- 
ing his  wife  on  June  26.  The  lady  was  born  in 
Graves  County,  Ky.,  and  came  to  Massac  Countj' 
about  1856. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPIIICAJ.  RE\1KW. 


355 


Soon  after  his  firet  marriage,  Mr.  Copland  lo- 
cated on  tlie  farm  where  he  has  since  resided,  first 
pureliasing  a  tract  of  forty  acres,  which  had  upon 
it  an  inferior  log  iiouse,  16x16.  There  the\-  com- 
menced housekeeping,  and  reared  tiieir  family  of 
eleven  children,  giving  them  as  good  advantages 
as  were  possible  in  those  early  da3s.  With  the 
exception  of  a  son  and  daughter,  the  children  have 
long  since  been  called  to  their  final  rest.  Those 
deceased  are  James  Franklin,  Robert  Van  Buren, 
Samuel,  John  S.,  Simeon,  Melissa,  William  R., 
Joshua  Allen  and  Isaac  W.  Mary  Jane  is  the  wife 
of  ilr.  Parker  and  is  now  living  in  Vienna,  while 
her  brother  Lawrence  resides  in  Metropolis. 

For  a  great  many  years,  Mr.  Copland  has  been 
identified  with  the  Jlethodist  Episcopal  Church, 
to  which  his  wife  also  belongs.  Fraternally,  he  is 
a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  and  in  regard  to  politics,  fa- 
voi-s  the  Democr:iC3'.  He  is  a  friend  to  education, 
and  is  held  in  the  highest  regard  by  the  raanj' 
friends  he  has  gathered  around  him  during  the 
long  years  he  has  p.assed  in  this  communitj-.  B}' 
liis  present  wife,  Mr.  Copland  became  the  fa- 
ther of  eight  children,  of  whom  the  record  is  as 
follows:  David  L.,  deceased;  Louisa  E.,  wife  of 
Thomas  Starks,  living  in  this  county;  Ella  Jose- 
phine, now  Mrs.  William  Douglass,  of  this  county; 
Mattie  Lenora,  widow  of  J.  W.  McNana;  Mag- 
gie, twin  sister  of  the  former,  wife  of  William 
Clark,  of  Fresno  County,  Cal.;  Charles  McPherson, 
who  is  now  at  home;  Cynthia  Allen,  Mrs.  James 
Milton  Barnett;  and  Sallie  Short,  wife  of  Jesse 
Hawkins,  a  well-known  farmer  of  this  county. 


§)IRGINIUS  FRAYSER,  of  Cave  in  Rock, 
111.,  is  a  son  of  P.  C.  Frayser,  a  native  of 
Virginia,  and  who  was  of  Scotch  ancestry. 
P.  C.  Fr.ayser  was  reared  in  Richmond,  \'a.,  and 
was  educated  for  the  law,  but  not  liking  the  pro- 
fession he  never  entered  upon  its  practice.  Early 
iu  life  he  removed   to  Kentucky,  settled  at  Cadiz, 


Ti-igg  County,  and  began  speculating  in  cattle. 
He  came  to  Illinois  in  1852,  crossing  the  Ohio 
River  on  the  ice.  He  settled  in  Hardin  County, 
and  devoted  several  years  of  his  life  to  preach- 
ing the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  Church,  being 
engaged  in  this  work  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  took  place  December  13,  1862.  He  was 
married  to  Ilepsy  8.  Wilburn,  a  daughter  of  Rich- 
ard Wilburn,  of  Georgia.  To  this  marriage  there 
were  born  eleven  children,  viz:  Alexander,  de- 
ceased; Catherine  S.,  wife  of  M.  L.  Shelby;  Phil- 
emon, deceased;  Elvira,  wife  of  Richard  Shelby,  of 
Kentucky;  Elizabeth,  deceased;  R.  C,  D.  F.  and 
Henry  C,  all  in  business  at  Cave  in  Rock;  Horace, 
deceased;  Virginius;  and  Mary  D.,  wife  of  James 
M.  Carr. 

Virginius  Frayser  was  born  in  Kentucky  Feb- 
ruary 24,  1847,  and  was  brought  up  on  the  home- 
stead, receiving  a  good  education  in  the  country 
schools.  His  father  died  while  he  was  ver^y  younf, 
and  he  in  connection  with  his  brothers  began  the 
battle  of  life  in  earnest.  Thej-  were  at  the  time 
living  on  rented  land,  but  soon  bought  a  good 
farm,  which  the^'  cultivated  together  for  several 
years,  .and  in  1866  tiiey  sold  this  farm  (Virginius 
giving  his  part  of  the  proceeds  to  his  mother),  and 
engaged  in  speculating  and  in  the  insurance  busi- 
ness at  Cave  in  Rock.  Virginius  is  now  serving 
his  second  term  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  his  dis- 
trict, and  while  a  great  many  cases  have  been  tried 
in  his  court,  yet  on[y  one  has  ever  been  appealed, 
and  in  that  case  his  decision  w.as  sustained  b^-  the 
Superior  Court.  During  his  service  as  Justice  of 
the  Peace  he  has  united  in  marriage  about  forty 
couples,  and  claims  to  have  discovered  the  secret 
of  tying  the  matrimonial  noose  in  such  a  way  that 
it  will  not  slip  undone.  He  was  married  March 
26,  1867,  to  Ellen  D.  Mitchell,  daughter  of  John 
Mitchell,  of  Ireland,  who  came  to  the  I'nited  States 
in  18.31,  and  died  August  28,  1892.  John  was  a 
brother  to  James  Mitchell,  who  served  .is  private 
secretary  to  President  Lincoln.  To  his  marriage 
with  Miss  Mitchell  there  have  been  born  five  chil- 
dren, viz:  John  S.,  James  L.,  Charles  H.,  Robert 
M.  and  Nirginia  Ross.  Mr.  Frayser  li.as  been  very 
successful  as  a  business  man,  and  is  a  member  of 
Cave  in  Rock  Lodge  No.  444,  A.  F.  it  A.  JI.,  and 


356 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


is  also  a  Kiiiglit  of  Honor.  A  man  of  cloar  judg- 
ment, keon  observation  and  wide  experience,  the 
combination  of  tiiese  and  otlier  superior  ([ualities 
eminently  (its  him  for  any  position  of  honor  to 
wliicli  his  fellow-citizfiis  may  call  him. 


'ji^^KANK  \.  GRK(;OHY,  Superintendent  of 
1=^  the  wheel  department  of  the  .spoke  factory 
Jl,  of  Yost,  Bigelow  &  Co.,  at  Metropolis,  Mas- 
sac County,  is  a  son  of  Nehemiah  Gregory,  a  na- 
tive of  Ohio,  who  was  a  man  of  excellent  educa- 
tion and  was  brought  up  to  the  business  of  bank- 
ing in  Cincinnati.  He  afterward  removed  to  In- 
diana and  engaged  in  the  confectionery  business 
at  Logausport,  where  he  died  August  30,  1880. 
He  was  a  successful  business  man  and  enjoyed  the 
respect  and  esteem  of  all.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried, first  to  Kate  Miner,  by  whom  he  had  five 
children,  viz:  Louisa,  wife  of  Dr.  Ball,  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal.;  Cynthia  and  Mollie,  deceased;  Nora,  wife 
of  Charles  E.  Bradwell,  of  Detroit,  Mich.,  and  Rich- 
ard. The  mother  of  the.se  children  died  in  Ohio, 
and  Mr.  Gregory  married  Rachel  L.  Lambert,  of 
Salem,  N.  J.,  who  is  still  living. 

Frank  A.  Gregory  is  the  only  child  born  to  the 
second  wife  of  Nehemiah, and  was  born  at  Cheviot, 
Hamilton  County,  Ohio,  August  22,  1865.  He  at- 
tended the  public  schools  in  his  native  State  until 
he  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  and  a  portion  of  this 
time  worked  in  a  grocery  store.  Being  apt  at 
learning  and  quick  to  understand,  he  early  acquired 
a  fair  education  and  considerable  knowledge  of 
business.  He  worked  for  a  time  at  the  wheel- 
wright trade,  mastering  the  details  of  that  trade 
while  yet  quite  young.  When  he  was  fifteen  years 
old  his  father  died,  and  he  soon  afterward  came 
to  Illinois  accompanied  by  his  mother.  They  set- 
tled in  Metropolis  with  but  $15  in  money  as  a 
start,  but  our  subject  soon  engaged  to  work  for 
Yost,  Bigelow  it  Co.  in  their  wheel  department, 
and  after  a  time  rose  to  the  head  of  this  depart- 
ment, a  position  which  he  still  retains,     lie  is  now 


a  skillful  workman,  and  the  fact  of  his  being  so 
long  retained  and  of  his  being  |)roni(jted  to  his 
present  position  shows  that  he  is  held  in  higli  (■>!!- 
mation  by  the  company. 

Our  subject  was  married  December  2(1,  1888,  to 
Lillie  Atwell,  daughter  of  a  prominent  citizen  of 
Massac  County,  whose  biographical  sketch  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Mr.  (iregor^-  is  a  Dem- 
ocrat in  politics  and  a  member  of  the  order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  belonging  to  the  Egyptian  Encampment. 
Mrs.  Gregory  is  a  member  of  the  General  Baptist 
Church,  and  the  mother  of  one  child,  Olive  Anna. 
Mrs.  Gregory  is  an  agreeable  and  accomplished 
lady,  and  an  excellent  musician,  as  is  also  her  hus- 
band, who  is  a  performer  on  several  musical  instru- 
ments, and  they  are  thus  enabled  to  pass  many  a 
pleasant  and  pi-ofltable  hour.  Their  home  is  a 
model  of  comfort  and  happiness,  and  both  are 
highly  respected  by  their  neighbors  and  friends. 


^^ 


■jf  AMES  ALBERT  VEATCII,  one  of  the  old- 
est of  the  native-born  citizens  of  Johnson 
County  now  residing  in  the  county,  was 
born  in  Vienna  Precinct  January-  15,  1824. 
His  father,  Ishmael  Veatch,  was,  it  is  thought,  born 
in  Maryland,  and  was  the  son  of  John  and  Nellie 
(Finks)  Veatch.  John  Veatch,  the  grandfather  of 
James  Albert,  was  born  in  Scotland,  and  on  com- 
ing to  America  settled  in  Maryland,  thence  went 
to  Pope  County,  111.,  and  from  Pope  to  Johnson 
County,  settling  on  a  tract  of  (Government  land  in 
Vienna  Township.  He  did  not  enter  the  land,  but 
held  it  as  a  claim  for  manj'  years,  residing  there 
until  his  death,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eight^'-four 
years.  His  wife  died  in  her  eighty-fifth  year. 
Ishmael  Veatch  learned  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith, 
and  did  not  come  to  Illinois  with  his  parents,  but 
came  one  j'ear  later,  in  1822.  He  was  married  in 
the  fall  of  that  year  and  settled  on  a  tract  of  land  in 
Vienna  Township.  Here  he  lived  about  two  years 
and  then  selected  a  tract  of  Government  land  in 
Simpson  Township,  on  which  lie  built  a  log  house. 


PORTRAIT  AMD  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


357 


and  began  to  improve  a  farm.  He  was  a  resident 
of  that  place  from  that  time  until  his  death,  wiiicli 
occurred  when  he  was  eight_y-four  3-e.ai-s  old.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Parmelia  Cliapnian. 
who  was  born  in  Ohio  and  was  the  daughter  of 
Daniel  and  Lucretia  Chapman.  Daniel  Chapman 
was  born  in  Enjjland,  and  came  to  America  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  in  which  he 
served  seven  years  in  the  interests  of  the  Colonists. 
He  came  to  Illinois  about  1821  and  located  in 
what  is  now  Simpson  Township.  His  son  Samuel 
entered  the  land  included  in  the  present  site  of 
the  village  of  Bloomfleld,and  secured  the  location 
of  the  count)'  seat  there;  it  did  not  remain  there 
long,  however,  being  later  removed  to  A'ienna. 
Before  its  removal  he  had  entered  the  land  which 
is  now  included  in  that  village.  The  first  court 
house  w.as   a  temporary  structure  built  of  poles. 

The  grandfather  of  James  Albert  Veatch  died 
ill  Simpson  Township  in  1871.  The  maiden 
name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject  was  Parmelia 
Chapman ;  she  died  on  the  home  farm  in  her  sev- 
entieth year,  after  having  reared  eight  of  her 
eleven  children,  viz:  Freeland,  James  A.,  Elmina, 
Lucinda,  Melissa,  Pleasant,  Allen  and  Maria. 
Pleasant  and  Alien  served  in  the  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, in  which  the  latter  was  killed  in  the  battle  of 
Shiloh,  and  a  biographical  sketch  of  Pleasant  ap- 
peal's elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

James  A.  Veatch  was  reared  in  his  native 
township,  and  as  there  were  then  no  free  schools 
he  received  but  little  education.  The  onlj' 
school  he  ever  attended  was  taught  on  the  sub- 
scription plan,  in  a  log  schoolhouse  without  any 
lloor  and  with  an  old-fashioned  fireplace.  There 
was  no  furniture  in  the  house,  but  logs  laid  on  the 
ground  with  split  poles  extending  from  one  to  an- 
other were  used  as  benches.  There  were  then  no 
railroads  and  consequently  no  convenient  markets, 
and  the  people  lived  principally  off  the  products  of 
their  farms  and  on  wild  game.  The  mother  of  the 
family  used  to  card,  spin  and  weave  cloth  for 
the  clothing  for  lierscif,  her  husband  and  children, 
and  homespun  clothes  were  the  order  of  the  da)', 
while  the  father  tanned  his  own  leather,  which  was 
made  into  heavy  shoes  for  the  children.  Fanning 
was  conducted  on  a  very  different  plan  from  that 


now  in  vogue,  and  Mr.  Veatch  relates  that  at  the 
time  of  his  earliest  recollection  all  the  grain  was 
cut  with  a  reaping  hook,  and  when  cradles  came 
ill  they  were  considered  a  great  invention.  His 
father  went  to  Kentucky  and  brought  back  a 
scythe,  making  the  frame  work  of  the  cradle  him- 
self. This  was  the  first  cradle  ever  used  in  John- 
son County. 

The  subject  of  this  sketcli  became  an  expert  in 
the  use  of  the  cradle,  and  for  some  years  cradled 
all  the  grain  in  the  neighborhood.  He  lived  with 
his  parents  until  his  marriage  and  then  settled  in 
this  count3%  where  he  has  since  lived,  in  Simpson 
Township,  and  on  the  same  farm  where  he  now 
lives.  This  farm  is  located  on  sections  19  and  30, 
and  contains  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  acres  of 
land,  about  one  hundred  and  seventy  of  which  are 
well  improved  and  have  good  buildings  thereon. 
Mr.  Veatch  was  married  in  1846,  to  Nancy 
Buchanan,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee,  and  died 
in  1854.  After  his  first  wife's  death,  he  was 
married  to  Laura  Du  Peister,  who  was  also 
born  in  Tennessee,  and  who  died  in  John- 
son County,  III.,  in  1864.  He  was  next  mar- 
ried to  Matilda  (Stone)  Barnwell,  who  bore  him 
three  children:  Sarah  JI.,  Francis  M.  and  Jennie 
A.  He  has  three  children  living  by  his  first  mar- 
riage, viz:  Thomas  J.,  James  C.  and  George,  and 
by  the  second  union  there  are  four  children  living: 
Martha,  Mary  A.,  Lucinda  and  Amanda.  Mr. 
Veatch  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  which  he  has  been 
an  active  worker  for  several  years. 


y;Ii>LIA.M 
of  Pope 
^  „      present 


l*;ILLIA.M  C.  MOVERS,  a  prominent  farmer 
Pope  County,  who  has  resided  on  his 
farm  since  1850,  was  born  in  Lin- 
coln County,  Tenn.,  in  1826.  His  father,  who 
bore  the  name  of  Peter,  was  born  of  German  par- 
ents in  Pennsylvania,  and  Peter  Movers,  the 
grandfather  of  William  C,  came  from  Germany 
with  his  bride,  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania.     He 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


joined  Washington's  army,  and  it  is  believed 
served  tiirougli  the  war.  He  was  well  educated  in 
Germany, and  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  settled  in  Virginia,  near  Woodstock,  Shen- 
andoah County,  subsequently  removing  to  Ten- 
nessee to  the  home  of  their  son,  Peter,  where  they 
died  at  tlie  ages  of  one  hundred  and  five,  and  one 
hundred  and  one,  respectively,  within  a  few  years 
of  each-  other.  They  had  five  sons,  viz:  John, 
Peter,  Henry,  Samuel  and  Jacob,  who  all  removed 
to  Tennessee,  but  John  afterward  returned  to 
Virginia.  Jacob  died  in  California,  and  the  rest  all 
reared  large  families.  Peter  married  in  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  Elizabeth  Conel,  who  it  is  believed  came 
from  Wales.  She  died  when  William  C.  was  a 
small  child,  the  youngest  of  her  five  children. 
Their  names  were  Matilda,  the  wife  of  A.  J. 
Smith,  who  died  in  middle  life,  leaving  five  chil- 
dren; Isaac  II.,  who  died  in  Hardin  County,  at 
seventy-seven  years  of  age;  Joel  S.,  who  died  in 
Pope  County,  a  young  man  of  twenty-one  years; 
John  C,  who  died  in  1859,  on  a  Mississippi  River 
steamer,  aged  thirty-six  years;  and  William  C. 
The  father  of  these  children  died  in  Tennessee 
about  1836,  when  sixt3'-six  years  of  age. 

William  C.  Moyers  was  left  alone  very  young, 
and  lived  two  years  with  Austin  Smith,  afterward 
six  years  with  Samuel  Bell,  and  on  December  15, 
1839,  started  on  foot  for  Illinois,  coming,  how- 
ever, a  part  of  the  way  by  steamboat.  He  walked 
seventy-five  miles  to  Nashville,  and  was  fifteen 
days  en  route  from  Tennessee.  His  elder  brothers 
and  sisters  had  come  to  Illinois  some  j'ears  before 
and  had  settled  in  the  wilds  of  the  country  while 
it  was  new.  He  was  married  October  11,  1848,  to 
Miss  Martha  Jane  S.  Barger,  a  daughter  of  Jacob 
S.  Barger,  who  was  born  in  Pope  County  in  Octo- 
ber, 1828.  Her  parents,  who  were  prosperous 
farmers,  came  to  Illinois  from  Virginia  as  early  as 
1818,  and  had  seven  children.  The  father  died 
July  23,  1861,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years,  and 
his  wife  lived  a  widow  twent^'-seven  years,  d3'ing 
in  her  eighty-third  year.  She  reared  seven  chil- 
dren, of  whom  four  are  living,  viz:  Mrs.  Moyers; 
Amanda,  widovv  of  John  Gulluck;  Margaret  widow 
of  Stephen  Morse;  and  Jacob,  a  farmer  in  Mon- 
roe Precinct,  Pope  County.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moyers 


have  buried  one  infant  son,  and  also  a  son,  James 
W.,  in  his  thirteenth  year.  They  have  now  seven 
children,  viz:  Isaac,  a  farmer  of  .Saline  County, 
who  has  a  wife  and  six  children;  John,  a  farmer 
of  Saline  County,  who  has  nine  children;  N. 
Green,  a  farmer  on  the  old  homestead  with  four 
children;  Stephen,  a  farmer  on  a  part  of  the  old 
farm,  with  two  children;  Priscilla,  wife  of  Henry 
Fulgham,  a  farmer  near  by,  who  has  five  chil- 
dren; Amanda,  wife  of  Harvey  Jlorse,  on  the  old 
farm  with  four  children;  :iud  Mary  Jane,  a  young 
lady  at  home. 

Mr.  Moyers  lias  always  been  a  Democrat  in  na- 
tional politics,  but  in  local  politics  he  is  non-part- 
isan. He  and  his  wife  are  at  advanced  ages,  but 
still  in  fair  health,  and  have  practically'  retired 
from  hard  work  and  are  enjoying  a  well-earned 
and  merited  rest.  Mr.  Mo^'ers  has  been  a  good 
deal  of  a  hunter  and  frontiersman,  and  when  he 
came  to  this  country  deer  and  turkey's  were  as 
plentiful  as  rabbits  are  now.  Black  bears,  wolves 
and  wild  cats  were  also  very  common,  and  their 
depredations  among  the  poultry  of  the  settlers 
were  numerous  and  vexatious.  He  has  alwaj-s 
carried  on  mixed  farming,  and  is  a  man  of  much 
more  than  ordinar}-  natural  endowments,  and  had 
he  been  reared  to  letters  instead  of  to  labor,  he 
would  in  all  likelihood  have  been  heard  from  in 
the  world;  but  like  many  others  his  has  been  a 
life  of  patient  toil. 


€i^^i^i^i^^i 


^  MLLIAM  H.  WHITEAKEH,  who  has  for 
\/\///  ^^^  1'***  ''''''^  years  lived  on  his  eightj'-acre 
^^^  farm,  which  is  a  part  of  section  8,  town- 
ship 11,  range  4,  east,  was  born  in  Johnson  County, 
January  29,  1839.  His  father.  Hall  Whiteaker,  was 
born  in  southern  Illinois  in  1811,  and  was  a  son 
of  Mark  Whiteaker,  one  of  the  earliest  pioneers  of 
Illinois.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  came  from  South 
Carolina  to  Illinois,  where  he  lived  to  an  ad- 
vanced age,  and  died  on  the  land  he  had  taken 
up  as  a  squatter.     He  left  a   family   of  four  sons 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOfTRAPHICAL    REVIKW. 


359 


and  one  daughter,  of  whom  Hall  Whiteaker  was 
the  eldest.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was  Al- 
vira  Damron  in  her  maidcu  days,  a  native  of  Illi- 
nois, and  a  daughter  of  John  and  Anna  Dannon, 
wlio  «une  to  Illinois  from  North  Carolina  in  a 
very  early  day,  when  this  part  of  Illinois  was  a 
wild  and  wooded  wilderness.  They  were  well-to- 
do  farmers  for  those  times,  and  died  on  their  own 
farm  in  Burnside  Township,  having  arrived  at  a 
great  age,  especially  Mre.  Damron,  who  died  in 
1850,  an  octogenarian.  There  was  a  large  family 
by  two  mothers,  who  were  sisters. 

The  parents  of  William  11.  Wiiiteaker  were 
farmers  all  their  lives,  and  lived  on  several  farms 
before  Jlr.  Whiteaker  died  in  1844,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-three  yeai-s.  Mrs.  Whiteaker  was  left  with 
three  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  w^hom  William 
11.,  our  subject,  was  the  fourth  child  and  second 
son.  She  survived  her  husband  fortv-four  years, 
and  after  selling  her  claim  took  up  another  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Buruside  Township. 
She  acquired  a  deed  to  this  land,  improved  it  and 
lived  there  for  a  time,  but  afterward  sold  it.  Her 
death  occurred  March  10,  1884,  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-three years.  She  left  six  children,  viz:  Marsh 
Whiteaker,  now  in  charge  of  the  asylum  farm  at 
Anna,  III.,  who  is  a  successful  farmer,  and  has  a 
wife,  four  sons  and  five  daughters;  Anna,  who  re- 
sides in  Burnside  Township  with  her  sister,  Mi-s. 
.Jinsey  Ballance;  William  H.;  Poll}-,  widow  of 
Dallas  Moore,  living  on  her  farm  in  Burnside 
Township,  who  has  seven  children;  and  John  A., a 
farmer  of  Burnside  Township,  who  has  a  wife  and 
seven  children. 

William  II.  Whiteaker  was  reared  on  the  farm 
and  received  but  little  education.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-three  years,  August  13,  1862,  he  was  en- 
rolled at  Springfield,  III.,  a  member  of  Company  C, 
One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  un- 
der ('apt.  Mark  Whiteaker,  his  brother,  who  was 
a  victim  of  chronic  diarrhd-a.  and  was  obliged  to 
resign  after  serving  one  year.  Our  subject  .served 
three  years  and  one  month,  and  when  discharged 
w.as  Second  .Sergeant  of  his  company.  He  wa>  in 
the  ranks  most  of  the  time  of  his  service,  and  was 
neither  wounded,  taken  prisoner,  nor  taken  se- 
riously ill.   When  he  went  to  war,  he  left  his  voung 


wife  behind  him,  who  was  a  Miss  Sarah  Deaton, 
and  was  married  August  22,  1860.  She  was  born 
in  DeKalb  County,  Ala.,  and  is  the  daughter  of 
Wdliani  and  Martha  Deaton,  who  removed  from 
Alabama  to  Williamson  County,  III.,  in  1848.  Her 
parents  died  in  Illinois,  the  father  in  1868,  aged 
over  seventy  years,  and  the  mother  in  1870,  aged 
sixty-eight  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whiteaker  have 
alwaj's  lived  near  their  present  home.  They  have 
not  been  blessed  with  children,  but  have  reared 
two  foster  sons,  Henry  Wright,  now  married  and 
doing  for  himself,  and  Guy  Burton,  at  home,  and 
fourteen  years  of  age.  They  also  reared  two  fos- 
ter daughters,  viz:  Lucy  E.  Wright,  deceased,  wife 
of  Hem-}'  Vaughn,  who  left  one  child,  a  daughter, 
and  Sarah  E.  Vaughn,  now  the  wife  of  Stephen 
Crow.  Mr.  AVhiteaker  has  been  a  Republican 
most  of  his  life,  though  he  voted  for  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  for  President.  He  and  his  wife  are  both 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in 
which  the}'  have  been  zealous  workers  for  a  long 
time. 


ILAS  FERRELL,  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court 
jjl      ||\   of  Hardin  County,  is  a  son  of  Joseph  Fer- 


rell,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  who  at  an  early 
d.i}-  removed  from  his  native  State  to 
Hardin  Countj-,  III.,  and  settled  on  a  farm.  Here 
he  served  .is  Township  Treasurer  for  several  yeare, 
and  now  lives  at  Harrisburgli,  Saline  Count}'.  He 
was  married  first  to  Elizabeth  Ladd,  of  (Tallatin 
County,  111.,  by  whom  he  had  eight  children,  three 
of  whom  are  still  living,  viz:  Nancy,  wife  of  Charles 
Hubbard,  a  f.u-iner  of  Gallatin  County;  John  II., 
now  living  at  Elizabetlitown,  III.;  and  Emma,  wife 
of  John  S.  Curry,  a  farmer  of  Hardin  County,  III. 
After  the  decease  of  his  lirsl  wife,  Joseph  Ferrell 
was  married  to  Elizabeth  Shell,  of  Hardin  County, 
III.,  in  1H66,  and  by  her  he  had  three  children,  all 
of  whom  are  now  living,  viz:  Mila.s;  Edward,  a 
blacksmith  of  Elizaliethtown;  and  Henry,  now  liv- 
ing at  Elizabethtown,  111.     This  wife  d^-ing,  he  was 


3fili 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIKW. 


married  the  tliird  time,  in  1875,  to  Hellel  Moore, of 
Hardin  County,  111.,  by  whom  lie  has  had  eight 
children,  six  of  whom  are  still  living,  viz:  Thomas, 
Laura,  Maggie,  Fred,  Uichard  and  .Tames  H. 

Milas  Ferrell  was  born  in  Gallatin  County,  111.. 
November  11,  1867,  and  when  but  four  years  old 
moved  to  Hardin  County  with  his  father,  where 
he  was  brought  up  on  the  farm,  and  obtained 
his  early  education  at  the  common  schools  of  that 
county.  He  afterward  attended  the  public  schools 
at  Klizabethtown  three  sessions,  and  then  began 
teaching  school,  which  he  continued  to  follow  for 
four  years.  In  1892,  he  made  the  race  for  Clerk 
of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  after  a  very  exciting 
campaign  and  notwithstanding  that  his  opponent 
was  a  very  popular  man,  he  was  elected  by  the 
small  majority  of  two  votes.  He  qualified  and 
took  charge  of  his  oHice  in  December,  1892.  Mr. 
Ferrell  is  a  member  of  New  Home  Lodge  No.  18.5, 
I.  O.  O.  v.,  at  Karber's  Ridge,  Hardin  County,  and 
is  an  influential  citizen,  and  he  and  family  have 
a  large  circle  of  warm  friends  in  this  vicinity,  and 
well  deserve  the  good  opinion  of  their  neighbors. 


^ACIIARY  T.  MELEK  is  a  prominent  farmer 
of  Eddyville  Precinct,  and  was  born  in 
1849  in  Tennessee.  His  father,  Lemuel 
Meier,  came  from  North  Carolina,  where  be  was 
born  about  1815.  He  was  a  son  of  Philip  Meier, 
of  South  Carolina,  who  was  a  farmer  and  removed 
to  Tennessee  about  1810.  His  wife  was  a  Miss 
Meekc  Last,  who  bore  him  five  sons  and  four  daugh- 
ters. He  was  frozen  to  death  when  about  fifty 
years  of  age,  and  his  wife  died  about  si.x  years  af- 
terward at  their  home.  Lemuel  Meier  was  reared 
to  farm  life  and  labor,  but  had  a  fair  common- 
school  education,  and  was  married  when  nineteen 
years  old  to  Jane  Braden,  who  was  then  eighteen 
years  of  age.  They  settled  on  their  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixt^' acres  in  Hamilton  County,  Tenn., 
where  they  lived  fifteen  years,  and  in  the  fall  of 
1834  sold  out  and  moved  to  Pope  Count}',  to  the 


present  home  of  the  widowed  mother  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch.  The  removal  from  Tennessee  was 
made  with  a  four-horse  team,  and  they  brought  with 
them  their  .seven  children.  They  bought  of  the 
( icivcrnment  three  hundred  acres  of  landata"bit" 
per  acre,  and  settled  down  to  pioneer  life  in  the 
wilderness.  Here  their  other  three  children  were 
born,  making  a  family  of  six  sons  and  four  daugh- 
ters, who  were  bereft  of  a  father's  care  in  1862,  he 
being  taken  by  ty|)hoid-pneumonia  at  the  age  of 
forty-seven  years.  He  left  his  widow  with  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  having  sold  the 
other  portion  some  time  before,  and  since  his  death 
Mrs.  Meier  has  lost  one  son  and  one  daughter. 
George,  aged  twenty-seven,  died,  leaving  a  wife  and 
four  children.  lie  was  a  member  of  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  died  of 
inflammatory  rheumatism  at  Memphis,  Tenn.; 
Eliza  Jane,  wife  of  Miles  T.  Nason,  died  at  the 
age  of  twenty  years,  leaving  three  children.  The 
children  living  are  as  follows:  Philip,  Anderson, 
Zachary  T.,  Andrew  Jackson,  John  L.,  Mary  E. 
fnow  Mrs.  Arnold),  Delilah  and  Francina,  wife  of 
J.  M.  Mick.  Mrs.  Meier,  the  mother  of  these  chil- 
dren, is  now  seventy-six  j'ears  old,  and  is  health}' 
and  active  for  a  woman  of  her  years. 

Zachary  T.  Meier  was  reared  at  home  to  farm 
life,  and  secured  but  little  education  in  his  youth- 
ful days.  He  was  married  October  22,  1882,  to 
Mrs.  Sarilda  A.  S.  Barger,  nee  Lauderdale,  daughter 
of  Lewis  Lauderdale,  and  widow  of  William  R. 
.S.  Barger.  Her  parents  died  when  she  wasj'oung. 
Her  home  was  for  many  years  with  her  uncle, 
Thomas  Boland.  By  her  first  marriage  she  has 
three  daughters,  viz:  .Sarilda  C,  Samantha  Ruth 
and  Grace  May.  Mr.  and  Jlrs.  Meier  have  buried 
one  son,  Ora  H.,  one  j'ear  old.  The}'  have  one 
child,  Milas  H.,  ten  years  old.  Mr.  Meier  has 
eighty  .acres  of  the  old  home  farm  where  his  mother 
resides,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  acres  of 
his  wife's  estate,  on  which  he  carries  on  general 
farming,  raising  corn  and  wheat,  realizing  .as  much 
as  forty  bushels  of  corn  and  fifteen  bushels  of 
wheat  to  the  acre.  He  also  raises  horses,  cattle  and 
hogs  for  his  own  and  for  market  use.  Horses  are 
his  principal  slock.  Mr.  Meier  is  a  member  of  the 
Social  Brethren  Church,  and  Mrs.  Meier  is  a  Cum- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIKW. 


361 


berland  Presbyterian.  Mr.  Meier  is  a  Republican 
in  politics.  His  brother  George  w.is  in  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twentietii  Illinois  Infantry,  goini^  witii 
the  regiment  as  a  private  soldier,  and  dying  at 
Memphis,  Tenn.,  le.iving  a  wife  and  four  children. 
Another  brother,  Philip,  was  also  in  the  service  dur- 
ing the  war,  in  Company  F,  Twenty-ninth  Illinois 
Infantry,  and  served  in  the  ranks  most  of  the  time. 
Mr.  Meier  tikes  an  important  part  in  the  advance- 
ment of  all  enterprises  for  the  welfare  and  im- 
provement of  this  section,  and  is  numbered  among 
its  best  citizens. 


-^1= 


.LEASANT  VE.\TClI,(.f  Bluomlicld  Town- 
ship, Johnson  County,  was  horn  in  Simp- 
sou  Township,  the  same  county,  October 
1,  1837.  His  father,  Ishmael  Veatch,  was 
born  December  10,  1798,  in  North  Carolina,  and 
was  a  son  of  John  Veatch.  The  Last-named  was 
of  English  ancestry',  but  it  is  not  certain  whctlier 
he  was  born  in  England  or  America.  He  emi- 
grated from  North  Carolina  to  Kentucky,  and 
from  Kentucky  to  Illinois  about  1816,  and  settled 
in  Johnson  County.  Purchasing  land  in  Simp- 
son Township,  he  resided  there  until  his  death. 
Mis.  \'eatch,  whose  maiden  name  was  Nellie  Jones, 
survived  her  husband  and  died  at  the  home  of 
her  son  Ishmael.  She  reared  two  sons  and  three 
daughters. 

Ishmael  Veatch  was  about  seventeen  years  old 
when  his  parents  moved  to  Kentucky.  He  resided 
near  Bowling  Green  until  1816,  then  came  to  Illi- 
nois and  settled  in  JoDnson  County,  of  which  he 
was  a  pioneer.  He  secured  a  tract  of  Government 
land  in  what  is  now  Simpson  Township,  and  there 
built  a  log  house,  a  mere  cabin  constructed  of  poles. 
Here  he  was  married  and  made  his  home,  his  near- 
est neighbor  at  that  early  da)^  being  five  miles 
away.  He  resided  there  from  his  marriage  until 
the  lime  of  his  death,  which  occurred  March  24, 
1872.  He  was  married  November  17,  1822,  in 
.lohnson  County,  III.,  to    Parmelia  Chapman,  who 


was  born  February  9,  1808,  in  New  York,  and  was 
the  daughter  of  Daniel  and  I.ucretia  Chapman,  the 
former  of  whom  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier  and 
a  native  of  England.  Mrs.  N'eattOi  died  January 
;{1,  1867.  Tnree  of  her  children  survive:  James 
A.,  living  in  Simpson  Township;  Pleasant  and 
Maria,  the  latter  being  the  widow  of  Frank  Silevin 
and  a  resident  of  Bloomfield  Township. 

Pleasant  Veatch  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  township.  The  schoolhouse  in  which 
he  acquired  the  rudiments  of  his  education  was 
the  primitive  log  structure  described  frequently 
in  these  pages,  and  his  father's  family  lived,  as 
did  their  neighbors,  in  the  true  pioneer  st^'le,  be- 
cause no  other  was  then  possible.  His  mother 
spun  and  wove  the  cloth,  and  then  made  the 
clothes  for  the  familj'.  His  father  tanned  his  own 
leather  as  well  as  carried  on  his  farm  work.  He 
also  made  the  frame  work  of  the  cradle  with 
which  he  cut  his  grain,  and  which  was  the  first 
grain  cradle  in  the  county,  being  then  considered 
a  great  invention.  Pleasant  \'eatch  resided  with 
his  parents  until  his  marriage,  when  he  bought  a 
farm  in  Simpson  Township. 

In  1861  our  subject  enlisted  in  Company  E. 
Fortj'-eighth  Illinois  Infantry.  He  was  engaged 
in  the  battle  of  Shiloh.and  was  so  severely  wounded 
that  he  was  never  again  able  to  do  .active  service.  As 
soon  as  able  to  leave  the  hospital,  he  started  back 
to  rejoin  his  regiment,  but  was  sent  to  Cairo,  and 
there  discharged  on  .account  of  the  disability 
caused  by  his  wound.  He  resided  in  Simpson 
Township  until  July  9,  1865,  when  he  bought 
the  farm  on  which  he  now  resides.  At  the  time 
of  his  purchase  there  were  fifteen  or  twenty  acres 
cleared  and  a  log  house  erected  on  it.  He  has 
now  two  hundred  and  fifteen  acres  of  land,  one 
hundred  and  sevent^'-five  of  it  cleared  and  im- 
proved. On  the  place  are  good  frame  buildings, 
numerous  fruit  and  shade  trees,  and  all  the  im- 
provements needed  to  carry  on  farming  with  com- 
fort and  profit. 

February  3,  1859,  Mr.  ^'eateh  was  married  to 
Isabelle  Keith,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee,  Octo- 
ber 15,  1842,  and  is  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Irene  (Farris)  Keith.  She  died  November  16,1876. 
Mr.  \'eatch  was    married   Jul^-   6,  1884,  to  Amie 


362 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


Vancleave,  who  was  born  in  C'allowaj-  Countyi 
Ky.,  October  8,  184S.  She  is  the  daugliter  of  the 
Rev.  Wilson  K.  nnd  Nancy  .1.  Vancleave.  Mr. 
Vcatch  has  four  childien  by  his  first  wife,  viz: 
•John  L.,  Florence,  Edgai'  I.  and  Thomas  A.  liy 
his  present  wife  he  lias  two  children,  Ma^'  and 
Ray.  Hotli  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Veatcli  are  members  of 
the  Missionary  Haptist  Church.  In  politics  Mr. 
Veatch  is  a  Republican.  Socially,  he  is  a  member 
of  Vienna  Post  No.  221,  G.  A.  R. 


"if?  AMES  E.  GO  WAN,  M.  D.,  was  born  in 
Madison  County,  Tenn.,  October  31,  1836. 
^,^  I  His  father,  William  Granville  Gowan,  was 
\^!l.'  born  in  South  Carolina,  and  his  father, 
William  Gowan,  was  a  native  of  Edinburgh,  Scot- 
land. William  and  his  brother  John  were  the 
only  children  of  this  family  that  came  to  America,- 
and  they  both  settled  in  South  Carolina.  Will- 
iam Gowan  learned  the  trade  of  hatter  in  his  na- 
tive land,  and  it  was  soon  after  finishing  his 
apprenticeship  that  he  same  to  this  country.  He 
followed  his  trade  in  South  Carolina  some  j'ears, 
and  then  joined  a  colony,  emigrated  with  it  to 
Madison  County,  Tenn.,  and  became  one  of  the 
pioneer  settlers  there.  He  bought  a  tract  of  tim- 
ber and  prairie  land,  and  erected  a  block  house  as 
a  protection  against  the  Indians,  of  whom  there 
were  plent}'  in  those  days.  The  nearest  mill  and 
depot  of  Supplies  was  seventy-five  miles  away,  but 
there  was  a  millwright  with  the  colony,  and  as 
soon  as  possible  Mr.  Gowan  erected  a  mill,  getting 
the  stone  from  the  quarry  and  the  timber  from 
the  woods,  which  when  completed  was  operated  by 
oxen.  AVilliam  Gowan  cleared  his  farm  and  re- 
sided upon  it  until  his  death,  wliicli  occurred 
when  he  was  of  the  great  age  of  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  years,  three  months  and  six  days.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  w.as  .Judith  Adkissou. 
She  was  born  in  Scotland  and  came  to  this  coun- 
try with  her  parents,  who  settled  near  Charleston, 
S.  C.     She  died  on   the  home    farm    in    Madison 


Count}',  Tenn.,  at  the  age  of  ninety-.seven  j^ears. 
William  Granville  Gowan  was  reared  in  South 
Carolina  and  went  with  his  parents  to  Tennessee, 
where  he  inherited  a  large  tract  of  land  and  added 
Id  it  by  purch.ase.  IJefore  the  war  he  operated 
this  farm  with  slave  labor,  raising  and  dealing  in 
cotton,  and  he  still  resides  on  tlie  same  farm,  aged 
ninety-two  years,  and  is  a  hale  and  hearty  old 
man.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Eveline 
Wood.  She  was  born  in  Soutli  Carolina,  and  was 
the  daughter  of  John  and  Sophia  Wood,  natives 
also  of  South  Carolina  and  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry. 
She  is  now  in  her  eighty-first  year,  and  has  been 
the  mother  of  seven  children,  viz:  James  E.,  F. 
Marcelius,  George,  I>uther,  Maiy  E.,  Martiia  J.  and 
Eva. 

.lames  E.  Gowan  received  his  earl}'  education  in 
tiie  subscription  schools,  and  afterward  attended 
Jackson  Academy,  at  Jackson,  Tenn.  In  1847  he 
entered  McKendree  (Tennessee)  College,  and  gra- 
duated in  the  Class  of  '49,  after  which  he  began  the 
study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Branick,  of  .Jackson, 
Tenn.  In  1860  he  graduated  from  the  Ohio  Med- 
ical College,  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  commenced 
practicing  medicine  at  Metropolis.  On  March  6, 
1862,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier  in  Company 
B,  Fourteenth  Indiana  Infantry,  and  served  two 
years,  being  honorably  discharged  in  May,  1864. 
In  1866  he  graduated  from  the  Rush  Medical  Col- 
lege, at  Chicago,  and  then  resumed  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  Massac  County,  after  which  he  located 
on  his  farm,  wh  ich  he  purchased  nine  miles  from  Me- 
tropolis, and  superintended,  at  the  same  time  prac- 
ticing medicine  in  the  country  until  1880.  At  this 
time  he  removed  to  Metropolis  and  opened  a  drug 
store,  continuing  in  business  until  1892,  when  he 
again  followed  his  profession,  and  has  so  contin- 
ued up  to  the  present  time. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  1863  to  Harriet 
Yates,  who  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  is  the  daughter 
of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Waliliright)  Yates.  To 
this  marriage  there  have  been  born  the  following 
children:  Eveline  E.,  John  G.,  Annie,  Minnonetta, 
.Tames  E.,  Jr.,  and  Charles  (i.  Dr.  Gowan  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Southern  Illinois  Medical  Associ- 
ation from  its  organization,  and  is  also  a  member 
of    Gethsemane   Ccmimandery   No.   41,    K.    T.,  of 


-.J 


'^c/h.^'^^^ 


^>^^3^ 


rOUTKAIT  AND    BKXih'Al'IIICAL    KENIKW. 


365 


Massac  Lodge  No.  442, 1.  O.  O.  F.,  and  of  Egyp- 
tian KncampiKcnl.  He  lias  served  as  Steward  of 
the  Kiglith  Keginienl  Illinois  National  Guards.  It 
should  be  stated  in  ch)sing  this  brief  memoir,  that 
the  name  of  the  ancestors  of  Dr.  Gowan  was  Mc- 
Gowen,  and  that  the  grandfather  of  the  Doctor 
anfi  his  brother  had  the  name  changed  by  act  of 
the  South  Carolina  Legislature.  Our  subject  is  a 
man  of  great  intellect,  is  honest  to  a  fault,  and  has 
a  wide  reputation  as  being  a  rclialile  and  sympa- 
thetic physician. 


^^l-^l-t^ll^^l 


J~'  ONATIIAN  S.  I?AKGEH,who  has  resided  on 
his  present  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  on  section  26,  Eddyville  Precinct, 
Pope  County,  for  the  past  fort\'-two  years, 
was  born  in  this  county  in  July,  1830.  His  father, 
Granville  S.  Barger,  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1810, 
and  was  a  son  of  Abraham  S.  Barger,  a  A'irginia 
farmer,  farming  having  been  the  vocation  of  the 
familv  for  several  generations.  He  married  in  Vir- 
ginia Mary  Anderson,  and  they  came  to  Illinois  in 
181(J  by  boat  to  Golconda  and  settled  as  squatters 
about  two  miles  southeast  of  where  Eddj'ville  is 
now  situated.  They  were  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances when  they  came  to  this  State,  which,  how- 
ever, was  then  a  Territory,  but  he  never  owned 
much  land.  He  reared  a  family  of  live  sons  and 
five  daughters,  of  whom  tJranville  was  the  second 
child  and  first  son  in  order  of  birth.  The  grand- 
mother died  first  at  a  ripe  old  age,  seventy  j-ears, 
and  he  died  some  years  later,  at  the  rii)e  old  age  of 
eighty  years.  There  are  two  of  their  children  still 
living,  viz:  Anna,  now  Mrs.  .lames  Bailey,  a  widow 
eighty  years  old,  of  Glondale;  and  Lucinda,  widow 
of  Samuel  Morse,  of  Eddyville  Township,  Pope 
County,  and  about  seventy-eight  years  of  age. 

The  wife  of  Granville  .S.  liarger  and  mother  of 
Jonath.au  S.  was  I.ucretia  Woolwine,  of  Virginia, 
who  had  a  family  of  three  sons  and  six  daughters, 
of  whom  two  daughters  died  young.  Of  the  seven 
that   reached    maturity    six   are    still    living,  viz: 

I'J 


Jonathan  S.;  William  S.;  Mary,  wife  of  John  Beu- 
j  ard,  a  farmer  of  Eddyville  Township;  Hannah, 
wife  of  .John  liallimore,  a  farmer  living  near  Jon- 
athan S.;  Catherine,  wife  of  Tillman  Stone,  of 
Eddyville  Township;  and  Elizabeth,  wife  of 
Thom.as  Cray  ton,  now  of  Kansiis.  The  mother  of 
these  children  died  at  the  farm  home  in  1880, p.ast 
middle  life,  and  the  father  died  .January  22,  1887, 
in  his  seventj'-seventh  year,  leaving  a  small  estate. 
Simon  S.  Barger,  a  brother  of  our  subject,  volun- 
teered to  defend  the  Elag  during  the  late  rebellion, 
but  wore  the  blue  only  a  short  time,  when  he  died 
of  smallpox. 

Jonathan  S.  Barger  was  reared  at  home  on  the 
farm  and  from  early  boyhood  to  manhood  knew 
what  the  deprivations  of  pioneer  life  were.  This 
was  then  a  wooded  and  wild  country,  which  had 
plenty  of  wild  game  and  wild  beasts.  He  was  ac- 
customed to  kill  wild  cats,  wolves  and  all  kinds  of 
animals  in  the  woods  and  was  considered  a  very 
successful  hunter  and  one  of  the  best  shots  with  a 
rifie  or  shotgun,  though  he  never  practiced  shoot- 
ing at  a  target.  He  has  enjo^'ed  and  still  enjoys  a 
good  day's  hunt,  and  often  captures  the  wily  red 
fox  with  his  fine  hounds  and  excellent  gun.  He 
has  seen  many  a  drove  of  deer  with  as  many  as 
twenty  in  a  drove,  and  on  such  occasions  has  let 
many  a  turkey  live  that  he  could  easil_y  have  shot. 
Our  subject  was  married  Ma}-  20,  IS.'jO,  when  in 
his  twentieth  year,  to  Miss  Juliette  Newton,  daugh- 
ter of  Isaac  and  Ph(ebe  (Murphy)  Newton,  early 
settlers  from  Tennessee.  Mrs.  Barger  was  born  in 
Pope  County,  in  1828,  and  her  father  died  at  his 
farm  home  in  18Cl,aged  fifty -one  j-ears.  He  was, 
like  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  a  great 
hunter,  and  the  two  were  boon  companions.  He 
killed  more  than  sixty  deer  one  fall.  The  mother 
of  Mrs.  Barger  died  December  23,  1889,  when  just 
two  days  less  than  seventy-five  years  of  age.  She 
reared  four  sons  and  seven  daughters  and  lost  one 
infant  son.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barger  have  buried  one 
son  and  three  daughters:  George  W.,  who  w.as  one 
year  old;  Martha  A.,  five  years  old;  Amanda,  wife 
of  William  Stone,  who  was  nineteen  years  old;  and 
Laura,  wife  of  Lawrence  Smith,  who  died  at  twen- 
ty-one years  of  age,  leaving  two  children.  The  liv- 
ing children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barger  are  as  follows: 


36(5 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


Klinina,  wife  of  William  Stone;  John  S.,  a  farmer 
living  near  his  parents;  Green  \\.  S.,  a  farmer  liv- 
ing near  by;  Louisa,  wife  of  Lawrence  Smith,  a 
farmer  of  the  vicinity;  Sarah  C,  a  young  lady, 
and  Delia,  both  at  home.  Mr.  IJarger  has  always 
raised  a  variety  of  crops,  but  corn  has  been  his 
principal  one.  lie  raises  hay  enough  for  his  small 
stock  of  horses,  cattle  and  sheep,  and  fattens  a  few 
pigs  for  his  own  use.  Of  late  years  he  has  hired 
the  most  of  his  farming  done.  It  is  proper,  and 
indeed  necessary,  to  note  in  closing  this  sketch 
that  the  name  was  originally  in  Germany  Shuffel- 
barger,  and  that  form  of  the  name  was  retained 
for  some  generations  in  this  country,  but  of  late 
vears  the  name  has  been  written  S.  Barger. 


J "^  JOHN  C.  ROSE,  of  AVolrab  Mills,  Hardin 
County,  is  the  son  of  Ileur}'  Rose,  of  Eliza- 
[  bethtown,  who  was  born  in  Hardin  County, 
^^  111.,  February  19,  1816,  and  was  brought  up 
on  the  farm.  He  followed  farming  all  his  life  and 
is  now  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of  Hardin 
County.  He  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Whitesides, 
of  Illinois,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children.  E.  G.  is 
now  in  the  livery  business  at  Harrisburgh,  111.;  J. 
H.,  a  practicing  physician,  resides  at  Harrisburgh, 
111;  William  A.  and  George  W.  reside  in  California; 
Charles  is  a  farmer  of  Pope  County;  and  .Tohn  C.  is 
our  subject.  The  mother  of  these  children  died  Oc- 
tober 29, 1870,  and  in  1872  Mr.  Rose  was  married  to 
Nancy  Holt,  widow  of  John  Holt,  by  whom  he  had 
one  child,  Lela,  who  lives  at  home.  This  wife  died, 
and  Mr.  Rose  was  married  the  thud  time,  to  Mary 
E.  Erwood,  of  Hardin  County,  111. 

John  C.  Rose,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
born  in  Hardin  County  March  12,  1843,  and  was 
reared  on  the  farm.  His  early  education  was  ob- 
tained in  a  subscription  school,  there  being  then 
no  free  schools,  as  there  are  now.  At  the  age  of 
nineteen  years  he  enlisted  in  Company  L,  Sixth 
Illinois  Cavalry,  January  l,18(i2,  and  was  mustered 


out  at  Selma,  Ala.,  in  November,  1865.  Among 
the  numerous  battles  in  which  he  was  engaged  may 
be  mentioned  that  at  Nashville,  Lawrenceburgh 
and  Relmont,  Tenn.,  in  which  engagements  he  was 
wounded  several  times,  but  at  no  time  seriously. 
He  was  Orderly  Sergeant  of  his  company,  and  af- 
ter the  war  returned  to  Illinois  with  his  health 
very  much  imp.aired  from  the  hard  service  he  had 
undergone.  He  engaged  for  a  short  time  in  farm- 
ing, and  was  then  Deputy  Sheriff  of  the  county 
for  seven  years,  after  which  he  bought  land  and 
settled  down  to  improve  his  farm.  I'pon  this 
farm  he  has  remained  ever  since,  lie  has  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-one  acres  of  land  in  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  with  good  buildings  upon  the  farm, 
and  he  is  one  of  the  most  prosperous  citizens  of 
the  county,  lie  w.as  married  July  26,  1866,  to 
Miss  Mary  A.  Pankej',  daughter  of  John  Pan  key, 
who  was  a  native  of  Hardin  County,  111.  Politi- 
call}',  Mr.  Rose  is  a  Republican,  and  socially  he  is 
a  member  of  Lodge  No.  276,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and 
of  Post  No.  565,  G.  A.  R.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  are  earnest  workers  in  the  cause  of  religion, 
aiding  that  congregation  both  spiritually  and 
financially. 


OHN  T.  LEDBETTER  is  a  son  of  D.  J.  Led- 
better,  who  was  born  in  Hardin  County 
^,^-^1  I  November  10,  1815,  and  who  was  brought 
(^g^  up  on  the  farm,  which  occupation  he  fol- 
lowed successfully  all  his  life.  He  was  united 
in  marriage  first  to  Rebecca  Lane,  of  Tennessee, 
August  24,  1838,  b}'  whom  he  had  eight  children, 
four  of  whom  are  now  living:  Mar^'  Ann,  who  is 
the  wife  of  John  Thornton;  John  T.;  Sidney,  wife 
of  J.  A.  Oxford;  and  D.  J.,  Jr.  He  was  married  in 
1855  to  his  second  wife,  who  was  the  widow  of 
Ambissa  Gustin,  her  maiden  name  having  been 
Ellen  Lyons.     She  died  May  9,  1883. 

John  T.  Ledbetter  was  born  in  Hardin  County 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


367 


June  7,  1845,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm.  August 
13,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Compan\-  F,  One  Hundred 
and  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  whicii  regiment 
in  1863  was  consolidated  with  the  Twent3--ninth. 
He  participated  in  several  hard-fought  battles, 
among  which  m.iy  be  mentioned  Haines'  Bluff, 
ArkanSiis  Post,  Milliken's  Bend,  \'ieksburg,  Ft. 
Blakely,  Spanish  Fort  and  Woodville,  Miss.  He 
was  mustered  out  at  Springfield,  111.,  November  6, 
1865,  and  returned  home  with  health  impaired  by 
his  experience  in  the  armj'.  He  then  attended 
school  for  a  time  in  order  to  obtain  an  education, 
whicli  had  been  sadly  neglected  in  his  youth.  He 
was  married  February  25,  1866,  to  Mary  Lower}', 
a  daughter  of  .lohn  Lowery,  of  Hardin  Countj', 
and  by  this  marriage  he  has  nine  children:  John 
.1.,  a  lawyer;  Rlioda  C,  wife  of  S.  L.Jackson;  Olla 
.1.,  wife  of  C.  W.  Hess;  Ida  A.,  wife  of  William 
Sneed;  Elsie,  James  A.,  William  R.,  (^.  A.  and 
Herbert.  The  mother  of  these  children  died  Feb- 
ruary 1(1.  1889,  and  on  July  12,  188!l,  Mr.  Led- 
belter  was  married  to  Julia  A.  Foster,  a  daughter 
of  tMU^^  and  Elizabeth  Foster,  and  by  this  mar- 
riage he  had  one  child,  Henry.  Mr.  Ledbetter  is 
a  very  prominent  and  influential  man,  and  has 
served  as  Sheriff  of  Hardin  County  two  yeai-s  and 
as  Assessor  for  one  term,  also  served  for  one  year 
as  County  Treasurer,  two  terms  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  and  his  decisions  were  alwaj's  sustained 
when  carried  up  to  a  higher  court.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Tadmore  Lodge  No.  754,  A.  F.  A-  A.  M.,  at 
Karber's  Ridge,  and  also  of  the  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic. 


■1L_^  ARDY  BII>LINf;T()N  was  born  in  Middle 
jfjli  Tennessee  in  1823.  His  father.  Samuel 
J^j^  Billington,  was  born  in  North  Carolina  in' 
(^)  1761,  and  was  a  son  of  Ezekiel  Billington, 
who  was  born  in  England  in  1738.  He  came  over 
the  sea  with  his  parents  at  fifteen  years  of  age, 
and  followed  farming  in  this  country-.     His  father's 


family  perished  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  in 
which  he  was  himself  a  soldier.  He  was  made  a 
prisoner  by  the  British,  but  esc.iped  and  joined 
the  patriots,  later  in  life  receiving  a  pension  for 
his  services  in  that  war.  He  married  a  .Miss  Pinney, 
of  North  Carolina,  and  they  reared  seven  sons 
and  three  daughters,  of  whom  Samuel  was  the 
first-born.  The  wife  of  Samuel  and  the  mother  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  Miss  Tabitha  Moore, 
a  daughter  of  Aaron  Moore,  of  North  Carolina. 
After  their  union  they  removed  to  Tennessee  at  an 
early  day,  and  then  to  Kentucky,  where  hei-  hus- 
band died  in  1846,  leaving  his  widow  with  nine 
children,  five  sons  and  four  daughters,  of  whom 
our  subject  was  the  fourth  child  and  first  son. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  Kentucky  in  October, 
1847,  to  Elizabeth  Burrow,  also  of  the  Blue  Grass 
State,  and  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Burrow.  After 
their  marriage  Mr.  and  l^Irs.  Billington  went  to 
Texas,  in  1848.  where  the  former  followed  farming 
and  bricklaying  for  thirty  years.  His  mother 
came  to  him  there,  and  died  in  1857,  at  about 
seventy  years  of  age.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Mexican  War  for  eight  months,  going  in  1846, 
and  was  in  the  Confederate  array  for  three  years, 
being  a  member  of  Company  I,  Eighteenth  Texas 
Cavalry,  and  was  Fii-st  Lieutenant  of  the  company. 
In  1878  he  removed  to  Pope  County,  and  in  1884 
settled  on  his  present  estate,  where  he  is  doino-  a 
general  farming  business.  He  has  buried  three 
children:  an  infant;  E.  W.,  who  was  killed  when 
forty  yeai-3  of  age  by  a  mule,  and  left  a  fam- 
ily; and  James  S.,  who  died  in  Missouri  at  thirty 
years  of  age,  leaving  a  family,  all  of  whom  have 
died.  The  living  children  comprise  three  sons 
and  four  daughters:  Tennessee  A.,  wife  of  E.  A. 
Reynolds,  of  Pope  County,  who  has  four  sons  and 
three  daughters;  E.  W.,  also  a  farmer  of  this 
county,  who  has  two  daughters;  Elizabeth,  wife  of 
W.  R.  Siks,  a  farmer  of  Indian  Territory,  who 
ha.-;  one  son  and  two  daughters;  Sarah,  wife  of 
Spencer  .S.  Barger,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County;  F. 
M.,  a  farmer  residing  in  this  county,  who  has  three 
daughters;  Nettie  May,  wife  of  Lee  I'nsel.a  farmer, 
who  has  one  son;  and  P.  G.,  a  farmer  tif  Missouri, 
who  has  three  children. 

Mr.  Billington  is  a   Democrat    in    his    political 


•M\H 


POiriHAIT  AM)   lUoGRAPHICAL  KFAIKW. 


atllliations,  and  lie  hihI  liis  wife  arc  members  of 
tlie  United  liaplisl  C'liurcli.  lie  is  sevent}'  jcars 
old,  and  liis  wife  is  sixtj%  and  both  are  healtiiy 
and  active  peoi)lc,  however,  taking  life  easi',  as 
they  well  deserve  to  do.  They  are  well  and  favor- 
ably known  throughout  this  community,  their 
friends  being  many.  Mr.  IMllinglon  is  an  ui)right 
business  man,  wlio  has  worked  his  way  upward 
and  has  met  with  great  success  in  lifo. 


:^>^^<i 


kAl{Kl>.'  'i'ULICH  was  born  in  Union  County 
April  1,  1846.  He  is  a  son  of  Lewis  Toler, 
of  North  Carolina,  who  was  himself  a 
farmer  and  a  son  of  a  farmer.  Me  was  married  to 
Eliza  Guinn,  of  Union  County,  111.,  about  1832, 
and  they  spent  their  entire  lives  in  that  count}- 
on  their  little  farm,  where  Mr.  Toler  died  about 
1856,  in  the  prime  of  life.  He  was  the  father  of 
twelve  children,  eight  sons  and  four  daughters,  of 
whom  Larkin  was  the  seventh.  Of  this  number 
nine  were  living  at  the  time  of  their  father's 
death,  three  having  died  previously,  viz:  Carroll, 
at  twelve  years  of  age;  John,  wlien  a  small  boy; 
and  Elizabeth  in  infancy.  Of  the  number  living 
at  that  time  the  following  have  died:  Nedom, 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  years;  and  Mary,  wife  of 
John  Mclntire,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  leaving  one 
daughter.  The  living  are  as  follows:  Martha,  wife 
of  Anson  Gurley,  a  farmer  of  Johnson  County; 
William  D.,  a  retired  farmer  of  Union  County; 
D.  H.,  a  farmer  of  Texas;  Larkin;  Henry,  a  farmer 
of  Burnside  Township,  Johnson  County;  Thomas, 
also  of  Johnson  County;  and  Melissa,  wife  of  J. 
Lipe,  of  Williamson  County.  The  mother  of  these 
children  is  still  living,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight 
years,  and  resides  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Gurley. 
In  boyhood  Larkin  Toler  had  little  or  no  educa- 
tion, but  was  brought  up  to  plent.y  of  hard  labor. 
He  left  home  when  eighteen  years  old,  and  when 
twenty  was  married  to  Mary  E.  Goddai'd,  she  be- 
ing in  her  fifteenth  year.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
George  A.  Goddard.     i\Ir.  and   Mrs.   Toler  began 


life  on  rented  land  in  Union  County,  and  farmed 
on  rented  land  for  t(;n  years.  In  1875,  they 
bought  eighty  acres  in  Williamson  County  for 
1500,  which  had  upon  it  fair  improvement^. 
This  was  llieu'  home  for  eight  3-ears,  but  in  the 
fall  of  1883  ISIr.  Toler  tr.aded  this  farm  off  for 
ninety  acres  in  Johnson  County,  near  his  present 
home.  In  1892  he  traded  the  ninety -acre  farm 
for  one  hundred  and  thirtj'-eight  acres  with  good 
house  and  fine  j'oung  orchard,  it  being  valued 
at  $2,000,  and  he  paid  1300  to  boot.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Toler  have  buried  four  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, all  in  infanc}'.  The}'  have  five  children  liv- 
ing, viz:  William  L.,  a  young  man  of  twent^'-three, 
at  home  and  teaching  in  the  district  school;  Minnie, 
a  young  lady  of  eighteen;  Albert,  fifteen;  Alice, 
eleven,  and  Manila,  five.  Their  opportunities  for 
an  education  have  been  limited.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Toler  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  Mr. 
Toler  votes  the  Democratic  ticket.  He  carries  on 
mixed  farming,  raising  wheat  and  corn  for  the 
most  part,  but  also  keeps  a  few  cattle  and  hogs, 
and  has  a  fine  orchard  of  two  hundred  apple  trees. 


4^ 


—f#^#i#  •?•••— ^ 


;RANCIS  M.  BAKNWELL,  mcrch.ant  of 
Ozark,  was  born  in  Simpson  Township, 
Johnson  County,  III.,  October  23,  1855,  to 
John  C.  Barnwell,  a  native  of  North  Carolina  who 
was  taken  by  his  parents  to  Middle  Tennessee 
when  a  small  boy.  His  father  was  William  Barn- 
well, a  farmer  by  occupation  and  probably  a  North 
Carolinian  by  birth.  John  C.  Barnwell  is  one  of 
eight  children,  five  sons  and  three  daughters,  and 
of  these  eight  he  was  the  second  son  and  child  in 
order  of  birth.  His  parents  removed  fiom  Ten- 
nessee in  1840  or  1842,  when  he  was  about  thir- 
teen years  old,  by  means  of  their  own  team  and  an 
emigrant  wagon,  to  southern  Illinois,  and  took  up 
some  land  in  Simpson  Township,  upon  which  they 
erected  a  good  log  house,  which  is  still  standing. 
The  grandfather  of  Francis  M.,  who  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers  in    this  region,  was  a  man  of  ability 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW, 


369 


and  integrity,  whose  word  was  generalh'  taken  as 
authority.  He  was  for  many  years  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace  and  an  Associate  .Tud<<e.  Jolin  C.  Barnwell 
has  l)een  a  hfelong  farmer,  and  served  three  years 
in  tlie  War  of  the  Kehcllion.  lie  enlisted  in  18G2 
in  tiic  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infan- 
try as  a  i)rivale  soldier  and  was  promoted  to  be 
Orderly-Sergeant,  at  the  close  of  the  war  re- 
turning home  safe  and  sound  from  the  exposures 
of  army  life.  His  wife  was  Nancy  .Jane  Roberts, 
of  Kentuck\',  whose  father  died  when  she  was  a 
child.  They  settled  on  a  farm  near  his  par- 
ents, on  Government  land.  He  now  has  a 
farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  and  is  known  as 
one  of  the  leading  fruit-growers  of  this  section, 
having  large  and  thrifty  orchards  of  apples, 
peaches,  pears,  plums,  cherries,  and  all  kinds  of 
small  fruits.  He  spares  no  pains  nor  expense  in 
securing  and  raising  the  best  that  is  to  be  had. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barnwell  iiave  buried  one  son,  James 
Logan,  who  was  two  years  old  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  They  have  living  eight  sons  and  three 
daughters,  viz:  William  H.,  Josiah  W., Francis  M., 
John  W.;  Kliza  A.,  wife  of  J.  M.  Gray;  George  W.; 
Mary  K.,tiie  wife  of  W.S.  Kainbolt;  Thomas  C; 
Charles  G.;  Jsanc}'  Jane,  wife  of  C.  M.  Rushing; 
and  Adolphus.  These  children  are  all  living  in 
Johnson  County  except  George,  who  lives  in  Ken- 
tucky. 

Francis  M.  was  brought  u  |)  on  the  farm  and  w.hs 
well  educated  in  his  youth.  He  was  married  in 
1878  to  Mary  Ann  Maxwell,  of  Saline  County, 
111.,  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Golden,  of  that  county-,  a 
noted  Oculist,  and  the  widow  of  George  W.  Maxwell. 
She  died  in  1882,  and  Mr.  HarnwcU  was  married 
in  1888  to  Alice  Miller,  daughter  of  Kzekiel  M.  Mil- 
ler, of  Tunnel  Hill,  wlio  liad  been  a  school  teacher 
some  years  before  her  marriage.  This  union  has 
been  blessed  with  one  son,  Roy,  who  is  now  one 
and  a-half  years  old.  Mr.  Barnwell  opened  a  store 
in  New  Burnside  and  removed  to  Ozark  in  1889, 
where  he  is  now  carrying  on  a  general  merchandise 
business  and  doing  the  principal  trade  of  the  town. 
Mr.  Barnwell  was  an  undergraduate  of  the  Normal 
School  at  Carrai,  completing  tlie  teachers'  course 
in  1882.  He  is  an  Odd  Fellow  and  a  true  Repub- 
lican and  is  now  a  Notarv  Public.     He  also  does  a 


general  business  outside,  dealing  in  railroad  ties  and 
lumber,  and  his  business  as  a  general  merciiant 
amounts  to  about  ^12,(100  per  year.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Barnwell  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcoi)al 

and  Cuniherlaiul  I'rcsbytcrian  Churches  respect- 
ively. 


[•{••{••{••S*  <^^  •}••}  •{••S-- 


ENUY  M.  WINDKIJS,  attorney-at-law  of 
I'  Elizabethtown,  Hardin  County,  is  a  son  of 
Francis  M.  Winders,  who  was  born  May 
30,  1822,  in  Crittenden  County,  Ky.,  and 
brought  up  on  a  farm  willi  no  education  whatever. 
He  removed  to  Illinois  in  1844,  settling  on  a  farm 
in  Hardin  County,  and  was  married  two  j-ears 
later  to  Elizabeth  J.  Scarbrougii,  of  Tennessee,  by 
whom  he  had  two  children:  Sylvester,  deceased, 
and  Henry  M.  The  latter  was  born  April  14, 
1848,  in  Hardin  County,  111.,  and  was  brought  up 
on  the  farm,  working  in  the  summer  and  attend- 
ing school  in  the  winter  time. 

When  war  was  declared  between  the  North  and 
the  South  our  subject  enlisted,  July  27,  18()3,  in 
Company  I),  Forty-eighth  Kentucky  Mounted  In- 
fantry, and  served  the  cause  of  the  Union  until 
December  16,  18(;4,  when  he  was  mustered  out  at 
Bowling  Green,  Ky.  The  i)rincipal  service  per- 
formed b3'  this  regiment  was  that  of  guarding  the 
Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad  between  Louis- 
ville and  Nashville.  After  peace  was  declared  he 
returned  to  Hardin  Count}', after  being  mustered 
out,  and  engaged  in  teaching  school,  following 
that  profession  for  fourteen  years.  He  then  fol- 
lowed fanning  until  ISSG,  when  he  moved  to 
Elizabethtown  and  began  the  study  of  law  under 
the  instruction  of  John  Q.  A.  Ledbetler,  being  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar  in  August  of  1891,  after  which 
he  immediately  began  active  practice.  He  was 
married  November  12,  1876,  to  Mrs.  Mary  F.  Irion, 
widow  of  (t.  1).  Irion,  lier  niaidi'u  name  having 
been  Marj'  F.  Lamb. 

Jlr.  Windei-s  is  a  member  of  .Masonic  Lodge  No. 
276,  and  is  also  a  member  of  Post  No.  .565,  G.  A. 
R.     He  has  lieeii   prospered   in   various   uiidcrtak- 


370 


PORTRAIT  AM)   I'.1()(;I{AI'1II('.M>   RKNIKW 


ings.  Starting  out  in  life  with  meagre  iiii';uis,  he 
has  steadily  puslied  onward  and  \ii)\v:u(l  unlil 
lie  has  reached  a  position  of  inlliuMKi'  in  lliirdin 
County. 


*^^^l®^@l^,l^^-* 


JOHN  WILLIAMS  was  born  in  I'opc  County, 
in.,  where  he  still  makes  his  home,  in  1818. 
His  father,  .John  "Williams,  who  was  born  in 
the  same  county  in  1813,  was  a  son  of  John 
and  Mary  Williams,  who  were  natives  of  Virginia. 
They  were  married  in  their  native  State,  and  came 
to  Illinois  at  a  very  early  day,  settling  on  a  farm 
of  Government  land  of  about  sixty  acres,  upon 
which  they  made  their  home,  Mr.  Williams  fol- 
lowing the  occupations  of  a  blacksmith,  farmer  and 
nurseryman  combined,  and  although  having  lost 
his  left  hand  he  was  quite  successful.  The  farm 
was  situated  some  two  miles  north  of  Ilartsville, 
Pope  County,  and  upon  it  they  reared  three  son.-, 
•losiah,  James  and  John.  John  and  Mary  Will- 
iams both  lived  to  an  advanced  age  and  died  at 
their  pioneer  home. 

The  father  of  our  subject  married  jNIary  Wool- 
wine,  a  daughter  of  Simon  and  Fannie  (Binyard) 
Wool  wine,  of  Virginia,  in  which  State  Mary  Wool- 
wine  was  born  in  1811.  Mrs.  Williams'  parents 
came  to  southern  Illinois  in  an  early  day,  in  1819, 
and  settled  in  that  part  of  Johnson  County  which 
is  now  the  northeastern  part  of  Pope  County.  They 
at  first  bought  a  squatter's  improvement,  a  cabin 
and  a  small  clearing,  for  which  they  at  a  later  day 
received  a  deed  from  the  Government  and  to 
whidi  they  added  one  Inindred  acres  more.  They 
lived  upon  this  farm  until  the}'  died,  at  an  ad- 
vanced age,  having  reared  three  daughters,  of 
whom  Mrs.  Williams  was  the  first-horn.  After  the 
death  of  her  father,  her  mother  married  .Simon  S. 
Harger  and  had  six  sons  and  one  daughter,  of 
whom  there  are  now  living  Mrs.  Williams  and 
four  of  the  sons. 

John  Williams,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  had 
four    l)rothers   and  si,\  sisters.     One  brother  died 


when  .111  iMlaiil,  and  .Inhn  ;imiI  three  of  his  sisters 
arc  the  iniiy  ones  living.  Simon,  James  and  Henry 
wcri'  vdhinteers  in  the  Union  armj-  during  the 
war  of  the  Rebellion.  Simon  was  one  of  the 
seventy  of  the  seventj'-seven  of  his  company  who 
perished  en  route  home  on  the  ship  "General 
Lyon,"  and  James  came  home  on  a  sick  furlough 
and  died  at  home  in  his  twentv-second  year.  John 
was  the  youngest  of  the  sons.  The  three  sisters  liv- 
ingare:  Catherine,  wife  of  John  L.  Robbs,of  Eddy- 
ville;  Kthie  E.  H.,  wife  of  Benjamin  F.  Yates,  a 
farmer  of  Eddyville  Precinct;  and  Martha  J.,  wife 
of  Ed  Hathaway,  of  Eddyville.  The  father  of 
these  children  died  in  1850,  in  the  prime  of  life, 
and  his  widow,  the  venerable  mother  of  his  chil- 
dren, is  still  living,  active  and  bright,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-two,  with  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Mr.  Williams  was  reared  to  farm  life  and  work 
and  had  but  little  opportunity  to  secure  an  edu- 
cation; he  is,  however,  a  great  reader  and  a  well- 
informed  man,  at  the  present  time  preaching  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  obtained  his 
education  after  attaining  to  man's  estate,  but  is 
well  educated  and  is  a  truly  self-made  man.  He 
was  married  at  the  age  of  twenty  years  and  has 
alwa3's  had  his  mother  with  him.  His  wife  was 
Sarah  E.  AV^iley,  of  East  Tennessee,  a  daughter  of 
John  Wiley,  a  farmer  and  blacksmith  by  occupa- 
tion, who  came  to  Illinois  in  1862,  when  his  daugh- 
ter was  ten  years  old.  She  is  the  eldest  of  a  family, 
of  eight  children  born  to  her  parents,  who  were  ref- 
ugees from  Tennessee,  the  mother  driving  the  team 
through  the  Rebel  lines,  while  her  husband  stole 
away.  Their  lo^-alty  cost  them  great  sacrifice, 
but  they  could  not  aid  in  the  attempt  to  destroy 
their  country.  John  AVilliams  and  his  wife  settled 
in  their  present  home  in  1873,  and  subsequently 
bought  eighty  acres  of  wild  land,  sixty  acres  of 
which  they  have  cleared.  Death  has  claimed  two 
infant  daughters  and  there  arc  now  ten  children 
living:  David,  who  is  married  and  has  one  son; 
Melvina,  a  young  lady  nineteen  years  of  age  and 
living  at  home;  Nora,  fifteen;  Henry  N.,  twelve; 
Ethie  E.,  ten;  John  B.,  eight;  Van  Cleve,  six; 
Alexander  and  Herman,  twins,  bright  and  hand- 
some little  fellows,  two  years  old:  and  Sarah,  an 
infant.     Jlr.   Williams  carries  on   mixed  farming 


I 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


371 


on  a  email  scale  and  is  very  successful.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  in 
politics  a  Prohibitionist,  slniight  and  solid.  His 
father  was  a  Methodist  minister,  and  the  entire 
famil\-  are  of  this  faith.  Our  subject  is  noted  for 
his  perseverance,  push  and  i)lu(k,  and  is  well  likc(l 
bv  all  who  know  liim. 


b^''}'"'^i 


'\  OlIN  JACK,  attorney-at-law  at  Cave  in  Rock, 
Hardin  County,  is  a  son  of  William  C.  Jack, 
a  native  of  Alabama,  born  in  that  State  in 
April,  1809,  and  brought  upon  a  farm.  At  an 
earl3'  da}'  he  removed  to  Oibson  County,  Tenn.,  set- 
tled on  a  farm,  and  remained  there  until  October, 
1837,  when  he  removed  to  Illinois  and  entered  land, 
covered  with  timber,  in  Williamson  County.  The 
onlv  improvement  of  any  kind  on  tiiis  land  was 
the  log  cabin  erected  by  Mr.  .Jack.  He  cleared  up 
his  farm  and  lived  upon  it  until  1857,  when  he 
removed  to  Johnson  County,  and  bought  a  farm, 
upon  which  he  lived  the  rest  of  his  life,  dying  in 
1875.  He  was  married  in  1831  to  Malinda  Glass- 
cock, of  Tennessee,  by  whom  he  had  eleven  chil- 
dren, viz:  John,  the  subject  of  this  sket(;li ;  William, 
a  farmer  of  Williamson  County;  Jasper  and  Car- 
roll, deceased;  Xoali  N.,  a  farmer  of  Johnson 
County;  Marshall,  deceased;  Alonzo.  a  farmer  of 
Johnson  Count}-;  Jlelissa,  deceased;  Ellen,  wife  of 
Thomas  Trowel;  Amanda,  wife  of  A.  Futrel;  and 
Emma,  wife  of  Tine  Boles,  a  fanner  of  Williamson 
County. 

.John  .Tack  was  born  in  (iibson  C(ninty,  Tenn. 
October  27,  1832.  He  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  obtained  his  education  in  a  three-montlis 
subscription  school,  taught  in  one  of  the  pioneer 
log  schoolhouses.  In  1837  he  came  with  his  fa- 
ther to  Illinois,  and  started  out  in  life  for  himself 
in  1849.  He  returned  to  Gibson  Count}',  Tenn., 
where  he  attended  school  six  months,  working  at 
hard  labor  in  order  to  i)ay  his  tuition.  In  1850 
he  returned  to  his  home  in  Illinois,  and  became  a 
clerk  in  a  store  at  a  salary  of  ^4  per  month.     Re- 


maining in  this  store  two  years,  lie  went  to  Anna, 
III.,  and  worked  in  a  saloon  one  month,  when  he 
went  to  work  on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  as  a 
brakeman,  continuing  tlius  engaged  one  year.  He 
then  went  to  work  in  a  sawmill,  and  remained  in 
the  mill  and  timber  business  until  1857,  after  which 
he  bought  land  in  .Johnson  County,  working  his 
farm  in  the  summers  and  leaching  school  in  winters 
until  1862,  when  he  enlisted  in  Company  I,  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-eighth  Illinois  Infantry, serv- 
ing until  April  4,  18()3,  when  he  was  discharged 
on  account  of  ill-health.  He  removed  to  Hardin 
County  in  1864,  and  for  some  lime  followed  farm- 
ing. In  I8()5  he  was  elected  County  Superinten- 
dent of  Public  Instruction,  and  held  the  office  two 
terms  for  four  years  each.  He  served  as  Justice  of 
the  Peace  for  several  years,  and  from  his  court  no 
appeal  was  ever  taken.  In  1880  he  removed  to  Cave 
in  Rock,  and  was  engaged  in  the  drug  business  there 
one  }-ear.  He  then  engaged  in  general  merchan- 
dising, and  in  I885  he  was  appointed  Postmaster, 
serving  for  four  years.  He  had  studied  law  several 
years  when  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1889,  and  has 
continued  in  practice  ever  since,  winning  quite  a 
reputation  as  an  attorney.  He  was  married  March 
16,  1856,  to  Martiia  E.  Harris,  daughter  of  John 
Harris,  of  Tennessee,  but  has  had  no  children.  He 
is  a  member  of  Lodge  No.  444,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  is 
an  Odd  Fellow.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  and 
he  and  his  wife  arc  members  of  the  Baptist  Chuieh. 


j^^  AMIEI.  I).  WHITKMDK,  of  Wolrab  Mills, 
^^^  Hardin  County,  is  a  son  of  James  A. 
lll^Ji)  Whiteside,  also  of  this  county,    who   was 

reared  a  farmer  and  was  without  any  but  a  , 
practical  education.  He  earl}-  purchased  timber 
land,  and  settled  down  to  the  work  of  improving 
his  farm.  His  first  wife  was  Sidney  Howard,  and 
by  her  he  had  two  children:  James  A.  Jr.,  a  farmer 
of  Crawford  County,  Kan.,  and  Bettie,  wife  of 
Charles  Kidd,  of  Golcoiida,  III.  He  was  married 
in  1846,  to  his  second   wife,  Susan   M.   Lockwood. 


dn 


PORTRAIT  AND   lilOGRAPlllCAL  REVIEW. 


Slie  was  a  widow,  whose  maiden  name  was  Garner, 
and  was  a  daugliler  of  Moses  15.  Garner,  of  Ham- 
ilton Count}',  111.,  and  to  them  were  born  two 
children,  as  follows:  Samuel  D.,  and  Sidney,  wife 
of  W.  P.  McKarland,  of  Ilarrisburg,  111.  James 
A.  Whiteside  died  in  18.')2,  and  his  widow  married 
Hobcrt  ().  Hunter,  whose  fatlier  was  a  native  of 
Ireland.     She  died  in  September,  1890. 

Samuel  D.  Whiteside  was  born  in  Hardin  County, 
III.,  November  2.5,  1850.  He  was  reared  on  the 
farm,  and  attended  the  common  schools  of  the 
county,  obtaining  a  fair  Knglish  education.  The 
death  of  his  father  occurred  while  he  was  quite 
young,  and  it  therefore  fell  to  his  lot  to  support 
his  widowed  mother  for  a  time,  which  he  did 
loyally  and  bravely.  In  1886  he  became  engaged 
in  the  mercantile  business  at  his  present  location, 
at  which  business  he  has  been  ver^'  successful.  He 
has  a  large  and  steadily  increasing  trade,  and  also 
owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  good  land, 
all  of  which  is  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  Mr. 
Whiteside  was  married  to  Miss  (Gertrude  Joiner, 
daughter  of  Carroll  Joiner,  February  12,  1893,  and 
she  makes  his  home  an  abode  of  hospitality  and 
ifood  cheer. 


JOHN  II.  NURKIS,  M.  I).,  one  of  the  leading 
physicians  of  Metrojjolis,  was  born  in  Mar- 
ion County,  Ky.,  August  29,  1830.  His 
father,  Moses  Norris,  was  born  in  Virginia, 
and  his  father,  Thomas  Norris,  was  born  in  Ireland, 
and,  from  the  best  information  obtainable,  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  of  Scotch  ancestry.  He  and 
his  brothers,  William  and  James,  were  the  only 
members  of  the  family  that  ever  came  to  this 
country,  and  they  all  settled  in  Virginia.  The 
grandfather  of  Dr.  Norris  resided  there  until 
about  1825,  and  then  emigrated  to  Kentucky',  ac- 
companied by  his  wife  and  (juc  child,  making  the 
journey  by  means  of  an  ox-team.  He  purchased 
a  tract  of  timber  land  on  the  Uolling  Fork  of  Salt 
Uiver,  cleared  a    f;iriii    :ind    lived  there  until   181(1, 


when  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  spent  his  last  days 
in  Tazewell  County,  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Judith  Rogers.  She  was  a  native  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  died  in  Tazewell  County,  111.  She  and 
her  husband  reared  eight  children:  Moses,  William, 
Susan,  Mar}',  Thomas,  John,  James  and  Joseph. 
Moses  Norris  was  reared  to  agricultural  pursuits 
and  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  Marion  Count}',  Ky., 
on  which  he  resided  until  1832,  when  he  sold  out 
and  emigrated  toIUinois,  accompanied  by  his  wife 
and  child.  They  made  the  journey  on  horseback, 
carrying  their  son  in  their  arms,  and  located  in 
Tazewell  County,  twenty-five  miles  from  IMoom- 
ington  and  fifteen  miles  east  of  Peoria. 

Mr.  Norris  chose  a  tract  of  Government  land 
near  the  site  of  the  village  of  Mackinaw,  and 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers.  At  that  time  north- 
ern Illinois  was  practically  uninhabited,  and  Chi- 
cago as  a  city  had  not  yet  been  heard  of.  He  en- 
tered three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land, 
erected  a  cabin  of  round  logs,  and  commenced  at 
once  to  improve  his  farm.  In  1840  he  sold  this 
land  and  again  started  for  the  frontier,  making 
an  overland  journey  to  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  set- 
tling in  Black  Hawk,  and  purchasing  about  twenty 
miles  north  of  Cedar  Rapids,  near  Cedar  River. 
At  that  time  all  the  land  in  that  part  of  the  coun- 
try was  owned  by  the  Government.  He  made  a 
claim  and  began  to  improve  the  land,  but  found 
the  winters  too  severe  for  him,  and  in  1843  he  sold 
his  claim  and  removed  to  near  the  Osage  River, 
Mo.,  and  in  1845  settled  permanently  near  Rolla. 
Here  he  was  successful  in  his  operations,  and 
erected  good  buildings  and  accumulated  a  large 
stock  of  cattle  and  horses.  During  the  war  that 
part  of  the  country  was  infested  with  guerrillas, 
and  his  buildings  and  fences  were  destroyed,  and 
his  stock  stolen,  entailing  upon  him  a  loss  of 
120,000.  He  then  removed  to  Rolla  and  lived 
retired  until  his  death.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Keziah  D.  Tucker,  a  native  of  Kentucky, 
and  a  daughter  of  Matthew  Tucker.  She  died  in 
Rolla,  Mo.,  having  reared  four  children:  John 
II.,  Annie,  and  Sarah  and  Mary,  twins. 

John  H.  Norris  was  in  his  second  year  when  his 
parents  moved  to  Illinois,  hence  he  has  no  recol- 
lection of  his  native  home.     He  attended  the  pio- 


PORTKAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


373 


neer  schools  of  Tazewell  County  ten  weeks  in 
liie  winter  before  his  eleventh  iiirtiidny,  and  the 
school  he  attended  lie  entered  as  its  teacher  at  eigh- 
teen j-eai-s  of  age.  He  acquired  liis  education  with 
the  aid  of  his  mother  by  the  kitchen  fireplace, 
an<l  sometimes  by  the  ohl-fashioned  sheet-iron  lamp 
with  the  canton  cloth  rag  for  a  wick,  and  sup- 
plied with  bear  and  'coon  oil.  This  was  the  start 
of  what  llie  world  now  acknowledges  to  be  an  ed- 
ucated man,  not  only  in  his  profession  but  as  a 
literary  man  of  ability.  While  engaged  in  teach- 
ing he  studied  medicine,  and  in  1856  graduated 
from  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College,  after  which 
he  immediately  began  practice  in  Mulkeytown, 
Franklin  County,  111.,  remaining  there  until  IS.')?, 
when  he  removed  to  Sulphur  Springs,  Williamson 
County,  and  was  engaged  in  practice  there  until 
1860.  He  then  removed  to  Grantsburg,  Johnson 
County,  111.,  and  continued  in  active  practice 
thereuntil  December  21,  1863,  when  he  enlisted 
in  Company  M,  Thirteenth  Illinois  Cavalry,  of 
which  companj-  he  was  commissioned  Cai)tain. 
He  served  with  this  regiment  until  August,  1865, 
and  was  in  command  of  the  regiment  the  greater 
part  of  the  time,  on  account  of  the  absence  and 
sickness  of  his  superior  officers.  Among  the  most 
important  battles  in  which  he  i)articipated  may  be 
mentioned  Prairie  Du  Anne,  Camden,  Pine  Bluffs, 
Mt.  Elba,  Little  Rock  Road  and  Bayou  Jletoe. 
After  his  return  from  the  war  he  practiced  medi- 
cine in  Grantsburg  one  year  and  then  removed 
to  Vienna,  Johnson  County. 

Our  subject  remained  in  .lohnson  County  until 
1870,  when  he  removed  to  Carmi,  where  he  prac- 
ticed one  year  and  then  returned  to  Vienna  and 
remained  there  until  1873,  when  he  removed  to 
Metropolis  and  has  been  engaged  in  law  practice 
here  ever  since.  He  was  first  married  to  Mar- 
tha McMahan,  who  was  born  in  Alabama,  and 
died  in  1870.  In  December,  1870,  he  married 
Celia  Handle^',  a  native  of  White  County,  111.,  who 
died  in  1881.  His  third  marriage  occurred  in 
1882,  to  Anna  Lukens,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  He 
has  three  children  living  by  the  first  marriage: 
Miscal,  Peter  Hoche,  and  Lillian,  widow  of  Pleas- 
ant J.  Carson.  By  the  second  marriage  he  has 
one  child  living,  IJella,  wife  of  A.  J.  .lacolis;  and 
by  the  third  marriage  he  has  oiu'  son,  .luhri  II.,  .Jr. 


Dr.  Norris  is  a  member  of  the  Chosen  Friends; 
of  Lodge  No.  86,  1.  O.  O.  F.;  of  Orestes  Lodge 
No.  268,  K.  P.;  and  of  Tom  Smith  Post  No.  345, 
G.  A.  R.  He  was  for  some  3-ears  Secretary  of  the 
Massac  County  Medical  Society,  and  has  served  as 
Vice-President  of  the  Southern  Medical  Societ}', 
of  which  he  is  still  a  member.  He  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Southwestern  Kentucky  ^Medical  Asso- 
ciation. Politically,  Dr.  Norris  is  a  Republican, 
and  religiously  he  affiliates  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  as  does  also  his  wife,  who  is  a 
zealous  worker  in  that  denominf.tion. 


^  ATRICK  G.  M.  EVOY,  Principal  of  the  New 


I  Jll  Burnside  public  schools,  where  he  taught 
f^  some  3'cars  since,  and  to  which  he  returned 
[\  in  1891,  was  born  in  Limerick.  Ireland,  in 
1849.  His  father  was  Patrick  G.  McEvoy,  and  his 
mother  Mary  A.  Griffin.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Michael  and  Mary  (Langan)  Griffin,  of  the  same 
part  of  Ireland  in  which  Mr.  McEvoy  was  born, 
and  their  country-seat  was  known  as  Fairy  Lawn 
Cottage,  in  Limerick  County.  INIary  (Langan) 
Griffin  was  of  a  prominent  famih-.  Her  three 
brothers  were  participants  in  the  Irish  Rebellion, 
and  were  also  among  the  patriots  of  the  Revolu- 
tionaiy  War  under  (ien.  Montgomery.  William 
Griffin  was  a  physician  and  surgeon  in  the  British 
army,  and  for  his  valuable  services  was  afterward 
made  a  baronet. 

The  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  one 
of  fifteen  children,  and  our  subject  himself  is  one 
of  a  family  of  fourteen,  which  consisted  of  seven 
sons  and  seven  daughters.  He  is  the  seventh  child 
and  fourth  son  in  order  of  birth.  The  father  of 
these  fourteen  children  died  in  Ireland  in  1872, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years.  He  was  a 
business  man  and  was  for  man}'  years  the  mer- 
cantile agent  of  a  large  house  in  New  York 
City.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  sent  to  the 
kindergarten   when    four  years  of  age,  and    was 


374 


rOKTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPfflCAL  REVIEW. 


kept  in  the  i)iililic  schools  up  to  liis  thirteenth 
year.  He  was  then  placed  in  the  Normal  Train- 
ing .School  in  Dublin,  and  afterward  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Dublin,  where  he  pursued  a  course  in 
civil  engineering,  graduating  by  examination 
about  the  close  of  the  year  1867.  His  entire  fam- 
ily' were  identified  with  the  Fenian  troubles  of 
1867,  and  though  but  a  mere  lad  at  the  time,  he 
actively  participated  and  soon  afterward  tied  to 
the  United  States.  He  came  from  Cork  to  New 
York  in  May,  1868,  and  then  vvcnt  toScranton,  Pa., 
where  he  worked  on  the  construction  of  the  Dela- 
ware, Lackawanna  cfe  Western  Railroad  one  month, 
when  lie  joined  the  engineer  corps,  taking  the  com- 
pass, which  position  he  held  until  the  following 
spring.  His  first  teaching  in  this  country  was  as 
Princi()al  of  the  Saint  .Joseph's  Academy  in  ^lartius- 
burgli,  lierkeley  County,  W.  Va.,  which  he  taught 
three  j'ears,  and  during  the  summers  attended 
lectures  in  Georgetown,  D.  C,  graduating  there  in 
his  twenty-third  year.  He  has  since  then  taught 
in  the  Archer  Avenue  Christian  Brothers'  School, 
in  Chicago,  as  professor  of  mathematics  and  book- 
keeping. His  next  work  was  at  New  Burnside  in 
1874,  teaching  the  district  school  one  mile  west, 
and  in  1880  he  came  to  his  present  position.  He 
was  three  years  in  Jonesborough  as  Principal  of 
the  schools,  having  five  teachers  under  his  inspec- 
tion. 

Our  subject  was  married  February  9,  1875,  to 
Miss  Mary  Ann,  daughter  of  John  and  Ellen 
(Cunningham)  McCabe,  both  of  Ireland.  She  was 
born  and  reared  in  Burnside  Township,  and  there 
received  all  her  education  except  that  which  she 
received  at  Quinc^',  111.  She  began  teaching  when 
twenty-two  years  of  age  and  has  been  thus  en- 
gaged ever  since  in  New  Burnside,  except  two 
terms  when  she  taught  in  the  district  school 
in  this  township.  She  was  seriously  ill  with  la 
grippe  in  the  winter  of  1891-92,  and  her  health 
is  still  impaired,  otherwise  she  would  be  engaged 
in  teaching  at  the  present  time.  She  is  still  in 
love  with  her  calling  and  is  considered  the  most 
successful  lady  teacher  in  this  part  of  the  State. 
Her  mother,  Mrs.  Ellen  McC.abe,  widow  of  the  late 
John  IMcC.abe,  who  died  M.ay  26,  1888,  aged  sixty 
3ears,  still   survives.     John    McCabe  was   born  in 


Ireland,  Kings  County,  and  was  the  son  of  a  farmer 
named  Matthew  McCabe,  who  eame  to  the  United 
States  in  1849,  bringing  with  hira  his  wife  and 
six  sons  and  two  daughters.  One  son,  John,  and 
one  da\ighler,  Mary,  had  come  to  this  countiy 
about  one  year  before.  The  family  first  lived  a 
year  or  two  in  Ohio,  where  the  father  worked  in 
railroad  construction,  and  the  mother  kept  board- 
ers. They  then  removed  to  .lohnson  County,  111., 
and  bought  eighty  acres  of  land,  which  was  partly 
improved,  and  upon  this  farm  the  parents  lived 
and  died.  The  father  died  in  1861,  aged  eight}' 
years,  and  his  widow  survived  hira  some  twenty- 
four  years  and  died  at  about  eighty'  years  of  age. 
The  family  are  all  gone  but  two  sons  and  two 
daughters.  John  McCabe  and  Ellen  Cunningham 
had  never  met  in  their  native  land,  but  after  com- 
ing to  America  were  brought  together,  and  mar- 
ried July  23,  1849,  in  New  York  City. 

Mrs.  McCabe  came  over  in  1847,  when  she  was 
twenty-five  years  of  age.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Catharine  Cunningham,  who,  though 
of  the  same  name,  were  not  related.  She  was  one 
of  ten  children,  six  sons  and  four  daughters.  The 
parents  of  these  children  were  well-to-do  farmers 
and  owned  their  farm.  Mr.  Cunningham  was  a 
well-educated  man  and  gave  his  children  good 
advantages  in  that  line,  and  of  the  sons  four  were 
classically  educated  and  two  of  them  became 
clergymen.  One  by  one,  the  sons  all  crossed  the 
sea  to  the  United  States  but  one,  who  is  still  liv- 
ing in  Ireland  on  the  old  home  farm.  Mrs.  Mc- 
Cabe went  to  service  about  one  year  in  Connecti- 
cut before  she  met  and  married  her  husband. 
They  came  to  Illinois  in  1854  and  settled  in  John- 
son County,  living  one  year  in  the  bend  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  clearing  up  ten  acres  of  land. 
With  the  proceeds  of  the  crops  of  potatoes  and 
corn  and  some  stock  which  he  raised  thereon,  to- 
gether with  some  mone}'  he  earned  at  his  trade  of 
stone  mason  and  plasterer,  at  the  end  of  three 
years  he  bought  two  hundred  acres  of  land  at  $2 
per  acre,  which  is  still  owned  by  Mrs.  McCabe. 
They  lived  on  that  land,  which,  when  bought,  was 
new  and  all  densely  timbered,  for  twenty-eight 
3'ears.  They  built  at  first  a  rude  log  house,  in 
which  the}-  lived  many  years,  until  it  went  to  de- 


A 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


375 


cay.  Mrs.  McCabe,  during  the  first  eight  yeai'S  of 
their  pioneer  life,  cooked  over  a  large  log  fire  un- 
til tliey  could  afford  a  stove,  and  within  twent\' 
years  of  their  first  purchase  they  owned  six  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  which  cost  them  from  ^2  to 
$15  per  acre,  and  is  nearly  all  in  the  famil}-  at  the 
present  time.  Mrs.  McCabc  lierselt  owns  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres.  Twelve  acres  of  the  farm 
are  now  occupied  b}'  village  homes.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
McCabe  buried  four  children  in  earl\-  childhood 
and  infanc}'  and  leared  four,  two  sons  and  two 
daughters.  One  daughter,  Catharine,  wife  of 
Patrick  Hanagan,  died  at  thirty'  j-ears  of  age, 
leaving  three  children,  one  son  and  two  daugh- 
ters. The  two  daughters  are  living  with  their 
grandmother,  Mrs.  McCabe.  Those  of  Mrs.  Mc- 
Cabe's  children  who  are  still  living  are  as  fol- 
lows: Mary  Ann,  wife  of  Patrick  McEvoy,  Princi- 
pal of  the  New  Burnside  public  schools;  James  P., 
a  farmer  on  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  the 
home  farm,  who  has  a  wife,  one  son  and  three 
daugliters;  Thomas,  a  farmer  on  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres  of  the  home  farm,  who  has  a  wife, 
three  sons  and  two  daughters.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mc- 
Cabe bought  eighty  acres  here  before  the  railroad 
came  through  and  erected  a  good  brick  dwelling 
in  1879.  lie  was  a  hard-working  man,  and  was 
of  iron  frame  and  of  indomitable  will,  never  giv- 
ing up  in  the  struggle  of  life,  even  for  the  frequent 
attacks  of  malaria.  lie  served  in  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-eighth  Illinois  Infantrj-  during 
the  Civil  War  three  years,  and  was  then  trans- 
ferred, to  the  Ninth  Illinois  Regiment.  He  re- 
turned from  the  war  affected  with  chronic  dysen- 
tery, from  which  he  never  recovered.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  McCabe  were  life-long  Catholics  and  gave 
their  children  a  good  education.  Mrs.  McCabe 
was  a  grand  heroine  of  the  war,  doing  all  kinds  of 
farm  work  during  the  absence  of  her  husband  in 
the  field,  and  to  her  labor  and  good  judgment  are 
due  the  credit  and  the  praise  for  the  financial  suc- 
cess of  the  family  both  before  and  since  tlie  death 
of  her  husband. 

Mr.  McEvoy  has  seen  many  of  the  ups  and  downs 
of  life  for  a  man  of  his  years,  and  he  is  now  well 
known  as  a  thoroughl3'  competent  and  successful 
teacher.     This  devoted  couple,  though  not  them- 


selves blessed  with  children,  are  doing  a  good 
work  in  educating  the  children  of  this  section  of 
the  State.  Mr.  McEvoy  has  a  little  farm  of  forty- 
five  acres  within  the  village  corporation,  which 
was  named  Fairy  Lawn  to  perpetuate  the  name  of 
his  native  home.  On  this  he  keepa  stock  of  the 
best  breeds  and  some  pure  blood  Poland-China  hogs 
of  the  Philadelphia  breed.  lie  has  a  fine  orchard  of 
thirty-eight  acres  of  all  kinds  of  fruit.  Politically 
he  is  a  Democrat,  and  religiously  a  Catholic.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  JIcEvo}'  have  some  bright  pets,  two 
mocking  birds,  one  a  prodigy  in  its  way,  which 
has  learned  a  great  variety  of  music  and  acquired 
great  (luenc}'  in  the  art  of  niimicrj'.  This  noted 
gentleman  and  wife  are,  as  will  have  been  seen  b}' 
the  reader  of  this  sketch,  one  of  the  most  useful, 
highly  esteemed  and  interesting  couples  in  this 
part  of  the  Slate. 


ON.  PLEASANT  T.  CIIAP.MAN,  President 
of  the  First  National  li.ank  of  Vienna,  was 
born  on  a  farm  eight  miles  north"  of  Vi- 
^j  enna,  Johnson  County,  111.,  October  8, 
1854.  His  father,  Daniel  C.  Chapman,  was  born 
three  miles  from  A'ienna.  His  father,  Daniel  Chap- 
man, was  born  in  Onondaga  County,  N.  Y.,  and  go- 
ing back  one  generation  further,  his  father,  Daniel 
Chapman,  was  born  in  England.  This  English  i)ro- 
genitor  of  the  Chaiiman  family  in  the  I'uited 
.States  came  to  America  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  served  in  that  war  seven 
years,  on  the  side  of  the  Colonists.  He  came  to  Ill- 
inois about  1818,  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers 
in  Bloomlicld  Township,  in  which  he  secured  a 
tract  of  Government  land,  cleared  a  farm,  and  lived 
upon  that  farm  until  his  death.  The  maiden  name 
of  his  wife  was  Lucretia  Finch.  The  grandfather 
of  Hon.  Pleasant  T.  Chapman  came  to  Illinois  with 
his  parents  when  quite  a  young  man,  and  secured 
a  tract  of  Government  land  in  Bloomfield  Town- 
ship, which  he   farmed.     lie   was  a   well-educated 


376 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RP^' 1 1. W. 


mail,  :iiul  tliiiiiLjli  not  I'fyiilarlv  ndinilliMl  to  tlic  l!;ir, 
was  a  kiiul  of  k'giil  fuiui-selor  for  liis  ii(jiglil)ors, 
and  in  many  other  ways  was  a  most  useful  citizen. 
He  lived  all  his  life  upon  his  farm,  and  man-icd 
Miss  Elizabeth   Ucpoisler. 

Daniel  C  Chapman,  llie  father  of  our  sul)ject, 
was  reared  and  educated  in  Johnson  County,  III., 
and  when  a  young  man  taught  several  terms  of 
school.  After  his  marriage  he  settled  in  Tunnel 
Hill  Township,  where  he  had  purchased  eighty  acres 
of  land,  and  where  he  pursued  a  successful  career 
as  a  farmer.  At  different  limes  afterward  he  added 
to  his  landed  possessions,  until  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  took  place  in  1889,  he  owned  four 
hundred  acres.  His  wife  was  Mary  Rose,  born  in 
Grautsburg,  and  the  daughter  of  Pleasant  Rose, 
and  she  now  occupies  the  home  farm.  She  reared 
eight  children,  as  follows:  Pleasant  T.,  James  C, 
Daniel  L., Sidney  A.  (now  deceased),  Mary  E.  Ben- 
son, Ida  C.  Wliittenberg,  Estella  B.  and  Charles  A. 
The  father  of  these  children  was  formerly  a  Whig, 
but  has  been  a  Republican  since  the  formation  of 
that  party,  and  was  a  soldier  in  the  Mexican  War. 
He  served  three  terms  as  Sheriff  of  the  countj", 
the  extent  of  bis  political  services  to  his  State. 

Hon.  Pleasant  T.  Chapman  secured  his  earlj'  ed- 
ucation in  the  public  schools,  and  his  advanced 
education  at  McKendree  College,  where  he  gradu- 
ated in  the  Class  of  '76,  and  ihen  taught  four 
terms  of  school,  during  which  time  he  studied  law 
in  the  office  of  Judge  H.  H.  Horner,  of  Lebanon, 
and  of  Hon.  A.  G.  Dann-on,  of  Vienna.  In  1878 
he  was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  and  in  1879  began 
the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  1882  he  was  mar- 
ried to  May  Copeland,  by  whom  he  has  three  chil- 
dren. Ward,  Marian  and  Ralph.  He  cast  his  first 
Presidential  vote  for  Garfield  in  1880,  and  has 
ever  since  been  a  stanch  and  true  Republican.  He 
has  served  two  terms  as  County  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  and  two  terms  of  four  years  each  as  County 
Judge,  and  in  1890  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate, 
in  which  body  he  voted  with  the  Republicans  in 
that  memorable  session  of  1890-91.  He  first  en- 
gaged in  banking  in  1882,  conducting  a  private 
bank  from  that  time  until  1890,  when  the  First 
Jv'ational  Bank  of  Vienna  was  organized,  and  he 
elected  President.     He  is  Secretary'  of  the  Chap- 


man Store  Coiiipiuiy,  which  transacts  an  extensive 
mercantile  busiiu'ss,  and  is  also  President  of  the 
Vienna  Luml)er  Company,  and  the  owner  of  sev- 
eral farms',  and  is  largely  interested  in  farming 
and  stock-raising.  To  this  multiplicity  <>f  en- 
terprises he  gives  his  personal  attention,  and  in 
addition  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law.  lie  is 
a  member  of  \ienna  Lodge  No.  1.50,  A.  F.  it  A.  M.; 
of  Vienna  Chapter  No.  07,  R.  A.  M-;  of  Cairo  Com- 
mandery  No.  18,  K.  T.,  and  of  Vienna  Lodge  No. 
248,  K.  of  P.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Mr.  Chap- 
man is  one  of  the  most  active  and  most  public- 
spirited  men  of  his  county. 


r        ♦^•! 


/p^EORGE  W.  LASLEY  was  born  in  Simpson 
[l[  (— ,  Township,  Johnson  County,  in  1831,  and 
^^jj  now  resides  in  Burnside  Township.  His 
father,  James  Lasley,  was  a  native  of  Kentucky 
and  was  born  in  1771.  He  was  a  farmer  and  was 
the  son  of  Thomas  Lasley,  who  came  from  Ireland 
and  wasaccidentall3'  drowned  in  the  French  Broad 
River,  when  his  son  James  was  an  infant.  His 
widow  afterward  married  George  Wallace  and 
reared  a  number  of  children.  James  Lasley  mar- 
ried Rebecca  Dobbs,  of  Kentucky,  by  whom  he 
had  six  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom  George 
W.  is  the  youngest.  James  and  his  wife  came  to 
Illinois  in  the  spring  of  1832  with  their  own 
team  of  horses  and  covered  wagon,  bringing  with 
them  their  family  of  eight  children,  losing  on  the 
way  one  little  son.  They  had  but  limited  means, 
but  had  four  horses,  three  of  which  drew  the  cov- 
ered wagon  and  the  other  a  single  rig.  They  first 
settled  in  the  woods  and  lived  for  a  time  in  two 
rude  log  cabins,  16x16  feet  in  size.  Before  Mr. 
Lasley  died  he  owned  seven  hundred  acres  of 
land,  all  adjoining,  and  had  built  a  good  log  house, 
weather-boarded  and  ceiled,  which  is  still  occu- 
pied by  one  of  the  daughters. 

George  W.  Lasley  had  but  little  education,  and 
that  he  secured  in  a  subscription   school,   pacing 


i 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


377 


$1  per  month.  At  twelve  years  of  age  he  attended 
school  one  montli,  from  which  he  derived  much 
good,  but  learned  more  of  writing  while  in  the 
army  than  he  had  ever  learned  before.  He  was 
married  at  nineteen  years  of  age,  before  leaving 
home,  to  Jliss  Esther  C.  Veatch,  daughter  of  Abi- 
jah  J.  Veatch,  of  Kentucky,  the  native  State  of 
Mrs.  Lasley,  who  was  married  in  her  twentieth 
year,  in  1852.  After  marriage  our  subject  and 
Ins  wife  remained  at  his  parents'  liome  a  few 
months  and  then  went  to  Missouri,  Kansas  and 
Indian  Territory,  remaining  in  the  West  some 
three  years,  when  they  returned  to  the  old  home- 
stead, where  they  remained  until  after  tiie  death 
of  his  father  in  1858.  at  the  age  of  eighty-five 
years.  His  widow  survived  him  some  five  or  six 
j-ears,  and  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-two  years. 
George  W.  Lasley  enlisted  in  Company  K,  One 
Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  Capt. 
Parks.  His  brother,  Andrew  Jackson,  was  in 
the  First  Tennessee  Cavalry,  and  was  taken  pris- 
oner at  Memphis,  Tenn.  George  W.  served  over 
three  yeai-s.  He  was  in  the  hospital  some  time  at 
Memphis  with  erysipelas,  and  the  fever  ruined  his 
sight.  He  came  out  with  impaired  health  and  is 
receiving  a  small  pension. 

Our  subject  lost  his  first  wife  about  1868,  when 
she  was  thirty-five  years  old.  She  left  six  children, 
three  of  whom  are  deceased.  The  others  are  Re- 
becca, wife  of  L.  D.  Cruse,  a  farmer,  who  has  one  son 
living;  Ellen,  wife  of  William  Mahon,  a  farmer,  who 
has  one  son  and  two  daughters  living;  and  Laura 
M.,  wife  of  J.  N.  Cruse,  residing  near  Rock  Post- 
oflice,  in  Pope  County,  who  has  one  son  and  one 
daughter.  There  are  three  daughtei's  deceased, 
viz:  Sarah  E.,  wife  of  .Jacob  Hood,  who  left  four 
sons;  Mary  Ann,  wife  of  Matt  Craft,  who  left  a 
son  and  daughter,  who  are  now  living  with  their 
grandparents;  and  Esther  .Jane,  wife  of  X.  J.  Cruse, 
who  left  one  son.  Some  years  after  the  death  of 
his  first  wife  Mr.  Lasle}'  was  married  to  his  pres- 
ent wife.  Miss  Elizabeth  Kendall,  of  North  Caro- 
lina, whose  father  died  in  .Johnson  Count3-  at  the 
age  of  seventy-nine  years.  The  mother  is  still 
living  with  Mr.  Lasley,  aged  eighty-one  j'ears. 
B}'  liis  second  wife  our  subject  h.is  two  children: 
Charles  B.,  a  youth  now  in   his  seventeenth  year. 


and  Parthena  E.,  a  young  woman  eighteen  years 
old.  One  infant  son  is  deceased.  Mr.  Lasley 
h.as  now  one  hundred  and  ten  acres  of  land,  hav- 
ing lost  some  b^-  the  Cairo  Short  Line  Railroad, 
and  he  has  also  deeded  some  to  his  heirs.  He  is  a 
Master  Mason  and  is  a  member  of  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church.  Politically,  he  is  a  true, 
l03"al  and  straight  Republican.  His  wife  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  which 
she  is  an  active  worker. 


:^>-^^<l 


»}E0RC;E  T.  ALLSIP,  who  has  resided  twenty- 
three  years  on  his  eighty-acre  farm  on  sec- 
*^^j  tion  22,  Tunnel  Hill  Township,  Johnson 
County,  was  born  in  Kentucky  February  14,  1850, 
to  William  P.  AUsip,  a  native  and  farmer  of  Ken- 
lucky.  He  removed  from  Davis  County,  Ky.,  to 
Tunnel  Hill  Township  in  1869,  and  settled  on  the 
farm  which  is  now  the  home  of  his  son,  George 
T.  His  first  wife  was  a  Miss  De  Quincy  Terrell, 
who  died  in  Kentucky  when  George  T.  was  a 
small  boy,  leaving  six  children,  four  sons  and 
two  daughters,  of  whom  our  subject  is  the  third 
child  and  the  second  son  in  order  of  birth.  The 
fatlier  was  married  after  his  first  wife's  decease  to 
a  Miss  Lutetia  Jackson,  of  Davis  Countj',  Ky., 
and  shorti}'  after  left  the  farm  in  Kentucky  and 
came  to  lands  in  Illinois  which  Mr.  Terrell's  fa- 
ther had  located  on  a  land  warrant,  he  having  been 
a  soldier  in  the  Mexican  War.  The  latter  died  in 
Kentuckj'  at  about  the  age  of  seventy-five  3'ears. 
William  P.  AUsip  died  on  his  farm  in  1871,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-two,  leaving  his  widow,  who  is  still 
living  near  her  son  George, and  five  children:  Joel 
W.;  Oscar;  Alice;  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Jasper  N. 
Simmons;  and  Delilah  P.,  wife  of  Joseph  Attneff, 
who  resides  at  Tunnel  Hill.  They  are  all  residing 
on  a  portion  of  the  two  hundred  acres  of  land 
left  by  their  father. 

George  T.  Allsip  had  but  little  education,  but 
he  learned  to  read  and  write  when  a  young  man, 
and,  with  a  natural  inclination  to  observe,  he  has 


378 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


been  enabled  to  become  a  successful  business  man. 
He  wns  married  in  1874  to  Miss  Martha  AV.  Kooncz, 
of  Williamson  County-,  who  bore  him  fifteen  chil- 
dren, seven  of  whom  died  in  infancy  and  early 
childhood  and  eight  of  whom  are  living,  viz:  Will- 
iam S.,  eighteen  years  old;  Augusta,  twelve;  John 
T.,  eleven;  Rose  P.,  nine;  Claud  Fi.,  six;  Harvey 
Cleveland,  five;  Herbie,  two;  and  Vital  .S.,  a  babe. 
Mr.  Allsip  has  always  been  a  Democrat.  His  life 
was  begun  as  a  poor  bo}',  but  to  his  energy  and 
perseverance,  united  with  economy  and  good 
business  qualifications,  he  attributes  his  success  in 
life. 


4^ 


bSV-S» 


jh^  ILES  J.  YANDELL   was  born  in  Calloway 
I      \\\    County,  Ky.,  in    1841,  and  the  same  year 
I       l^  was   brought   by  his  parents  to   Johnson 
*  County,  111.,  where  lie  has  since  made  his 

home.  His  father.  Philander  Yandell,  was  born  in 
North  Carolina  in  1813  to  Samuel  Yandell,  who 
was  also  a  native  of  North  Carolina  and  a  farmer 
by  occupation.  Samuel  Yandell's  parents  were  from 
England  and  reared  a  family  of  seven  sons.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Sarah  Price,  who  was  born  in  Germany, 
and  soon  after  their  marriage  they  removed  from 
North  Carolina  to  Kentucky  and  purchased  a  farm. 
Subsequently  Mr.  Yandell  came  to  southern  Illinois, 
about  1842,  following  their  son  Philander,  who 
came  to  this  State  in  1841.  He  was  the  second  child 
in  order  of  birth  of  a  family  of  seven  children. 
Samuel  was  a  farmer  all  his  life  and  died  at  his  own 
home  in  Massac  County,  at  sixty-six  years  of  age; 
many  years  later  his  wife  followed  him  to  rest, 
at  eighty-four  years  of  age.  Of  their  children,  but 
one  still  survives,  Philander,  the  father  of  Miles  J. 
They  were  honest  and  industrious  farmers  and 
left  a  fair  estate. 

The  mother  of  our  subject  was  Frances  Rushing 
in  her  maiden  days  and  was  born  in  Bedford 
County,  Tenn.,  was  married  in  Kentucky,  and  came 
to  Illinois,  as  before  stated,  in  1841.  Philander 
came  with  his  own  team  and  entered  one  hundred 
and  twenty   acres  of  land  within  two  miles  of  the 


village  where  he  now  lives.  He  erected  a  rough  log 
cabin,  and  in  a  few  years  erected  a  more  substantial 
building  of  logs,  which  he  finished  with  weather- 
boards .and  ceiled  inside.  The  land  was  all  new 
and  wild,  and  his  nearest  neighbors,  Henry  Thomas 
and  William  Duncan,  were  three  miles  away.  He 
cleared  up  his  farm,  and  in  1859  exchanged  it  for 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  the  same  town- 
ship, four  miles  to  the  west,  where  he  now  lives  at 
the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty  j-ears.  He  is  still  able 
to  walk  four  miles  and  has  been  a  man  of  great 
strength,  doing  much  hard  work.  He  has  rarely 
met  his  equal  in  these  respects.  He  lost  his  wife 
in  1880,  when  she  was  seventy  j'ears  old.  She 
had  borne  him  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  of 
whom  they  have  buried  Jlartha  E.,  who  died  aged 
fifteen  years,  and  Esther,  wife  of  Volney  N.  Van- 
deve,  who  died  in  the  spring  of  1859,  aged  twenty- 
two  j-ears,  leaving  two  daughters.  The  next  to 
die  was  Joseph  H.,who  was  a  member  of  Compan}' 
K,  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry, 
under  Capt.  Parks.  He  was  a  private  soldier  and 
served  over  two  years,  d3'ing  at  home  March  4, 
1865,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years.  The  cause 
was  exposure  and  overdoing  in  theGuntown  raid, 
in  Mississippi,  below  Vicksburg.  Nathan  J.  Yan- 
dell was  a  volunteer  in  the  same  company  ahd 
served  over  three  years  and  died  at  home  in  Octo- 
ber, 1868,  from  disease  contracted  in  the  arm}- 
when  twenty-three  years  old.  The  eldest  sister, 
Mary  C.  Yandell,  died  in  1881,  aged  about  forty- 
eight  years. 

Mr.  Yandell,  of  this  sketch,  has  one  brother  liv- 
ing, Samuel  F.,  a  farmer  on  the  old  homestead  near 
Tunnel  Hill,  with  whom  the  aged  father,  Philander, 
resides.  The  boyhood  of  Miles  J.  was  passsed  on 
the  farm  and  in  the  woods  and  what  little  educa- 
tion he  received  was  in  the  subscription  schools, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  days  in  the  first  dis- 
trict school  in  the  count}-.  He  has,  however,  ac- 
quired considerable  general  information.  His  vo- 
cation has  been  that  of  a  farmer,  and  he  lived  at 
home  until  his  marriage  to  Lucinda  E.  Vancleve,  a 
native  of  Calloway  Count}-,  Ky.,  who  came  to 
Illinois  with  her  parents  when  five  years  old, 
about  1849.  Her  father  w.as  Elder  Wilson  Van- 
cleve and  her  mother   Nancy  J.  Lorence,  of  Ken- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


379 


tucky  and  Tennessee,  resfiectively.  The  former, 
who  is  still  living  on  their  first  farm  in  Illinois  at 
the  age  of  seventy-eight  yeai-s,  has  been  the  mother 
of  thirteen  children,  of  whom  five  sons  and  four 
daughters  are  still  living. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  1859,  he  in  his  nine- 
teenth and  his  wife  in  her  fifteenth  year.  They 
have  lost  one  son  and  three  daughters.  One 
daughter,  Nona  E.,  passed  away  suddenly  when 
only  fourteen  years  of  age,  her  death  being  caused 
by  spinal  meningitis.  The\'  have  living  three  sons 
and  six  daughters,  viz:  Wilmoth  A.,  wife  of  L.  L. 
Smoot,  a  farmer  and  a  preacher,  who  has  one  son 
and  four  daughters  living;  Lewis  P.,  a  farmer  of 
Burnside  Township,  who  has  a  wife  and  two  daugh- 
tei-s;  Olive  E.,  wife  of  William  Lambert;  Nancy 
F.,  wife  of  Henry  Dunn,  a  farmer  of  Burnside 
Township,  who  has  one  daughter;  Madison,  at 
home;  Lilly  J.;  Edgar  P.;  Bessie  A.;  and  Grace  M. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Yandell  are  living  on  their  farm  and 
at  the  same  time  in  the  village  of  Ozark.  He  has 
been  a  land  speculator,  having  owned  six  different 
farms.  He  bought  his  present  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  acres  adjoining  the  village  of  Ozark  in 
1890,  and  built  his  present  residence  upon  it  close 
to  the  village  in  1891,  and  there  he  carries  on  gen- 
eral farming,  growing  corn  and  wheat, getting  from 
thirty  to  fifty  bushels  of  corn  and  from  ten  to 
twenty-two  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre.  He  also 
keeps  a  few  horses,  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs.  He  is  a 
Master  M.a.son,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Missionary  Baptist  Church.  He  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Abraham 
Lincoln,  in  1864. 


<A  IfelLLIAM  S.  BAHGER,  who  has  lived  on  his 
\^j//  present  farm  of  two  hundred  and  twenty 
W^  acres,  which  is  located  on  section  35,  Un- 
ion Township,  Pope  County,  for  the  ])ast  forty- 
one  years,  was  born  in  Pope  County,  111.,  JIarcli 
29.  18:52.  His  father  was  Granville  S.  Barger, 
and  his  mother  was  Miss  Lucretia  Woolwine.     She 


received  a  fair  education  in  the  subscription  schools 
of  the  days  of  her  youth,  the  schoolhouse  being 
of  the  primitive  style  frequentl}^  described  in 
these  pages — constructed  of  logs  with  dirt  Hoor, 
puncheon  seats,  no  glass  windows,  and  heated  b}^ 
a  large  fire  iu  the  fireplace  at  one  end  of  the 
building,  with  a  chimney  built  of  sticks  and  claj*. 
This  was  in  W.ayne  Count3',to  which  place  her  father 
moved  in  1832.  He  lived  there  seven  years  on  his 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acre  farm  bought  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  which  w:is  for  the  most  part  prairie. 
This  farm  he  sold  iu  1839,  and  returned  to  Pope 
County.  In  1810  he  bought  another  farm  of  the 
Government,  containing  nearly  one  hundred  .acres 
of  land,  which  he  improved  and  lived  upon  until 
his  death. 

William  S.  Barger  was  married  in  his  nineteenth 
year,  November  28,  1851,  to  Miss  Sarah  C.  New- 
ton, daughter  of  Isaac  Newton.  This  couple  be- 
gan their  married  life  on  their  present  farm,  then 
containing  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  Gov- 
ernment land,  all  timbered.  For  fortj'  acres  of  this 
land  he  paid  ^1.25  per  acre,  and  for  the  rest 
he  gave  a  "bit"  per  acre.  Since  that  time 
he  has  added  fortj'  acres  more  to  the  first  pur- 
chase, making  two  hundred  and  twentj'  .acres  in 
all.  One  hundred  and  eighty  acres  are  under 
good  cultivation,  and  his  principal  crop  is  corn,  of 
which  he  usually  raises  from  thirty  to  fifty  bushels 
per  acre;  of  winter  wheat  he  usuallj'  raises  from 
ten  to  twenty'  bushels  per  acre.  He  has  thirteen 
head  of  horses,  and  two  Jennies  and  a  Jack.  He 
also  keeps  cattle  and  sheep,  of  the  latter  his 
favorite  breeds  being  the  Southdown  and  Shrop- 
shire. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  S.  Barger  have  buried  five  children, 
two  infant  sous,  and  Daniel,  a  bright  and  intelli- 
gent young  man  of  nineteen  years,  who  died 
in  1869  of  brain  fever,  and  whose  death  was 
a  severe  blow  to  the  fainili';  Lavina,  who  died  in 
1877,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  leaving  her  hus- 
band, George  A.  Boland,  and  one  son;  and  Van 
Buren,  who  was  a  school  teacher,  and  died  Decem- 
ber 15,  1889,  at  the  youthful  age  of  nineteen  years. 
The  children  living  are  .as  follows:  Parisade,  wife 
of  J.  D.  Welsh,  a  farmer  of  White  County,  III.; 
Marion,  a  farmer  living  in  the  vicinity,  who  mar- 


380 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


ried  Miss  Nancy  S.  Harger,  and  llicy  li;ivu  one  son 
and  one  daugliler;  Sidna  Ann,  wif'u  uf  W.  S.  Jen- 
kins, a  farmer  of  Pope  County,  who  has  three  sons 
and  one  daughter,  lsal)clle,  a  young  lady  now  in 
Wliite  County;  Millie,  wife  of  Jolin  Lauderdale, 
a  farmer  of  Saline  County,  who  has  one  son  and 
one  daughter;  Asbury,  a  young  man  in  western 
Washington,  a  jeweler  and  silversmith;  Leander,  a 
young  man  of  nineteen  years,  at  home  on  the 
farm;  George,  aj'oung  man  of  eighteen  years,  and 
Eflie,  a  young  lady  of  sixteen,  both  at  home. 
These  children  have  all  been  well  educated,  the 
eldest  daughter  being  a  teacher  three  terms  before 
her  marriage.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  S.Barger  and  some  of 
tiie  children  are  members  of  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterian Church.  The  former  is  a  Master  Mason 
and  a  Democrat,  but  has  held  no  office  except 
that  of  School  Director. 


-^^1 


im 


li^^ 


RESTON  WEBBER  M.  FATRIDCSE,  a  suc- 
)j  cessful  farmer  of  Bloomfleld  Townshi]), 
was  born  on  the  farm  upon  which  he  now 
lives  October  12,  1825.  His  father,  John 
McFatridge,  was  born  in  Tennessee,  and  his  father, 
William  McFatridge,  was  born  in  Ireland,  but  was 
of  Scotch  ancestry.  He  was  reared  and  married  in 
his  native  land  and  came  to  the  United  States  soon 
after  his  marriage,  locating  in  Tennessee,  and  resid- 
ing there  until  about  1810.  He  then  came  to  the 
Territory  of  Illinois,  and  was  one  of  the  first  set- 
tlers of  Johnson  County,  where  he  located  in  what 
is  now  Simpson  Township  and  secured  a  tract  of 
Government  land  on  Mack's  Creek.  Here  he 
built  a  house,  cleared  a  farm  and  lived  manj' 
j'ears.  He  then  sold  out  and  moved  to  Pulaski 
County,  and  bought  land  on  the  bank  of  the 
Ohio  River,  upon  which  he  spent  the  rest  of  his 
life.  In  religion  he  was  a  Baptist,  in  politics  he 
was  a  Democrat,  and  he  served  one  term  as  a 
Representative  in  the  Territorial  Legislature. 

The  father  of    our   subject    was   ten    years  old 
when  he  was  brought  to   Illinois,  and  here  he  was 


reared  and  nianicd.  He  entered  from  the  Gov- 
ernment the  land  which  is  now  included  in  the 
farm  owned  by  the  subject  of  this  sketch  and  upon 
which  he  erected  a  rude  log  house  or  cabin,  in 
which  our  subject  was  born.  All  the  lumber  in  this 
cabin  was  sav/ed  by  hand,  even  to  the  boards 
which  covered  the  roof,  but  later  he  was  enabled 
to  erect  a  more  substantial  house,  which  is  still 
standing,  and  in  which  he  resided  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1863.  The  maiden  name  of 
the  mother  of  our  subject  was  Margaret  Bain;  she 
was  born  in  North  Carolina  and  was  the  daughter 
of  John  and  INIartha  (Brooks)  Bain.  She  still  lives 
on  the  old  homestead  farm,  aged  eiglit3'-six  years, 
with  her  son,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Preston  AVebber  McFatridge  attended  the  pio- 
neer schools  that  were  common  in  his  boyhood 
days.  In  these  schoolhouses  there  was  not  to  be 
seen  such  furniture  nor  such  conveniences  as  are 
now  common  ever3'where  in  this  broad  land.  For 
desks  there  were  then  pins  driven  into  holes  in 
the  logs  at  the  sides  of  the  rooms,  upon  which 
rested  a  split  log,  the  smooth  side  up,  for  the  larger 
scholars  to  write  upon.  The  seats  were  made  of 
similar  material,  split  logs  with  pins  for  legs,  and 
the  floors  were  also  made  of  split  logs,  the  only 
difference  in  the  logs  being  that  those  split  for 
floors  were  of  larger  size.  This  was  the  famous 
puncheon  floor,  of  which  we  now  read  or  of  which 
we  hear,  and  there  was  no  chimne}-  in  this  primi- 
tive schoolhouse,  there  being  logs  cut  out  at  one 
end  and  stones  put  in  their  place  for  a  fireplace, 
a  hole  being  cut  in  the  roof  for  an  exit  or  escape 
for  the  smoke.  At  that  time  the  people  lived 
off  the  products  of  their  land.  Mr.  McFatridge's 
father  kept  sheep  and  raised  cotton,  and  his  mother 
used  to  card,  spin  and  weave  the  cloth  out  of  which 
the  clothing  for  her  familj'  was  made.  Wild 
game  was  plentiful,  such  .as  deer,  wild  turkeys, 
bears  and  panthers,  all  of  which  roamed  the  woods 
at  will.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  weeks  he 
has  spent  his  whole  life  on  the  farm  upon  which 
he  now  lives. 

Our  subject  was  married  October  I,  184G,  to 
Nicinda  S.  McCorkle,  who  was  born  in  Vienna 
Township,  Johnson  County,  and  w.as  the  daughter 
of  Joseph  and  Mary  McCorkle.  To  this  marriage  of 


^ 


W.  Alexan  der 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


383 


Mr.  McFatridge  there  have  been  born  eight  chil- 
dren, viz:  .John  H.,  M.irgaret,  Joseph,  Montciey, 
Kate,  Grant,  Norman  and  Robert.  Mr.  McFatridge 
and  iiis  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  and  in  politics  he  is  a  members  of 
the  Prohibition  (larty.  They  are  well  known  and 
highly  esteemed  bv  their  neighbors  and  friends. 


1^+^ 


VIOHN  S.  ABBOTT,  proprietor,  manager,  ed- 
itor and  publisher  of  The  Independpnt,  a 
^i:^^  I  weekly  eitjht-column  folio  newspaper  of 
>5^^'  Elizabethtown,  is  a  son  of  John  Abbott,  who 
was  born  in  Middle  Tennessee  June  26,  1840, 
where  his  parents  had  stopped  for  a  time  on  their 
way  to  Virginia.  His  father,  Jonathan  Abbott, 
w:is  a  native  of  Virginia,  where  he  followed  the  oc- 
cupation of  a  farmer.  He  removed  from  that  State 
to  Tennessee  by  team,  and  thence  to  Illinois,  set- 
tling in  Pope  County  near  the  present  site  of  Gol- 
conda,  and  about  five  miles  from  there  secured  a 
tr.tct  of  Government  land,  upon  which  he  built  a 
log  house  and  settled  down  to  pioneer  life.  At 
that  time  there  were  no  schools,  churches,  mills  or 
railroads.  He  had,  however,  received  a  fair  com- 
mon school  education,  and  was  thus  prepared  to 
some  extent  for  the  battle  of  life.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  Pope  County  to  Cornelia  Craig,  a  native 
of  Tennessee,  being  born  October  26,  1845,  and 
both  are  now  living  in  Golconda.  Thej-  became 
the  parents  of  eight  children:  Thomas  J.,  of  Gol- 
conda; John  S.;  Charles  J.,  express  agent  at  Pa- 
ducah.  K}'.;  Perry,  who  died  in  infancy;  Minnie, 
wife  of  Charles  E.  Hughes,  of  Golconda;  Philip 
and  Bertha,  both  of  Golconda,  and  one  who  died 
in  infancy. 

John  S.Abbott,  the  second  child,  was  born  ]\Iarch 
23,  1864,  on  the  farm  near  Golconda,  where  he 
lived  until  six  yeai-s  old,  when  his  parents  removed 
to  Golconda.  There  he  received  a  good  common- 
school  education,  and  remained  at  home  until  he 
was  eighteen  years  old,  at  which  time  he  began 
work  in  the  Herald  office  in  Golconda,  continuing 

20 


at  this  one  year  and  four  months,  when  he  learned 

the  printer's  trade.  In  1882,  when  but  eighteen 
years  old.  he  removed  to  Elizabethtown  and  took 
charge  of  the  paper  there  for  D.  G.  Thompson, 
and  after  three  months  leased  it  for  one  3'ear,  at 
the  expiration  of  which  time  he  bought  new  ma- 
terial and  put  the  paper  on  a  better  footing.  He  has 
ever  since  continued  its  publication  and  has  greatly' 
improved  it  since  he  became  the  proprietor.  The 
paper  now  has  a  wide  circulation,  is  considered  a 
newsy  issue  and  all  the  improvements  made  in  it 
have  been  by  the  individual  efforts  of  Mr.  Abbott. 
Our  subject  earl^-  developed  and  manifested  a 
natural  adapUition  for  the  newspaper  business  and 
has  before  him  excellent  prospects.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  1884  to  Mattie  Ledbetter,  a  sketch  of  whose 
family  history  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work.  She 
was  born  in  Hardin  County,  and  has  one  child, 
Maude  J.  Politically  Mr.  Abbott  is  a  Democrat, 
but  his  paper  is  conducted  as  an  independent 
newspaper,  as  its  name  imports.  He  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  the  family  is  of  high  standing  in  the  com- 
munity. 


OLOMON  J.  UlIOADS,  M.  D.,  was  born 
near  Greenville,  Muhlenberg  County,  Ky., 
July  23,  1834.  His  father,  Henry  Rhoads, 
was  born  in  the  same  county,  and  his  fa- 
ther, Solomon  Rhoads,  was  born  near  Reading, 
Pa.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  German  and 
a  surgeon  in  the  Colonial  army  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  and  spent  his  last  days  near  Read- 
ing, Pa.  Solomon  Rhoads  removed  from  Penn- 
sylvania to  the  Northwest  Territory  previous  to 
the  j-ear  1800  and  resided  for  a  time  in  what 
is  now  Massac  County.  At  that  time  this  coun- 
try was  a  wilderness  filled  by  Indians  and  wild 
beasts.  It  is  not  known  how  long  he  remained 
here,  but  his  wife  died  during  that  time,  after 
which  he  went  to  Kentucky  and  was  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Muhlenberg  County,  that  State.     He 


384 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


was  a  relative  of  Daniel  IJooue  and  like  him  was 
a  great  hunter  and  fond  of  the  chase.  His  brothers, 
Henry  and  David,  settled  in  the  same  county 
about  the  same  time,  the  former  being  tiie  first 
representative  in  the  Kentucky  Legislature  from 
that  county. 

Tlie  grandfather  of  our  subject  secured  a  tract 
of  timber  land  nine  miles  east  of  the  iiiescnt  site 
of  (Ireenvillc,  upon  which  he  erected  a  substantial 
liewed-log  house,  in  which  he  lived  until  the  daj- 
of  iiis  death.  For  the  chimneys  of  this  house  he 
burned  the  first  brick  ever  made  in  Muhlenberg 
County,  and  soon  after  the  chimneys  were  com- 
pleted occurred  the  famous  earthquakes  in  1811, 
which  destroyed  New  Madrid,  and  cracked  his 
chimneys  from  top  to  bottom,  but  did  not  cause 
them  to  fall,  and  they  are  standing  to  the  present 
da^'.  The  maiden  nam.e  of  his  wife  was  Rachel 
Johnson,  who  was  of  Scotch  ancestr}'  and  was 
born  in  North  Carolina.  She  died  in  Muhlenberg 
County,  Ky.,  in  1860. 

Ileni'y  Rhoads,  the  father  of  Solomon  J.,  was 
reared  in  his  native  county,  and  was  a  natural  me- 
chanic, who  could  make  a  good  barrel  or  take  a 
hide,  tan  it  and  make  it  into  boots  and  shoes.  He 
married  in  Ohio  and  settled  in  Muhlenberg  County, 
near  Greenville,  on  a  tract  of  timber  land  given 
Lira  by  his  father,  from  which  he  cut  down  a  poii- 
lar  tree,  which  supplied  him  with  enough  puncheon 
timber  to  build  a  house.  He  afterward  built  a 
substantial,  hewed-log  house,  and  still  later  erected 
a  frame  dwelling  in  which  he  lived  until  his  death, 
in  1884.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Eliza- 
beth Morton.  She  was  born  in  Ohio  County,  Ky., 
and  was  the  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Garner 
( Ashby)  Morton.  She  still  survives,  at  tiie  age  of 
eighty-four,  having  reared  three  children,  Solomon 
J.,  Merlon  G.  and  ('ynthia. 

Solomon  .1.  Rhoads  received  his  early  education 
at  Greenville,  and  his  advanced  education  at 
Bethel  College,  Russellville,  Ky.,  after  which  he 
taught  school  two  terms,  and  later  turned  his 
attention  to  the  study  of  medicine,  with  Dr.  Will- 
iam H.  Yost,  of  Greenville.  He  commenced  prac- 
tice at  Sacramento,  Ky.,  in  18()0,and  in  1861  grad- 
uated from  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College.  He  re- 
ipftined  in  Kentucky  until  1864,  when  he  came  to 


Illinois  and  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
He  then  returned  to  Kentucky  and  i)racticed  at 
South  Carrollton  until  1883,  at  which  time  he  re- 
turned to  Illinois,  located  at  Metropolis,  and  has 
been  here  in  practice  ever  since.  He  has  erected 
a  commodious  brick  house  and  has  paid  considera- 
ble attention  to  iiorticulturc. 

Mr.  Rhoads  was  married  in  18()6  to  I'riscilla  A. 
Jagoe,  who  was  born  in  Muhlenberg  County,  Ky., 
and  is  a  daughter  of  William  and  Miranda  (Rush) 
.lagoe,  of  Kentucky.  Our  subject  and  his  wife 
have  four  children:  Miriam,  William  H.  Edwin 
G.  and  Kittie  Clyde.  Mr.  Khoads  is  a  member  of 
the  Southern  Illinois  Medical  Association,  and  also 
of  the  Kentucky-  State  Medical  Association.  He 
is  a  member  of  Metropolis  Lodge  No.  91,  A.  F. 
&  A.  M.,  and  is  also  a  member  of  the  Regular  Bap- 
tist Church.  His  amiable  companion  is  an  active 
worker  in  the  Methodist  Churcii,  of  which  she  has 
been  a  member  for  a  number  of  years. 


"^  OHN  W.  RUSHING  was  born  at  his  present 
home  in  Burnside  Township,  Johnson 
County,  to  Abraham  W.  Rushing,  who  was 
a  native  of  Kentucky,  born  in  1824,  and 
the  son  of  Nathan  Rushing,  a  native  of  Tennessee 
and  a  farmer.  Grandfather  Rushing  was  an  earlj- 
settler  in  this  section  of  Illinois,  coming  here  not 
long  after  1840.  He  came  here  from  Middle  Ten- 
nessee with  his  one  yoke  of  oxen  and  covered 
wagon,  bringing  but  little  money,  with  which  he 
purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  wild 
land,  about  one  mile  from  the  house  in  which 
John  W.  Rushing  now  lives.  On  this  land  he 
made  a  permanent  home,  clearing  about  one  hun- 
dred acres,  and  at  first  building  one  of  the  prim- 
itive style  log  cabins,  in  which  he  lived  some 
time,  and  then  erecting  a  one  and  one-half  story 
hewed-log  house,  in  which  he  lived  the  rest  of  his 
days.  He  was  married  twice.  His  first  wife,  by 
whom  he  had  three  sons  and  one  daughter, 
dying  in  Kentucky,  he  was  married  again  in  Ken- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


385 


tucky,  this  time  to  Miss  Mary  Veal,  of  tliat  State, 
who  bore  lum  three  sons  aud  four  dauglitei-s.  He 
died  on  his  farm  in  the  year  1865,  aged  seventy- 
two  years;  his  widow  survived  him  twenty-five 
years,  and  died  in  1890,  at  the  age  of  seventy 
years.  Abraham  W.  Rustling  was  brought  up  on  tlie 
farm,  and  he  married  Sarah  Campbell,  of  Ken- 
lucky.  Soon  after  their  marriage  Mr.  Rushing 
and  his  wife  came  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Johnson 
County-  earlj-  in  the  '50s.  He  settled  on  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  of  which  John 
W.  now  has  eight}'  acres.  This  land  was  then  new 
and  for  tlic  most  part  heavily  timbered,  so  he  first 
cleared  a  spot  on  which  to  build  a  log  cabin,  and 
in  which  they  lived  some  years.  He  paid  $50 
out  of  the  proceeds  of  his  first  crop  of  tobacco 
for  the  land  on  which  the}'  made  their  permanent 
home,  and  b}'  hard  work  and  economy  accumu- 
lated a  valuable  estate.  They  buried  in  infancy 
two  sons  and  two  daugliters,  and  also  saw  their 
llrst-born  son,  Valentine,  consigned  to  the  dust 
when  he  was  but  fifteen  years  old,  and  J.  M.  at 
the  age  of  twenty-two,  a  teacher  by  profession, 
and  a  bright,  scholarly  young  man,  who  received 
his  education  at  Ewing  College.  V.  M.  died  at  the 
age  of  twenty-three  years.  This  young  man  was 
also  a  student  of  Ewing  College  and  Metropolis. 
The  untimely  deaths  of  these  two  bright  young 
men,  which  were  caused  by  consumption,  were  a 
matter  of  general  regret.  The  next  to  pass  away 
was  Eliza,  wife  of  J.  P.  Vancleve,  who  also  died  of 
consumption,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  The  sur- 
vivors of  the  family  are  John  W.,  and  Roland  D., 
who  IS  a  farmer  of  this  vicinity.  These  two  sons 
had  excellent  opportunities  for  securing  an  educa- 
tion, but  finally  made  choice  of  farming  as  their 
vocation  in  life. 

John  W.  was  married  at  the  age  of  twenty-two 
years  to  Martha  E.  Reed,  a  daughter  of  J.  M.  and 
OIlie  (Robison)  Reed,  who  came  from  Kentucky 
to  Illinois  at  an  early  da}',  and  it  was  on  their 
farm  in  Riunside  Township  that  this  daughter  was 
born.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rushing  have  lost  one  little 
daughter,  Minnie,  aged  three  years,  and  have 
living  one  daughter,  Luella,  aged  fourteen,  who 
is  a  bright  student,  and  has  fine  musical  talent, 
which  the  parents  are  permitting  to  be  developed. 


She  is  taking  lessons  both  in  vocal  and  instru- 
menUil  music.  IMr.  Rushing  is  a  member  of  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Eellows'  lodge,  and 
both  he  and  his  wife  are  consistent  members  of  the 
Baptist  Church.  Politically,  he  is  a  true  and 
lo3'al  Republican.  His  business  is  that  of  general 
farming,  and  he  also  has  a  steam  threshing-ma- 
chine and  a  gristmill  at  Ozark,  his  brother  being  in 
company  willi  him  in  tiie  two  last-named  inter- 
ests. 


Y  I  AMES  H.  AVELTY,  now  living  on  a  ninety- 
acre  farm  on  section  31,  Burnside  Town- 
ship, was  born  in  Williamson  Count}-,  111. 
in  1847.  His  father,  William  Welty,  was 
born  in  the  same  county,  and  was  a  son  of  Jacob 
Welty,  who  was  of  German  parentage  and  birth, 
and  came  from  Germany  to  this  part  of  Illinois 
at  an  early  day.  He  then  went  to  California,  in 
1859,  where  he  is  still  living,  and  is  now  in  his 
ninety-third  year.  His  wife  was  Mary  Keister, 
who  died  in  California  in  February,  1892,  at 
ninety-one  years  of  age,  and  she  was  the  mother  of 
a  large  family,  of  whom  but  three  are  now  living: 
James,  Lewis  and  Jane,  the  latter  the  wife  of  Sam- 
uel Taylor,  a  farmer  of  this  part  of  Illinois.  The 
sons  are  in  California. 

William  B.  Welty,  father  of  our  subject,  was 
a  Virginian  by  birth  and  grew  up  a  poor  or- 
phan boy.  He  married  Miss  Hannah  Alexander 
of  Tennessee,  daughter  of  Gideon  and  Elizabeth 
(Boram)  Alexander,  and  came  to  Illinois  in  an 
early  day  from  Tennessee.  He  died  in  1865  of 
malarial  fever  on  his  own  good  farm  in  William- 
son County,  supposed  to  be  one  hundred  years 
old.  His  wife  died  in  middle  age  leaving  five 
sons  and  five  daughters,  but  one  of  whom  is  now 
living,  Wilson  Alexander,  a  farmer  of  Tunnel 
Hill. 

James  R.  Welty  was  ln'ougiit  up  on  a  farm  and 
had  but  three  months'  schooling,  but  he  has  since 
become  able  to  read  and  write.     He  lived  at  home 


386 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


until  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  was 
married  December  12,  1872,  to  Ann  Wise,  daugh- 
ter of  Ira  and  C^atliarine  (Ilowarton)  Wise.  The 
former  was  from  North  Carolina,  and  died  in 
1877,  at  fiftj'-three  years  of  age,  and  the  hitter 
was  from  Tennessee,  and  still  survives.  Our  sub- 
ject and  his  wife  came  to  Illinois  at  an  early  day 
and  were  married  in  this  Stale.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Welty  liave  buried  one  infant  daughter,  Laura  E., 
and  iiave  five  children  living,  viz:  William  Ira, 
nineteen  years  old;  Robert  A.,  seventeen;  Thomas 
II.,  thirteen;  Lewis  A.,  ten,  and  Nannie  Belle, 
live  years  of  age.  The  parents  of  these  children, 
realizing  the  value  of  education,  are  doing  their 
best  to  give  their  children  the  best  of  advantages 
in  this  particular.  Mr.  Welty  has  been  a  stanch 
Republican  ail  his  life,  and  carries  on  a  general 
farming  business,  but  is  not  very  strong,  having 
been  some  years  ago  overheated.  His  older  chil- 
dren therefore  have  the  burden  of  the  farm  work 
thrown  on  them,  but  they  are  kind  and  dutiful, 
discharging  their  obligations  faithfully  and  intel- 
ligently. Our  subject  is  a  highly  respected  citi- 
zen, an  indulgent  father,  a  good  neighbor,  and  a 
valuable  acquaintance. 


\I^  ON.  H.  ROBERT  FOWLER,  of  Elizabeth- 
iT  jl  town,  is  a  son  of  Josiah  W.  Fowler,  origin- 
/4W^  ally  from  Virginia,  and  later  a  farmer  in 
(^)  Tennessee,  who  came  to  Illinois  in  1850, 
and  settled  in  Pope  County.  Here  he  bought  one 
hundred  and  twenty  .acres  of  unimproved  timber 
land,  built  a  house  upon  it  and  proceeded  to  im- 
prove it.  In  Tennessee  he  was  married  to  Pen- 
elope Jennings,  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  whose 
father  was  from  Dublin,  Ireland.  Mr.  Fowler  im- 
proved the  farm  he  bought  in  Pope  County,  and 
resided  upon  it  until  Ins  death,  in  1874,  his 
widow  surviving  him  until  1802,  dying  in  Pope 
County.  By  his  marriage  with  Miss  Jennings, 
Mr.  Fowler  became  the  father  of  twelve  children. 


viz:  Nancy  A.,  wife  of  William  Walters;  George 
W.;  and  Sarah  J.,  wife  of  James  Lockaby,  of  Ed- 
dyville,  all  of  Pope  Connt3-;  II.  Robert;  John  C, 
County  Superintendent  of  education  of  Stewart 
Count}',  Tenn.;  Joseph  A.,  Attorney-at-law,  of 
Denver,  Colo.;  Martha  L,  who  married  Fields 
Rumsey,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County;  Francis  and 
Newton  L.,  students  at  Nashville  IMedical  College; 
and  throe  others,  who  died  in  infancy.  j 

II.  Robert  Fowler  was  the  fourth  child,  was 
born  in  Pope  Count}',  and  was  brought  up  on  the 
farm,  receiving  a  good  common-school  education 
when  a  boy.  He  subsequently  attended  the  Nor- 
mal State  University,  at  Normal,  111.,  graduating  in 
1877,  after  which  he  began  the  practice  of  law 
in  1884,  having  graduated  from  the  law  school  of 
the  Michigan  University.  Previous  to  all  this, 
however,  he  was  a  successful  school  teacher,  hav- 
ing been  Principal  of  the  schools  at  P^lizabetli- 
town  and  Cave  in  Rock,  serving  in  the  latter 
place  in  this  capacity  five  years.  In  1888  he  was 
elected  State's  Attorney,  and  at  the  election  of 
1892  he  was  chosen  to  represent  his  district  in  the 
State  Legislature.  Politically,  Mr.  Fowler  is  a 
Democrat,  and  a  member  of  the  ilasonic  frater- 
nity. 

Our  subject  was  married  February  12,  1892,  to 
Mary  E.  GrifHth,  who  was  originally  from  Indi- 
ana, thence  removed  to  Kentucky,  and  from  that 
State  came  to  Illinois.  Her  father  and  mother  are 
both  living  in  Hardin  County.  The  former  served 
in  the  Mexican  AVar,  and  the  latter  was  Catherine 
C.  Bryant,  from  Keutuck}'.  During  Mr.  B'owler's 
term  as  State's  Attorney  he  sent  Edward  C.  Kelley 
to  the  penitentiary  for  life,  for  the  murder  of  Gus 
A.  Craiger,  and  also  sentenced  Kelley 's  wife  to 
the  penitentiary  for  fourteen  years.  She  was  the 
only  woman  ever  sent  to  the  penitentiary  from 
Hardin  County,  and  Kelley  is  the  only  man  ever 
sent  from  the  county  for  life.  Mr.  Fowler  con- 
victed more  men  of  crime  during  his  term  of 
office  than  had  any  prior  State's  Attorney.  He  is 
a  very  strong  and  active  Democrat  and  is  very 
useful  to  his  party,  especially  during  campaigns, 
since  he  is  an  effective  stump  orator,  a  logical  rca- 
soncr  and  a  genial  gentleman.  During  the  cam- 
paign of   1892  he  made  fifty  speeches,  stumping  a 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


387 


district  of  fifteen  counties.  He  is  also  an  unusu- 
ally successful  l.Twyer,  as  his  career  as  State's  At- 
torne}'  testifies,  and  it  is  not  too  nuuth  to  sa3-  that 
he  has  made  iiis  district  a  creditable  and  useful 
Representative  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  He 
was  previous  to  iiis  career  as  law3-er  a  most  suc- 
cessful teacher,  and  drilled  numerous  classes  of 
teachers  in  normal  work,  many  of  whom  were  em- 
plojcd  in  Hardin  and  surrounding  counties,  and 
were  made  efficient  under  his  instruction.  As  a 
nienilier  of  the  Legislature  he  has  steadily'  fougiit 
for  honest  legislation,  and  h.as  ably  advocated  the 
cause  of  tiie  common  people.  He  was  made  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  to  investigate  the  railroad 
dis.aster  at  Warren,  111.,  and  prepared  four  bills  to 
prevent  similar  dis.asters,  among  which  was  a  Co- 
employe  Bill,  which  has  attracted  the  attention  of 
tlie  public.  His  bill  for  uniformity  of  school- 
books  is  one  of  the  most  important  bills  of  the 
session,  and  lias  given  Mr.  Fowler  a  State  reputa- 
tion. He  is  an  able  advocate  of  economy-,  and 
lias  been  styled  by  the  Legislature  the  "watch- 
dog of  the  State  treasury." 


^TL  OX.  LSAAC  A.  .1.  PARKER,  who  lives  in 
iT  jl,  tlie  city  of  Vienna,  Johnson  Count}',  was 
JW^  born  in  Tishomingo  County,  Miss.,  October 
^  27,  1840.  His  father,  Moses  D.  Parker, 
w:is  boi'n,  it  is  thought,  in  Giles  County,  Tenn.,  to 
Edniond  Parker,  wlio,  it  is  believed,  was  a  native 
of  North  Carolina  and  of  English  ancestry'.  His 
father,  that  is  the  great-grandfather  of  the  Hon. 
Isa.ac  A.  .1.  Parker,  was  a  pioneer  of  Bowling 
Green,  Ky.,  who  reared  three  sons:  Edmond, 
William  and  David.  E^draond  Parker,  tlie  grand- 
father of  our  subject,  removed  from  Howling 
Green,  K}-.,  to  Giles  County,  Tenn.,  and  from 
there  to  McXairy  County,  where  he  lived  the  rest 
of  his  life.  Moses  D.  Parker  was  reared  in  Ten- 
nessee and,  went  from  that  State  to  Lawrence 
County,  .Ma.,  where  lie  was  married.     His  advan- 


tages for  securing  an  education,  as  maj'  be  inferred 
from  the  section  of  country  in  which  he  lived  at 
that  time,  were  somewhat  limited,  but  he  com- 
menced when  a  young  man  teaching  school  and 
studying  privately  until  he  iiad  acquired  consid- 
erable knowledge  on  si)eeial  and  geueral  subjects. 
He  afterward  removed  to  Mississippi,  where  he  con- 
tinued the  same  course  of  life  for  some  time,  and 
also  served  there  in  Tippah  County  as  Tax  Asses- 
sor and  County  Surve^^or.  He  was  a  resident  of 
that,  county  when  the  war  broke  out.  However, 
loyal  to  the  Union,  he  joined  the  P^leventh  Illi- 
nois Cavalry  July  1'2,  1862,  at  Bethel,  Tenn.,  serv- 
ing the  cause  until  his  death,  which. occurred  No- 
vember 30,  1863. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  the  Hon. 
Isaac  Parker  was  Louisa  Elizabeth  .lackson,  who 
was  a  native  of  Lawrence  County,  Ala.,  and  a 
daughter  of  James  and  Rebecca  (Weathers)  Jack- 
son, of  North  Carolina.  She  is  still  living  and 
resides  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  O.  I'.  Miller,  in 
Johnson  Count}-,  aged  seventy-four  years.  She 
has  had  fifteen  children,  eight  of  whom  reached 
maturity. 

The  Hon.  Isaac  A.  J.  Parker  was  reared  and 
educated  in  Tippah  County,  Miss.,  and  resided 
there  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  when,  the 
family  being  all  strong  sympathisers  with  the 
cause  of  the  Union,  their  property  was  cf)nfiscated 
and  they  were  compelled  to  leave  the  SUite.  On  the 
7th  of  October,  1862,  Mr.  Parker  joined  the  Hatcher 
scouts  at  Corinth,  Miss., and  served  until  the  com- 
pany was  honorably  discharged,  after  which  he  en- 
listed in  the  Mississippi  Rangers,  which  were  soon 
afterward  incorporated  with  the  First  Alabama 
Cavalry.  He  was  commissioned  First  Lieutenant 
and  served  as  such  until  the  expiration  of  his  term 
of  enlistment,  January  8,  1864,  when  he  served  a 
few  months  as  recruiting  officer  at  Memphis,  Tenn. 
In  January,  1865,  he  removed  to  Illinois  and  set- 
tled in  Johnson  County,  purcli.asing  a  farm  near 
Vienna,  which  he  has  occupied  continuously  ever 
since.  He  commenced  teaching  .school  in  Missis- 
sippi when  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  continued 
to  follow  that  profession  until  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war.  Soon  after  locating  in  Johnson  County, 
he  rosuined  his  former  vocation  and  taught  school 


388 


PoUTKArr  AM)   lil()(;KAl'IIICAL  KKVIEW. 


a  portion  of  each  year  for  nineteen  years.  In 
1858  he  was  converted  and  joined  the  Christian 
Ciiurch  at  Hickory  Klats,  Miss.,  and  in  1882  was 
ordained  a  preacher  in  tliat  denomination. 

In  December,  1891,  our  subject  engaged  in  tlie 
sale  of  agricultural  implements,  wagons,  carriages, 
musical  instruments,  etc.,  and  during  all  this  time 
he  has  superintended  the  improvement  and  culti- 
vation of  his  farm.  In  18.08  he  married  Miss  Je- 
mima J.  Clary, a  native  of  Indiana  and  a  daughter 
of  Henry  and  Elizabeth  (Charles)  Clary.  Jlr. and 
Mrs.  Parker  have  had  ten  children,  viz:  Charles  Ad- 
dison, Lucas  E.,  Augustus  N.,  Lilly  A.,  Mary  Oma, 
Willis  A.,  IJeycrly  E.,  Olive  Ethel,  Alice  Myrtle, 
and  Miletus,  deceased.  Mr.  Parker  is  a  Democrat 
in  politics  and  in  1888  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Thirty-sixth  General  Assembly  of  tlie  State  of  Illi- 
nois, in  which  he  served  with  Bdelity  and  dis- 
tinction. Since  then  he  has  been  content  to  re- 
main in  a  private  station  and  to  give  his  atten- 
tion to  his  own  personal  affairs. 


i>-^M^^ 


FRANCIS  F.  BEAMES,  residing  in  township 
11,  range  5,  Johnson  Countj%  was  born  in 
Whitley  County,  Ky.,  February  1,  1835. 
His  father  was  William  Beames,  born  in  the  same 
county,  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  as  was  also 
his  father  before  him,  James  Beames,  who  was  prob- 
ably born  in  Scotland,  and  was  certainly  of  Scotch 
parents.  Grandfather  Beames  was  married  in  Scot- 
land, and  he  and  his  wife  were  among  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Whitley  Count}',  Ky.,  where  they  were 
pros|)erous  people,  and  well  known.  They  reared 
a  family  of  eight  children,  three  sons  and  five 
daughters,  and  both  died  in  that  county,  Mr.  Beames 
at  the  great  age  of  one  hundred  and  two  years, 
Mrs.  Beames  a  little  later,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five 
years.  William  Beames  was  the  third  child  of  this 
family,  and  married  Miss  Martha,  a  daughter  of 
Frank  and  Nancy  Faulkner,  of  Tennessee.  The 
parents  of  our  subject  came  from  Kentucky  to 
southern  Illinois  in  the  fall  of  1852  in  regular  em- 


igrant style,  with  their  team  and  wagons.  Tliey 
had  three  covered  wagons  and  a  two-horse  buggy. 
They  brought  with  them  their  entire  family  of  nine 
children,  five  sons  and  four  daughters,  of  whom 
our  subject  is  the  fourth  son  and  seventh  child  in 
order  of  birth.  They  first  settled  in  Pope  County, 
where  they  bought  eighty  acres  of  land.  Mr.  Beames 
died  soon  afterward  at  the  age  of  fift}-- three  j'ears, 
near  Gleudale,  Pope  County.  His  widow  lived  on 
the  eighty-acre  farm  until  her  death,  in  February, 
1888,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years.  Of  this  large 
family  but  three  survive,  our  subject  and  two  of 
the  daughters,  who  are  Melinda,  widow  of  Thomas 
Williams,  a  farmer  of  Johnson  County,  and  Han- 
nah, widow  of  Joseph  Fox,  who  is  residing  on  her 
farm  in  Union  Township. 

Francis  F.  Beames  was  educated  in  the  subscrip- 
tion schools  of  Kentucky,  in  a  rude  log  cabin  of 
the  times.  He  attended  school  a  few  months  each 
year  until  he  was  fourteen,  and  on  attaining  his 
eighteenth  year  left  home  and  worked  at  various 
occupations  for  some  years.  He  then  went  to  Cal- 
ifornia across  the  plains,  and  was  a  stock-herder 
there  for  about  three  years,  at  $70  per  month.  He 
remained  in  California  about  four  years,  and  then 
returned  to  Pope  County,  111.,  where  he  has  been 
successfully  engaged  in  farming  ever  since.  He 
was  married  to  Mary  M.  Dent,  of  .Jackson  County, 
Ala.,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Fanny  (Lisles) 
Dent,  who  came  from  Alabama  to  southern  Illinois 
about  1854.  Mr.  Dent  was  a  volunteer  in  1861  in 
Company  H,  Thirtj'-first  Illinois  Infantr}',  serving 
as  a  private,  and  was  killed  May  22,  1862,  before 
Vicksburg.  His  wife  died  January  15,  1863,  leav- 
ing three  daughters:  Mary,  wife  of  Mr.  Beames; 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  Morgan  Bryant,  a  farmer  of 
Hardin  County;  and  Lucinda,  wife  of  Mack  Led- 
better,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beames,  soon  after  their  marriage, 
bought  eighty  acres  of  timber  land  for  S600,  with 
a  small  log  cabin  on  it,  into  which  they  moved  and 
lived  for  a  year  or  two.  Our  subject  now  owns 
one  hundred  and  ten  acres  of  land,  eighty-five  of 
which  are  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  are 
devoted  to  general  farming.  He  and  his  wife  have 
lost  one  infant  son  and  one  daughter,  and  have 
three   sons  and    three  daughters    living,   namely: 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


389 


Joseph,  a  farmer  of  Hardin  County;  William,  un- 
married and  at  lionie;  Telford,  a  young  man;  Cor- 
delia; Art}',  a  miss  of  twelve  years;  and  Liilie, 
aged  eight,  all  at  home,  boeiall}'  Mr.  Bearaes  is 
an  Odd  Fellow  and  a  Democrat,  and  he  and  his 
wife  aie  members  of  the  General  Baptist  Church. 
Tiie  latter  belongs  to  Reliecca  Lodge,  holding 
memliersliip  willi  Slonoforl  Lodge  No.  731. 


•^^• 


•^ 


i|l  OllN  L.  NEWTON  was  boni  in  Pope  County, 
111.,  August  24,  1853,  and  is  now  located  in 
township  12,  range  6,  of  this  county.  His 
^^^  father,  Isaac  Newton,  was  of  English  an- 
cestry-, and  his  great-giandfather  was  also  named 
.lohn.  He  came  from  England  with  his  brother 
Isaac,  the  former  settling  in  South  Carolina,  and 
the  latter  in  North  Carolina.  John  Newton  had  a 
son,  Joseph,  who  was  the  grandfather  of  John  L., 
our  subject,  and  two  other  sons,  one  of  whom  was 
Isaac.  Joseph  Newton  married  Ann  Stephens,  of 
North  Carolina,  and  reared  a  famil}'  of  eight  chil- 
dren, four  sons  and  four  daughters,  viz:  John, 
Martin,  Joseph,  Isaac,  Sally,  Rebecca,  Nancy  and 
Elizabeth.  The  latter  died  when  a  young  lady, 
and  the  others  became  heads  of  large  families,  but 
are  all  decea-sed.  Joseph  Newton  was  a  Baptist 
minister  of  the  Old  School,  and  a  farmer  by  occu- 
pation. He  was  born  about  17G0,  and  was  a  substi- 
tute soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  years  fighting  in  the  battle  of  the  Cow- 
pens;  he  also  participated  in  the  march  of  the 
Bloody  Trail  from  King's  Jlountain  to  Guilford 
Court  House. 

The  maternal  grandfather  of  John  L.  Newton 
was  John  Murphy,  who  was  a  comrade  in  the  war 
with  Joseph  Newton.  The  latter  was  also  in  the 
Florida  Indian  War,  but  never  received  a  pen- 
sion. He  was  brought  up  in  the  South,  where  he 
always  lived  except  during  the  latter  years  of 
his  life,  and  was  at  one  time  wealthy,  but  died 
a  poor  man  either  in  Williamson  or  Johnson 
County,  111.,  at  a  verj'  great  age,  and  his  wife  died 


a  few  years  later,  also  very  old.  Isaac  Newton, 
the  youngest  sou  of  the  famil}',  was  born  Jul}'  12, 
1808,  in  South  Carolina,  and  chose  as  his  wife 
Miss  Phoebe  Murph}-,  who  was  born  December  25, 
1811,  in  Tennessee.  She  was  brought  to  Illi- 
nois l)y  licr  parents  when  she  was  seven  3ears  of 
age,  in  1818,  just  before  the  State  was  admitted 
into  the  I'nion.  Isaac  Newton,  the  father  of  John 
L.,  had  come  to  the  Territor}'  of  Illinois  with  his 
parents  some  years  before,  when  he  was  a  small 
boy.  He  was  a  great  hunter  and  an  excellent  shot, 
and  had  plentj-  of  opportunity  to  hunt  and  to  ex- 
ercise his  skill  as  a  marksman,  for  there  were  all 
kinds  of  wild  game  and  wild  beasts  in  the  woods 
at  that  time.  In  one  day  he  killed  seven  deer  on 
a  still  hunt,  which  was  the  best  record  in  that  part 
of  the  country,  with  the  exception  of  that  of  a  Mr. 
Henderson,  who  killed  eight,  which  he  took  home 
as  a  proof  of  his  skill. 

Isaac  Newton  and  Phivbe  ;\Iurphy  were  married 
March  28,  1828,  at  the  home  of  the  bride.  Mrs. 
Murphj'  was  then  a  widow,  living  on  a  squatter's 
claim,  for  which  Isaac  obtained  a  deed  at  the  land 
office  at  Shawneetown,  paying  $1.25  per  acre  for 
one  hundred  and  twent}-  acres  of  land.  Afterward 
he  bought  and  secured  a  deed  for  eighty  acres  more 
at  twelve  and  a-half  cents  per  acre,  which  deed  is 
now  in  the  possession  of  John  L.  Newton  and  his 
eldest  brother.  Green.  The  father  of  our  subject 
died  November  15,  18G3,  at  the  age  of  lift\'-five 
years,  and  his  widow  died  December  23,  1889,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-eight  years,  leaving  eight  chil- 
dren, three  sons  and  five  daughters,  viz:  Rebecca, 
now  Mrs.  William  Rose;  Juliette,  now  Mrs.  J. 
S.  Barger;  Sarah,  wlio  married  William  S.  Barger; 
Amanda,  wife  of  George  Petty;  Angeline,  now 
Mrs.  J.  W.  Brockett,  of  White  County;  Green  B.,  a 
farmer  occupying  a  portion  of  the  home  farm; 
James  K.,  a  fanner  on  an  adjoining  farm;  and 
John  L. 

Our  subject  obtained  a  fair  education  in  his 
youth,  and  has  ever  been  a  great  and  careful  reader, 
so  that  he  is  now  a  well-informed  man.  He  was 
reared  on  the  home  farm  until  his  twentieth  j'ear, 
when  he  went  to  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  where  he 
engaged  in  various  kinds  of  business  for  some 
time,  depending  principally  on  the  products  of  his 


390 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW, 


well-kept  farm  for  si  livelihood,  lie  inanii'il  in 
Cliristian  County,  III.,  May  o,  1H81,  l\Ii.ss  Maiy 
C.  Nemyer,  of  Ohio,  duughtei-  of  Christ  and  Kred- 
erica  (Taskmeyer)  Nemyer,  both  of  Germany,  and 
who  came  from  Hanover  to  the  United  Stetes  in 
1851.  The  former  had  served  in  the  German  army 
previously  to  coming  to  this  country.  Soon  after 
their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Newton  settled  at 
their  present  home  farm  in  Polk  Precinct,  Pope 
County,  111.,  locating  on  section  18,  on  an  eighty- 
acre  farm.  Of  their  family  of  four  children,  one 
infant  son  has  died;  the  other  three  sons  are  living, 
viz:  Albert  Earl,  ten  years  old;  Isaac  Elvin,  aged 
eight  years;  and  Chris  Leroy,  who  is  four  years  old. 
The  two  older  ones  are  in  school  and  are  doing 
fairly  well  in  their  studies.  Mr.  Newton  has  al- 
ways voted  the  Democratic  ticket,  and  was  elected 
Justice  of  the  Peace  in  1892.  He  is  engaged  in 
general  farming,  raising  the  ordinary  crops  of  corn, 
wheat,  oats,  hay  and  potatoes,  and  he  also  keeps  a 
few  cattle  and  hogs  for  his  own  use.  Though  his 
parents  were  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Mr.  Newton  believes  it  best  to  be  entirely 
free  from  confmement  of  any  kind,  consequently 
he  is  not  a  memlier  of  any  church  or  society. 


JOHN  C.  CALDWELL,  who  has  been  a  mer- 
chant of  New  Burnside  for  the  past  eighteen 
years,  was  born  in  Haywood  Count}',  N.  C, 
April  21,  1829.  His  father  was  Robert 
Caldwell,  a  native  of  the  same  State,  a  farmer,  who 
came  with  his  wife  and  family  to  Illinois  in  1849. 
He  was  in  moderate  circumstances  at  that  time, 
and  upon  reaching  Illinois  first  located  in  Will- 
iamson County,  taking  up  eighty  acres  of  timber- 
land  belonging  to  the  Government.  They  lived 
in  a  rude  log  cabin  several  years,  and  then  sold 
out  and  bought  forty  acres  of  land,  upon  which 
they  lived  some  time.  After  several  moves  they 
finally  came  to  Johnson  County,  about  1853,  where 
they  lived  with  their  children  until  their  death, 
the  mother  dying  about  one   month  before  tlie    fa- 


ther, he  dying  April  I,  1864,  in  his  sixty-third 
year.  They  biirii'd  two  daughters,  one  of  whom 
died  in  infancy-,  and  .lane,  tiie  fii-st-boin,  wife  of 
Thomas  Mount. 

Since  the  death  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Caldwell,  a  son, 

A.  J.,  has  also  died  in  Jolinson  County  past  middle 
age,  leaving  a  widow  and  seven  children.  The 
other  members  of  this  family  are:  William,  who 
died  in  Kentucky  in  June,  1888,  aged  sixty-two 
years,  leaving  eight  children;  Mary  Ann,   wife  of 

B.  S.  Smith,  who  died  in  Vienna  Township  in  De- 
cember, 1862,  in  middle  age,  leaving  one  son;  Eu- 
nice E..  wife  of  H.  T.  Taj'lor,  who  died  in  Johnson 
County  in  June,  1889,  aged  about  forty  years, 
leaving  eight  children;  and  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Sol- 
omon White,  who  died  at  Creal  Springs,  Williamson 
County,  in  February,  1892,  aged  fifty-four  years, 
leaving  three  children.  Those  living  are:  John  C, 
sixty-three  years  of  age;  Robert  Caldwell,  sixty- 
t3'-seven  years  old,  who  is  a  farmer  of  West  Plains, 
Howell  County,  Mo.;  C.  H.  Caldwell,  a  minister 
of  the  Missionary  Baptist  Church  in  Burnside 
Township;  and  Caroline,  widow  of  James  Smith, 
living  in  Arkansas.  John  C.  Caldwell  had  no  school- 
ing in  his  youth,  and  in  his  twentieth  year  mar- 
ried Martha  Pittman,  of  Calloway  County,  Ky.,  a 
daughter  of  William  and  Peggy  (Parks)  Pittman. 
Her  parents  were  farmers,  and  came  to  Illinois  in 
1849,  settling  in  Williamson  County,  where  they 
lived  roost  of  their  lives.  The  farm  which  they 
bought  upon  coming  to  Illinois  was  sold  some  time 
afterward,  and  the  family  removed  to  Indiana,  but 
after  two  years'  residence  in  that  State,  they  re- 
turned to  Illinois,  where  the  mother  died  in  March, 
1874,  aged  sixty-two  years.  The  father  died  in 
1877,  aged  sixty-six.  They  had  two  sous  and  five 
daughters,  of  whom  there  are  now  five  living. 

John  C.  Caldwell  began  domestic  life  in  Will- 
iamson County  on  (Jovernment  land,  upon  which 
he  made  some  improvement,  but  sold  out  after- 
ward. He  then  bought  and  sold  deeded  land  un- 
til 1854,  when  he  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Williamson  County  under  the  graduation 
act.  Upon  this  farm  he  lived  twenty  years,  im- 
proving it  very  much,  and  clearing  up  one  hun- 
dred acres.  In  1874  he  sold  out  and  removed  to 
New    Burnside,    then    just    starting.     In    August, 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


391 


1862,  Mr.  Caldwell  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier  in 
Company  1,  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois 
Infantry-,  but  he  was  discharged  August  17,  18G3, 
on  account  of  disability  caused  b}-  chronic  diar- 
rlui-a.  He  came  home  expecting  to  die,  but  re- 
covered, though  never  since  having  had  good 
health,  and  it  was  for  this  reason  that  in  1874  he 
left  the  farm  and  moved  into  town.  Upon  remov- 
ing to  Xew  Burnside  he  bought  a  store  and  lot,  upon 
which  he  built  a  house,  and  opened  a  general  store 
conducting  it  for  ten  or  eleven  years.  After 
a  time  he  sold  out  and  bought  a  farm,  upon  which 
he  lived  three  years,  when  this  tract  was  sold,  and 
our  subject  removed  to  New  Burnside,  where  he 
entered  the  mercantile  business,  buying  out  the 
liusiness  of  Richard  Bushings.  In  February,  18y"2, 
he  was  one  of  the  large  sufferers  by  the  lire  which 
swept  the  little  village,  his  loss  amounting  to 
^1,000  more  than  his  insurance.  In  the  following 
April  he  again  began  merchandising  in  the  new 
store  erected  on  the  site  of  the  old  one,  and  is  now 
in  company  with  his  son,  J.  D.,  with  whom  he  is 
doing  a  fine  and  prosperous  business.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Caldwell  buried  one  infant  son,  and  have 
nine  children  living,  namely:  Robert  W.,  vvho  is  a 
farmer  on  the  old  home  farm,  where  he  was  reared, 
and  has  a  wife  and  seven  children;  Andrew  Jack- 
son, who  has  a  wife  and  seven  children;  Willis  A., 
a  farmer  of  Williamson  County,  who  has  a  wife 
and  five  children;  John  C,  a  farmer  with  a  wife 
and  five  children;  J. D.,  in  business  with  his  father, 
who  has  a  wife  and  one  son;  California,  wife  of  J. 
E.  Miscelle,  who  has  five  children;  John  Ann,  born 
June  22,  1863,  when  her  father  was  in  the  army, 
wiio  is  still  living  at  home,  and  was  named  for 
boUi  lier  father  and  tnotlier;  Mary  Magdalene, 
wife  of  S.  S.  Miscll;  and  Tinna  Belle,  a  young 
woman  of  eighteen  years,  living  at  home.  These 
children  have  all  been  well  educated,  especially 
the  younger  members  of  the  family. 

Mr.  Caldwell  has  been  School  Director  much  of 
his  life,  and  appreciates  the  value  of  education. 
He  is  a  Master  Mason,  and  a  member  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Baptist  Church,  in  which  he  takes  great 
interest,  and  is  happy  that  all  his  children  but 
one  have  embraced  the  same  faith  that  he  enter- 
tains.    He  and  his  son  are  doing  a  fair  amount  of 


business,  and  have  won  the  confidence  of  the  jieo- 

ple  of  this  vicinity  by  fair  dealing  and  courteous 
manners.  There  is  not  a  saloon  in  New  Burnside, 
nor  is  any  intoxicating  liquor  sold  within  its  lim- 
its. 


1^^^- 


iHOMAS  H.  STUBBS,  County  Superinten- 
dent of  public  instruction  for  Hardin  County 
is  a  son  of  Thom.as  S.  Stubbs,  who  was  born 
in  England,  and  came  to  this  county  about  1830. 
He  was  a  machinist  and  blacksmith  b^'  trade,  hav- 
ing learned  his  trade  in  London,  England,  and 
came  to  this  country  by  steamer,  landing  in  New 
York.  He  went  first  to  Evansvillc  and  there  built 
the  first  blacksmith  shop  of  any  size  or  importance 
in  that  now  large  and  flourishing  city.  He  lived 
there  until  the  death  of  liis  father,  and  then  re- 
moved to  Rollo,  DeKalb  County,  111.,  where  he 
continued  to  work  at  his  trade,  and  w.as  there  mar- 
ried to  Elizabeth  Clark,  a  native  of  ^'irgiuia.  Af- 
ter remaining  there  about  three  years  he  removed 
to  Oallatia,  Saline  County, and  thence  to  Princeton, 
Ky.  He  afterward  removed  to  Saratoga,  Ky.,  and 
thence  to  Eddyvillc,  the  same  State,  where  his  wife 
died.  At  all  these  places  he  followed  his  trade, 
and  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  whom  he  buried 
in  1874,  he  removed  to  Cave  in  Rock,  Hardin 
County,  and  there  followed  his  trade.  He  was 
married  there  to  M.agdalena  Smith,  and  removed  to 
Elizabethtown,  where  he  again  followed  his  trade 
until  his  death.  He  was  thoroughly  versed  in  his 
work,  and  was  an  unusually  good  mechanic.  He 
had  three  children  by  his  first  marriage,  viz:  Thomas 
H.;  Alice,  wife  of  (x.  Jennings,  of  Tennessee;  and 
George,  who  died  at  Cave  in  Rock.  He  also  had 
three  children  by  his  second  marriage. 

Thomas  H.  Stubbs,  who  was  the  first  cliihl  by 
the  first  marri.age,  was  born  on  Christmas  Eve,  1862, 
at  Rollo,  III.  He  lived  at  home  until  he  was  tivelve 
years  old,  when  his  mother  died,  and  he  was  bound 
out  to  William  Wallace,  of  Kentucky,  for  whom  he 
worked  and  received  private  instruction  from  a 
tutor  in  the  familv.     At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  went 


392 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL    KKN  IKW. 


to  work  as  a  porter  in  tlie  ilrug  store  of  Dr.  Ayres 
in  Elizabethlown,  and  being  a  faithful  and  couipe- 
lent  buy,  honest  and  industrious,  he  was  made  a 
clerk  at  the  end  of  six  months.  After  being -tliere 
one  year  he  tilled  all  prescriptions,  and  attended 
to  all  the  business  of  the  firm.  Besides  the  in- 
struction received  as  mentioned  above,  he  also  at- 
tended for  a  time  Princeton  College,  and  being  an 
apt  and  ready  student  he  acquired  under  all  his  dis- 
advantages a  greater  degree  of  knowledge  than  was 
to  have  been  expected.  He  afterward  went  to 
UoUo  and  became  engaged  in  the  drug  store  of  a 
half-brother,  where  he  proved  himself  fully  com- 
petent and  reliable,  and  worked  one  year.  He 
then  went  to  Cave  in  Rock  and  worked  on  a  farm 
six  months  for  John  Mitchell.  He  later  attended 
normal  drill,  managed  by  Prof.  Fowler,  whose 
biographical  memoir  is  elsewhere  introduced  into 
this  work,  and  after  being  engaged  in  general 
farm  work  for  six  months  he  was  again  under  tlie 
instruction  of  Prof.  Fowler.  Being  then  qualified 
to  teach,  he  taught  his  first  school  at  Peters  Creek, 
Hardin  County,  at  $35  per  month,  remaining  in 
this  school  four  terms,  and  receiving  increased 
wages,  being  well  liked  as  a  good  instructor  and  a 
fine  disciplinarian.  He  next  taught  at  Harris  Creek 
three  terms,  when  he  vvas  culled  to  the  principalship 
of  the  schools  at  Cave  in  Rock. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Stubbs  had  taken  much  in- 
terest in  politics,  and  while  teaching  in  Bassett  he 
took  an  active  part  in  the  Presidential  campaign 
of  1884,  making  thirty-two  speeches  during  that 
time.  Being  a  convincing  speaker,  strong  in  argu- 
ment and  of  pleasing  address,  he  was  much  sought 
after,  and  was  one  of  the  most  successful  of  the 
young  orators  of  the  State.  In  1886,  he  was  ap- 
pointed mail  agent  on  the  route  from  Evans  ville  to 
Paducah,  remaining  in  this  position  until  the  close 
of  President  Cleveland's  administration,  when  he 
was  of  course  relieved.  He  then  resumed  school 
teaching,  and  also  at  the  same  time  read  law  with 
Hon.  Lewis  F.  Plater.  He  was  nominated  in  1890 
on  the  Democratic  ticket  for  County  Superinten- 
dent of  public  instruction,  and  was  elected,  holding 
the  office  ever  since  and  being  a  very  efficient  of- 
ficer. 

Our  subject  was  married  in    188;i    to   Henrietta 


Ralph,  a  native  of  Illinois,  by  whom  he  has  three 
children,  viz:  George  Edward,  Arthur  and  Ethel, 
all  at  home.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Ei)iscopal  Church,  while  Mrs.  Stubbs  is  inclined  to 
adhere  to  the  tenets  and  doctrines  of  the  Baptist 
denomination.  He  is  now  studying  law  witli  the 
Stale's  Attorney,  R.  F.  Taylor,  with  whom  he  has 
formed  a  partnership,  and  this  bids  fair  to  be  a  very 
strong  legal  firm.  Mr.  Stubbs  is  vevy  intelligent 
and  gentlemanly,  and  being  possessed  in  a  large 
measure  of  the  qualifications  necessary  to  con- 
stitute a  lawyer,  it  is  but  just  to  expect  of  him  a 
marked  career.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  there 
is  any  part  of  the  country  where  more  young  men 
start  out  in  life  as  school  teachers  than  in  southern 
Illinois,  make  that  profession  a  success,  and  then 
transfer  their  activities  to  the  law,  making  that  also 
a  success,  greater  if  an3'thing  than  that  of  an  in- 
structor. Mr.  Stubbs  is  one  of  those  numerous 
cases  and  was  a  superior  teacher,  made  himself  a 
success  in  that  field  of  labor,  and  to  his  natural  en- 
dowments has  by  industry  and  application  (|uali- 
fied  himself  for  the  distinguished  career  in  the  law 
which  all  his  friends  confidently  anticipate. 


S^+^i 


EZKKIAH  F.  MORSE,  a  i)romiuent  farmer 
of  Pope  Count)-,  who  lias  resided  on  his 
present  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  acre 
farm  in  section  6,  township  11,  Polk  Pre- 
cinct, for  the  past  thirteen  years,  was  born  near 
his  present  home  January  8,  1844.  His  father, 
John  Morse,  was  born  in  South  Carolina  in  181.') 
and  was  a  son  of  John  Morse,  who  was  probably 
from  Georgia.  He  was  a  farmer  and  a  preacher  of 
the  Regular  Baptist  Church,  for  which  he  labored 
some  twenty  j'ears.  He  came  to  southern  Illinois, 
locating  in  what  is  now  Pope  County,  in  1825, 
bringing  with  him  a  family  of  three  children,  and 
afterward  became  the  father  of  nine  more.  Of  the 
children  eight  were  sons  and  four  were  daughters. 
John,  the  father  of  our  subject,  w.as  the  third 
child  and  second  son  in  order  of  birth,  and  became 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


393 


a  well-informed  and  well-to-do  man  for  the  times 
ill  which  lie  lived.  He  died  .it  the  .tge  of  seventy- 
five  ye.irs,at  hisson  David's  home  near  Edd^'ville, 
111.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was  Xaucy  I>uck- 
ner,  of  Saline  County,  111.  Siie  and  her  husband 
had  twelve  children,  five  sods  and  seven  daughters. 

llezekiah  F.  is  the  tliird  child  and  first  son. 
The  parents  of  these  children  died  in  Union  Pre- 
cinct, the  mother  at  forty-seven  3'eai's  of  age  and 
the  father  in  his  seventieth  year.  The  latter, 
however,  was  married  twice,  and  b^-  his  last  wife 
had  three  sons  and  two  daughters.  Those  living 
of  the  first  family  are  as  follows:  Polly  Ann,  wife 
of  George  Shuflfelbarger;  llezekiah  F.;  Maria,  wife 
of  Philip  Meier;  Ilarvej-,  a  farmer  of  Polk  Pre- 
cinct; Elizabeth,  wMfe  of  Isa.ac  Moyers;  Sylvester, 
a  farmer  of  I'nion  Precinct;  Amanda,  a  maiden 
lady;  David  L.,  a  farmer;  and  Lucinda,  Mrs. 
Luker.  Of  the  second  family  there  are  living  the 
following:  Richard,  unmarried;  Celia,  wife  of 
Moses  Ilill;  Cordelia,  a  young  lady  who  isathome 
with  her  widowed  mother;  .Jacob  and  Uriali. 

llezekiah  F.  Morse  received  but  little  education 
in  ciiildhood  but  li.as  obtained  a  fair  knowledge  of 
books  since  he  became  a  man.  He  was  married  at 
the  age  of  twenty-five  years  to  Eliza  Ann  Jackson, 
who  was  born  in  Tennessee  and  was  a  daughter  of 
Ephraini  J.ackson,  who  came  to  Illinois,  settling  in 
Hardin  Count}'  in  the  3'ear  18G2,  coming  from 
Hamilton  County,  Tenn.  His  demise  occurred  in 
l»(i2  and  he  left  his  widow  with  four  children, 
three  sons  and  a  daugliter.  Mrs.  Morse's  mother 
now  resides  on  her  farm  in  Pope  County,  the  wife 
of  Jonathan  Morse. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  lived  on  a  farm 
in  this  county  ever  since  their  marriage.  All  their 
cliildren  arc  living,  seven  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters, viz:  Madison  E.,  a  school  teacher,  who  is 
married;  Charles  W.,  at  home  on  the  farm  and  at- 
tending school;  Lemuel  P.,  who  at  this  writing 
(18tt3)  is  seventeen  years  old;  Mel vin  O.,  fifteen 
years  of  age;  Mason  15.,  thirteen;  Elbert  IL,  eleven; 
Melvina,  nine;  Eflielbert  O.,  seven;  Lillj'  L.,  four; 
and  Ik'lva  S.,  one  and  a-half  years  old.  Mv.  Morse 
is  a  Republican  in  politics,  while  in  religious  mat- 
ters he  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  in 
which  he  is  a  Trustee.  He  carries  on  general  farming 


and  is  giving  his  children  the  best  education  he  can, 
knowing  that  it  will  be  invaluable  to  them  in  after 
years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morse  are  both  still  hearty 
and  strong,  and  with  their  fine  family  of  bright, 
active  and  promising  children  are  ver}'  happy  and 
look  forward  with  the  most  cheering  anticipations 
to  lives  of  honor  and  usefulness  for  their  children. 


fli'OSIAH  WHITNEL,  M.  D.,  wlio  has  for 
the  past  fort}'  years  been  a  successful  farmer 
and  a  prominent  phj'sician,  living  on  his 
^f^f^  present  farm  on  section  32,  in  Burnside 
Township,  Johnson  County,  was  born  in  Caldwell 
County,  Ky.,  in  1824.  His  father,  John  Whitncl, 
was  a  farmer  and  physician,  and  was  born  in 
Maury  Count}',  Tenn.  He  was  a  son  of  Jnsiah 
Whitnel  and  his  wife,  the  latter  of  whom  was  a 
Miss  Knox.  Josiah  Whitnel  was  an  Irish  weaver, 
and  reared  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  of 
whom  John  was  the  eldest  son.  John  Whitnel 
was  married  to  Mary  Reynolds,  daughter  of  Charles 
and  Mary  (McAnally)  Ladd,  of  Scotland,  as  ap- 
pears by  the  record  in  an  old  English  Bible  pur- 
ehiised  in  1762  for  86,  the  record  having  been 
made  by  Charles  Mc.A.nalIy,  the  owner  of  this  an- 
cient volume.  This  Bible  was  printed  in  Edin- 
burgh, Scotland,  in  1756,  during  the  reign  of 
George  HI.  Charles  McAnally  was  the  maternal 
great-grandfather  of  our  subject,  and  the  record  is 
written  with  a  quill  pen  in  the  plainest  old  Eng- 
lish style. 

Josiah  Whitnel,  our  subject,  wiis  reared  on  a 
farm  near  Murray.  Calloway  County,  Ky.,  and  in 
his  boyhood  days  had  the  advantages  of  a  good 
schooling  in  the  common  English  branches  in  sub- 
gcription  and  select  schools.  His  parent*  had 
seven  children,  and  reared  five  sous  and  one 
daughter,  of  whom  Dr.  Whitnel  was  the  third 
and  only  surviving  son.  All  five  sons  were  grad- 
uates of  the  Louisville  Medical  College.  The 
mother  of  these  children  died  in  1811,  at  the  age 
of  forty-three  years.    The  father  lived  many  years 


;394 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


a  widower,  and  dii'd  in  \'ienii;i  at  the  age  of  scv- 
entj'-two,  at  llie  home  of  iiis  son,  David  T.  Jo- 
siab  was  the  first  of  tiiis  family  to  come  to  Illi- 
nois, in  the  spring  of  1852.  He  had  then  com- 
menced the  practice  of  medicine  with  his  father, 
who  was  carrying  on  a  lucrative  business.  He 
came  alone  on  his  horse  and  first  located  at  old 
Reynoldsburgh.  He  was  married  in  1856  to  Miss 
iSusan  E.,  daughter  of  Samuel  W.  and  Rebecca 
(McCarty)  Miller,  the  former  from  Ken  tuck}',  and 
the  latter  from  Pennsylvania.  Mrs.  Whituel  was 
born  in  Monlgomerj'  County,  Ky.,  in  1832,  and 
came  to  Illinois  in  1856  a  bride. 

The  Doctor  and  his  wife  were  reared  in  the 
same  neighborhood  and  he  went  back  for  her,  re- 
turning in  his  buggy  instead  of  on  horseback,  as 
bifoie.  lie  had  alread_y  built  and  furnished  a 
house  on  an  eighty-acre  piece  of  ground  near 
where  he  now  lives,  and  at  the  time  of  his  mar- 
riage had  but  $85  in  money,  his  horse  and  a  small 
store  of  medicines.  The}'  lived  in  this  first  home 
some  eight  or  ten  years,  when  he  sold  it,  and  later 
purchased  eighty  acres,  which  are  now  part  of  his 
present  farm.  From  time  to  time  since  then  he 
lias  bought  more  land,  until  at  the  present  time  he 
owns  four  hundred  and  fifty  acres.  He  built  his 
[iresent  commodious  frame  dwelling  in  1863.  It 
is  a  typical  Kentucky  farm  house,  or  cottage,  one 
and  a-hair  stories  high,  50x18  feet  in  size,  with 
a  36-foot  L,  and  a  fine  large  porch  in  the  cen- 
ter. Here  they  have  lived  and  reared  four  chil- 
dren, two  sons  and  two  daughters,  namel}-:  John 
L.,  a  practicing  physician  at  home  and  unmarried; 
Mary  R.,  wife  of  M.  E.  Mozley,a  farmer  and  stock- 
raiser  in  Grantsburg  Township,  and  who  has  one 
son  and  one  daughter;  David  T.,  a  young  man  at 
home,  a  farmer,  who  is  not  inclined  to  the  pro- 
fession of  his  ancestors,  but  whose  hobby  is  me- 
chanics, and  who  owns  a  steam  threshing-machine, 
which  he  runs  each  fall;  and  Miss  Lizzie.  All 
the  children  are  being  educated  in  the  best  schools 
of  this  section  and  at  Carbondalc.  The  parents  of 
these  children  have  buried  one  son,  an  infant, 
named  George  William. 

The  Doctor  has  always  been  a  Democrat  in 
politics,  and  was  appointed  Surgeon  of  the  One 
Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry  in  1862, 


lull  left  the  regiment  at  Springfield,  111.  His 
brother,  Daviil  T.  Wliitnel,  was  Surgeon  (jf  the 
Thirty-first  Illinois  Regiment  from  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war  until  after  the  battle  of  Vicksbuig, 
when  he  took  the  yellow  fever  and  came  home, 
lie  died  within  one  and  one-half  years,  leaving  a 
widow  and  two  children.  His  brother,  Constan- 
tine  L.,  who  w.as  a  practitioner  in  (ioreville  Town- 
ship, died  there  in  the  prime  of  life,  leaving  one 
son  and  three  daughters,  and  Robert  died  near 
Belknap  on  his  farm.  He  was  a  physician  and  was 
forty-six  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He 
left  one  son  and  four  daughters  to  mourn  his  de- 
mise. Dr.  Whitnel  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  hav- 
ing joined  the  fraternity  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
nine  years,  and  he  has  a  relic  and  souvenir  left 
him  by  his  father  in  the  shape  of  a  cane,  cut  .Tan- 
uar}'  9,  1815,  at  New  Orleans,  from  the  stem  of  a 
p.'ilm  tree  the  next  day  after  the  battle  of  New 
Orleans,  Dr.  Whitnel's  father  being  a  private  sol- 
dier under  Gen.  Jackson  at  that  time. 

Our  subject  has  from  his  earliest  manhood  been 
one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  the  promo- 
tion of  local  enterprises  and  public  improvements, 
and,  as  a  progressive  citizen  of  high  integrity, 
has  worthily  won  the  confidence  and  regard  of  a 
large  circle  of  old-time  friends  and  acquaintances. 
He  is  resolved  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  latest 
results  of  scientific  research  and  all  progressive 
ideas  in  relation  to  the  treatment  and  prevention 
of  disease. 


-^^^|-^-t«^#^l 


AMES  M.  REID,  a  resident  of  Burnside 
Township,  Johnson  County,  was  born  in 
,  ,,  .  Hardeman  County,  Tenn.,  in  1828.  He  is 
(^^  a  brother  of  William  L.  Reid,  whose  bio- 
graphical sketch,  together  with  mention  of  the  par- 
ents, is  to  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 
James  M.  was  the  fourth  son  and  fifth  child  in  or- 
der of  birth,  and  was  reared  and  educated  at  home. 
He  was  married  in  Calloway  County,  Ky.,  when  in 
his  twenty-fourth  year.    iSlaieli    17,  1851,  to  Miss 


PORTRAIT  AND  BlOGRAl'IIICAL   REVIEW. 


395 


Ollie  E.  Robinson,  a  sister  of  bis  brother's  first  wife. 
Tills  couple  came  to  .lolinson  County,  111.,  one  year 
after  their  marriage,  reaching  here  on  the  da^'  of 
tlieir  first  wedding  anniversarj'.  The>-  came 
tiirougU  with  two  j-oke  of  oxen,  and  brought  with 
them  all  their  effects  in  a  large  covered  wagon. 
Our  subject  raised  one  crop  on  his  brother's  claim 
of  (Tovernment  land,  and  then  bought  a  claim  of 
a  settler  for  ^I.'jO,  all  of  which  was  gold  excepting 
a  ?!10  bill.  He  pre-empted  eighty  acres  with  a 
land  warrant  of  the  .lacksonian  War,  and  at  the  end 
of  six  years  added  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
more  Government  land,  making  in  all  two  hun- 
dred acres,  which  lie  sold  in  the  year  1858,  realizing 
more  than  81.200.  With  the  nione}'  he  bought 
two  hundred  acres,which  comprises  his  jiresent  farm, 
for  *  1,4 (10.  there  being  on  it  some  little  improve- 
ment. The  house  was  originally  a  hewed-log  one, 
in  which  the  family  still  lives,  having  improved  it 
by  clapboarding  on  the  outside  and  ceiling  on  the 
inside,  which  makes  it  a  substantial  and  comfort- 
able house. 

Our  subject  and  his  estimable  wife  have  had  six 
sons  .and  six  daughtei-s,  of  whom  five  sons  and 
three  daughters  are  living.  The  deceased  ones  are, 
IMatilda.  wife  of  A.  P.  Hdllowa}^  a  Methodist  min- 
ister of  Pope  County,  and  one  son  and  two  daugh- 
ters who  died  in  infancy.  Those  living  are,  Nancy 
P.,  wife  of  William  E.  Chitwood,  a  school  teacher, 
who  has  six  children;  J.  T.,  a  farmer  living  near 
his  father's  farm,  who  has  two  sons;  Maiy  .7.,  wife 
of  B.  M.  Holloway,  who  has  two  sons;  Martha,  wife 
of  J.  W.  Rushing,  who  h.as  one  daughter;  J.  ]).,  a 
farmer  of  Po[)e  County,  and  also  a  .Justice  of  the 
Peace,  who  li.is  a  wife  and  three  sons;  Robert  Wes- 
ley, twentj'-three  years  old;  Hugh  F,  twenty-one 
and  William  Y.,  seventeen;  the  last  three  children 
are  unmarried  and  live  at  home. 

Mr.  Rcid  and  his  wife  have  both  been  members 
of  the  Jlethodist  Church  for  more  than  fort3'  years, 
in  which  they  have  worked  faithfullj'  and  well, 
and  the  former  has  been  a  Class-leader.  Charles 
G.,  brother  of  Mr.  Reid  of  this  sketch,  is  a  farmer 
of  Mass.ac  County,  where  he  is  also  engaged  in 
shoe  and  harness  making.  Mr.  Reed  voted  for 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  President  in  1860,  but  has 
ever   since    that    time    been  a  Republican,  except 


for   the   past   few   years,  when  he  became  a  Pro- 

liil)itionist,  and  says  he  intends  to  support  this  re- 
form the  rest  of  his  life.  Mr.  Reid  stands  high 
in  the  estimation  of  the  people  of  this  vicinity, 
and  all  those  bearing  the  name  are  looked  upon  as 
citizens  of  the  best  class. 


W^.  ICHARD  F.  TAYLOR  is  a  resident  of  Eliza- 
Ijisi^''  bethtown,  Hardin  Count3'-,  and  a  son  of 
its  \y  James  P.  Ta3-lor,  a  native  of  Ohio,  who 
\i^came  to  Illinois  at  an  earlj'  da}-  and  settled 
on  a  farm  in  Pope  County,  where  he  followed 
farming  and  school  teaching  for  several  years.  On 
May  20,  1864,  he  enlisted  in  Company  K,  One 
Hundred  and  Thirty-sixth  Illinois  Infantry,  be- 
ing mustered  out  of  service  at  Chicago  October 
22,  1864.  He  was  married  to  Catherine  For- 
mault,  by  whom  he  had  nine  children,  six  of 
whom  are  still  living,  viz:  Jonathan  F.,  an  attor- 
ney-!vt-lawat  Carbondale,  111.;  .Spencer  B.,  a  farmer 
of  Pope  County;  Caleb  M.,  a  farmer  of  Pope 
County;  Richard  F.;  William  F.,  a  physician  of 
Poplar  Bluff,  Mo.;  and  Priscilla  I.,  wife  of  Dan- 
iel Flannery.  The  parents  of  these  children  are 
both  still  living  on  their  farm  in  Pope  County. 

Richard  F.  Taylor  was  born  in  Pope  County 
on  the  5th  of  May,  1855.  He  w.as  brought  up  on 
the  farm,  attending  the  public  schools  in  the  win- 
ter months,  and  began  teaching  school  in  the  year 
1873,  in  which  he  continued  for  five  years,  when  he 
was  appointed  Principal  of  the  High  School  in 
Elizabethtown.  He  studied  law  while  teaching 
school,  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  June,  1882, 
and  at  once  began  the  jjractice  of  the  law,  giving 
his  attention  principally  to  criminal  cases,  being 
emplo^-ed  in  the  famous  Belt  case.  In  1802  he 
was  elected  State's  Attorney  for  his  county,  which 
position  he  still  retains. 

An  important  event  occurred  in  the  life  of  our 
subject  when  he  was  united  in  marriage  in  Octo- 
ber, 1884,  to  Miss  MoUie  Lcdbetter,  a  daughter  of 


396 


I'OR  TRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


.1.  N.  LiHlliolU'i,  whose  biography  appears  else- 
wlieif  ill  this  volume.  Two  chiklren  liave  been 
born  to  tliem,  viz:  Eiiniec,  whose  birth  took  place 
.lune  11,  188G,  and  James  N.,  born  August  2;{, 
iXiM.  In  politics  Mr.  Taylor  is  a  stanch  Deino- 
I'lat,  and  Mrs.  Taylor  is  a  very  earnest  worker  in 
the  Sunday-school.  This  worthy  couple  have  a 
host  of  sincere  friends  in  this  locality,  and  are 
widely  known  for  their  liospiiablc  and  friendly 
manner. 


<^  MLLIAM  F.  WIIITTENHERG,  a  prominent 
\rJl/  farmer  of  IJlooralield  Township,  was  born 
VW  ill  Blount  County,  Tenn.,  October  25, 
1831.  His  father,  William  Whittenberg,  was  born 
on  the  same  farm,  and  the  latter's  father,  Henry 
Whittenberg,  was  it  is  thought,  born  in  Pennsylva- 
nia, of  German  ancestry.  He  removed  fromPenn- 
.sylvania  to  Tennessee,  and  bought  a  tract  of  tim- 
ber land  in  Blount  County,  in  the  locality  known 
as  the  Middle  .Settlement,  which  he  improved  and 
lived  upon  for  many  years.  He  at  length  removed 
to  Illinois,  lived  with  his  children,  and  died  in  this 
State  a  few  years  later,  having  reared  a  large  fam- 
ily of  children,  all  of  whom  except  William  settled 
ill  AVashinglon  County,  III.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  was  Pate. 

Our  subject  was  reared  and  married  in  his  native 
State  and  in  1831  started  on  horseback  to  visit  Ill- 
inois and  there  seek  a  location  for  a  home.  Reach- 
ing Illinois  he  visited  his  brother-in-law,  but  start- 
ing on  his  return  trip  he  was  in  some  way  lost, 
and  never  again  heard  of,  though  his  horse  returned 
to  the  home  of  his  brother-in-law.  His  wife  was 
thus  left  a  widow  with  nine  children  and  in  very 
limited  circumstances,  and  in  1841,  accompanied 
by  her  family,  she  removed  to  Henry  County, 
Tenn.,  the  removal  being  made  by  team.  After 
living  in  Henry  County  two  years  she  removed  by 
means  of  oxen  and  a  carl  to  Illinois,  bringing  with 


her  all  thr  fuiiul\'  and  all  her  earthly  possessions. 
She  settled  in  what  is  now  Grantsburg  Township, 
Johnson  County,  and  made  a  claim  to  a  tract  of 
(Government  land,  upon  which  she  built  a  log  cabin ; 
but,  unable  to  pay  *1.25  per  acre  for  the  land,  she 
held  it  as  a  claim  for  a  number  of  years,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  William  P.,  by  working  on  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad,  earned  the  money  and  paid 
for  the  land.  Mrs.  Whittenberg  resided  there  un- 
til a  short  time  before  her  death,  and  then  lived 
with  her  children,  and  died  at  the  home  of  the  eldest 
son,  John  S.,  in  Tunnel  Hill  Township,  at  the  age 
of  sixtj'-six  j-ears.  She  reared  nine  children,  viz: 
Polly  A.,  John  S.,  Sally  D.,  Henry  H.,  William  P., 
Melinda,  James,  Matthew  F.  and  Daniel  W. 

William  P.  was  twelve  years  old  when  his  mother 
brought  him  to  Illinois,  where  he  was  reared  and 
educated  in  Johnson  County.  He  began  when 
very  young  to  assist  with  farm  work  and  lived 
with  his  mother  until  he  was  twenty-three  years 
old,  when  he  married  and  settled  in  Elvira  Town- 
ship, where  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  timber 
land,  built  a  log  house  on  the  place  and  resided 
there  until  1861.  He  then  rented  the  farm  and 
enlisted  in  Compan}'  K,  First  Illinois  Light  Artil- 
lery, and  served  in  that  command  three  3'ears  and 
three  months,  in  Tennessee,  Mississippi  and  Ala- 
bama. He  was  wounded  at  Wolf  River  Bridge, 
Moscow,  Tenn.,  in  December,  186:5,  and  received  a 
furlough  home  for  fort^'  days,  which  was  afterward 
extended  to  one  hundred  daj'S.  He  then  rejoined 
his  regiment  and  was  with  it  until  December  10, 
1864,  when  he  was  honorably  discharged  and  re- 
turned home.  In  1866  he  settled  on  the  farm  he 
now  owns  and  occupies.  This  farm  contains  one 
hundred  and  sixty-nine  acres,  on  which  he  has 
erected  a  good  set  of  frame  buildings,  and  improved 
a  great  portion  of  his  farm  for  general  farming 
and  stock-raising.  Our  subject  was  married  in  1854 
to  Zana  Evans,  a  native  of  Middle  Tennessee,  and 
a  daughter  of  Thomas  Evans.  The  lady  survived 
but  three  years  and  died  in  1857.  In  1866,  Mr. 
Whittenberg  was  m.arried  to  Martha  A.  (Crenshaw) 
Benson,  who  was  born  in  Gallatin  County,  a 
daughter  of  Frederick  Crenshaw.  Mr.  and  ]\Irs. 
Whittenberg  have  six  children,  viz:  William  H., 
Daniel  W.,  Ignatius  M.,  Viola,  James  F.  and  Lulu 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRArillCAL    REVIEW. 


397 


May.     The  mother  of  these  children  is  a  member 

of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  the  father 
is  a  Republican  in  politics.  He  is  a  member  of 
Vienna  Lodo;e  No.  150,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  also  of 
Vienna  Post  No.  221,  G.  A.  R. 


^OHN  J.  SHEARER  is  a  son  of  Edward 
Shearer,  who  was  born  in  Hardin  Count}' 
^^^  ,  October  28,  1826,  and  was  brought  up  on  a 
^^2/  limited  farm,  ccmsequently  receiving  a  very 
education.  He  started  out  in  life  for  himself  in 
the  year  1814,  entering  land  in  the  woods  and 
erecting  thereon  a  log  cabin,  going  to  work  in 
earliest  to  establish  a  home  for  himself.  He  was 
married  to  Mary  Hell,  who  w.as  born  June  1, 
1830,  a  daughter  of  Lacey  Bell,  of  Kentucky.  To 
this  marriage  there  were  born  seven  children,  viz: 
.John  .1.;  Charles  E.,  a  farmer  of  Hardin  Count}-; 
AVilliam  .1.,  deccjised;  David  F.,  a  farmer  of  Hardin 
County;  George  W.,  a  mechanic  of  Cave  in  Rock; 
and  two  that  died  young.  The  mother  of  these 
cliildrcn  died  February  24,  1865,  and  Mr.  Shearer 
then  married  Clark}-  Bell,  sister  of  his  first  wife. 
To  this  marriage  there  were  born  four  children, 
viz:  Susan,  wife  of  Lewis  Edwards;  Laura,  de- 
ceased; one  who  died  in  infancy;  and  Tlionias,  a 
farmer  of  Hardin  Count}'. 

.Tohn  J.  Shearer  w.is  born  May  30,  1851,  in  Har- 
din County,  was  reared  on  the  farm,  working  in 
the  summer  time  and  attending  school  in  the  win- 
ter time,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  yeai'S  went  to 
work  in  a  store  for  his  uncle  at  New  Liberty,  HI., 
meanwhile  attending  school  a  part  of  the  time,  and 
so  obtaining  a  fair  education.  In  1868  he  went  to 
Hardin  County  and  engaged  in  teaching  school, 
whidi  profession  claimed  his  attention  live  years, 
during  which  time  he  was  diligently  pursuing  tiie 
study  of  medicine  under  the  instruction  of  Dr. 
AVarford,  of  Elizabetlitown.  He  practiced  med- 
icine for  eight  years,  and  then  purchased  a  store- 
boat,  which  he  ran  on  the  Ohio  River   for  two 


years,  when  he  returned  to  Hardin  County  and 

engaged  in  farming  and  in  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine for  two  years,  and  finally  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits  for  six  months.  November  7, 
1891,  he  purchased  a  third  interest  in  a  large  mill 
at  Cave  in  Rock,  which  he  still  retains,  and  is  now 
considered  a  prosperous  and  well-respected  citizen. 
Our  subject  was  married  November  6,  1870,  to 
Nancy  A.  McDowell,  a  daughter  of  Eli  McDowell,  a 
native  of  Indiana.  To  this  marriage  there  have 
been  born  three  children,  viz:  George  Clarence; 
Sonora  I.,  deceased;  and  a  third  who  died  in  in- 
fancy. Mr.  Shearer  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and 
is  a  member  of  Cave  in  Rock  Lodge  No.  444,  A.  F.  & 
A.  M.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Christian  Church.  He  served  in  the  capacity  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace  for  six  years,  and  two  years 
as  Deputy  County  Clerk,  discharging  his  duties  as 
such  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned. 


l>^-<m 


^_  ARRIS  M.  RIDENHOAVER,  of  Vienna 
lf)j'  Townshij),  .lolinson  County,  was  born  at 
J^^  AA'^eslern  Saratoga,  rnioii  County,  Ill.,.lan- 
(^;  uary  23,  1855.  His  father,  Harris  M.  Riden- 
hower,  was  born  in  Cabarrus  County,  within  fif- 
teen miles  of  Concord,  N.  C,  January  23,1824, 
and  his  father,  Aaron  Ridenliower.  was  a  native  of 
the  same  .State.  The  great-great-grandfather  of 
Harris  M.  Ridenliower,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  Germany  and  was  there  reared  and  mar- 
ried. He  came  to  America,  accompanied  by  his  wife, 
in  Colonial  times,  settled  in  North  Carolina,  and 
there  spent  the  rest  of  his  life.  His  son,  John 
Ridenhower,  was  born  in  that  .State,  and  lived 
there  during  his  entire  life.  Aaron  Ridenhower, 
son  of  John,  was  also  born  in  and  lived  and  died 
in  North  Carolina,  dying  in  1824.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Caroline  Miller;  she  was  also 
a  native  of  North  Carolina.  Her  fatlier,  John 
Henry  Miller,  was  born  in  Germany,  emigrated 
from  that  country  to  North  Carolina,  and  settled 
there.     He  was   a  tanner    by  trade,  and   was   en- 


398 


I'ORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


gaged  by  Epliniiin  Dnike  Harris  to  manage  a  tan- 
nery, but  elo|)etl  witli  that  gentleman's  daughter, 
Ann  15arl)ara,  and  married  her.  Mr.  Harris  was 
an  extensive  planter,  and  managed  several  other 
branches  of  business  besides.  His  wife  was  a  na- 
tive of  Pennsylvania,  of  (German  ancestry,  .lohn 
iliMiry  Miller establisiicd  a  tannery  in  North  Caro- 
lina, which  lie  oporaled  for  many  years,  and  lived 
there  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His  wife  also  died 
in  North  Carolina.  The  grandmother  of  our  sub- 
ject survived  her  husband  man3'  years,  and  in 
1860  came  to  Illinois  and  resided  in  Johnson 
County  until  her  death,  in  1807. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  ten  years  old 
when  his  father  died,  and  he  began  going  to  school 
wlien  seven  years  old.  When  his  father  died  his 
mother  was  left  in  rather  straitened  circumstances, 
and  he  was  then  compelled  to  assist  her  in  tlie 
support  of  the  family,  working  by  the  day  or 
month,  as  circumstances  rendered  necessary  or 
convenient.  When  fifteen  years  old  he  received 
but  '?3  per  mouth  and  board,  except  in  harvest 
time,  wlien  he  received  twenty-five  cents  per  day, 
working  from  early  morning  to  late  at  night. 
After  his  father's  death  he  had  no  opportunity  to 
attend  school  until  he  was  eighteen  j'ears  of  age, 
but  being  a  very  apt  scholar,  he  soon  acquired 
sutlicient  knowledge  to  enable  him  to  teach  school, 
and  he  remained  in  North  Caroli-na  until  1846. 
As  there  had  been'  a  failure  of  crops  in  that  State 
the  year  before,  times  were  very  bard,  and  corn 
and  wheat  sold  from  -i^l.lO  to  ^1.50  )ier  bushel,  and 
hay  at  ^10  per  ton,  and  many  farmers  had  to  let 
their  cattle  starve. 

At  that  time  there  was  a  great  tide  of  emigra- 
tion from  North  Carolina  to  Illinois,  and  Mr. 
Uidenhower  concluded  to  come  to  this  State  also. 
In  March,  1816,  with  his  wife  and  one  child  and 
two  other  families,  one  of  the  two  being  that  of 
his  fatiier-in-law,  they  started  with  teams  for  an 
overland  journey-  to  the  Prairie  State,  bringing 
with  them  their  household  goods,  and  camping 
and  cooking  their  meals  along  the  wa3'.  Mr.  Riden- 
liower  kept  a  diary  of  his  travels,  and  in  that 
gives  a  very  interesting  account  of  liis  trip  and  a 
description  of  the  scenery  and  people  and  jilaces 
that  they  saw.     In  one  place  in  this  diary  he  men- 


tions crossing  the  Frost  Road,  and  says  that  the 
principal  wealth  of  Mr.  Frost,  the  owner  of  this 
road,  appeared  to  be  his  children,  twenty  in  num- 
ber. Mr.  Frost  said  that  he  and  twelve  of  his  sons 
Iniilt  the  road  themselves.  On  Ajjril  30  these  emi- 
grants reached  Pulaski  County,  111.,  and  the  fol- 
lowing day  pusiied  on  to  Union  County.  At  that 
time  Jlr.  Ridenhower's  entire  wealtli  consisted  of 
his  team,  his  household  goods,  and  a  few  dollars 
in  cash,  but  he  immediately  found  emploj-ment 
in  a  tanyard  near  Jonesborough,  and  followed  that 
occupation  a  short  time,  when  he  engaged  in 
teaching  school.  He  taught  in  I'nion  County 
until  1855,  when  he  removed  to  .Tohnson  County, 
and  was  engaged  in  teaching  there  until  1860. 
His  time  was  taken  up  with  his  official  duties  un- 
til his  death,  September  28,  1869.  He  was  a  great 
reader  and  was  for  many  years  probably  the  best- 
informed  man  in  this  section  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Ridenhower  very  early  took  an  interest  in 
public  affairs,  and  when  fifteen  years  old  was  the 
champion  of  the  Whig  partj"  in  the  section  of 
country  in  which  he  lived.  He  relates  an  inci- 
dent in  his  early  life  which  he  desired  to  im- 
press on  his  posterity  in  order  that  they  may 
not  let  their  prejudices  lead  them  into  the  error 
into  which  his  prejudices  had  led  him.  He  had 
the  opportunity  to  enter  the  office  of  a  Dem- 
ocratic paper  to  learn  the  art  of  printing,  but 
he  was  so  pi'cjudiced  against  the  Democratic  part3- 
that  he  refused  to  accept  the  offer  and  regretted 
this  very  much  in  after  life,  as  it  quite  probabl_y 
changed  the  course  of  his  entire  life.  He  was  al- 
wa3'S  a  strong  anti-slavery  man  and  a  personal 
friend  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  one  of  the  first 
in  his  section  to  join  the  Republican  party  when 
it  was  formed.  In  1856  there  were  but  two  votes 
cast  in  Johnson  Count}'  for  Fremont  for  President, 
his  and  that  of  Merida  Spence.  In  1860  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  through  an  oversight  failed  to  nom- 
inate a  candidate  for  Coroner,  and  the  few  Re- 
publicans there  nominated  Mr.  Ridenhower  and 
carried  on  an  original  still-hunt  campaign,  and, 
although  they  cast  but  forty  votes  in  the  county, 
Mr.  Ridenhower  was  elected.  The  Sheriff  soon 
died,  and  according  to  the  laws  of  the  State  the 
Coroner  was  Sheriff  ex  officio. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


399 


During  the  war  Mr.  Ridenhower  was  appointed 
Internal  Revenue  Collector  for  .lolinson  and  Union 
Counties,  and  in  1864  he  was  elected  Surveyor  of 
Johnson  County,  which  ollice  he  held  until  his 
death.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  a  candi- 
date for  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1870  for  the  .State  of  Illinois  for  the  district 
composed  of  the  counties  of  .Johnson,  Massac  and 
Pope,  and  would,  if  he  had  lived,  in  all  probability 
have  been  elected,  as  the  candidate  who  came  out 
in  his  place  after  his  death  was  elected  by  a  large 
majority  over  the  opposing  candidate.  He  mar- 
ried in  North  Carolina  Lavina  Miller,  a  native  of 
Kowan  County,  that  .State.  She  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  Dawalt  and  Elizabeth  (Canup)  Miller. 
After  her  husband's  death  she  married  George 
Gibson,  and  now  lives  in  Gorevillo  Township. 
She  reared  nine  children  by  her  first  husband, 
viz:  Otto  L.,  Peninah  A.,  Erastus  K.,  Mary  A.  E., 
Harris  M.,  Carrie  1..,  Addie  M.;  Rob  Roy,  who 
is  now  Sheriff  of  .Johnson  County;  and  Fleta. 
Six  of  these  are  living,  and  all  of  them  lived  to 
maturity. 

Harris  JI.  received  his  fduciitiun  in  tlie  public 
schools  of  Goreville  and  X'ienna  Townships,  and 
he  afterward  attended  the  Southern  Illinois  Uni- 
versity at  Carbondale.  He  began  teaching  school 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  j-ears,  and  followed  teaching, 
attended  school  and  read  law  until  1878.  He 
was  in  that  year  admitted  to  the  Bar,  and  has 
practiced  law  in  Vienna  ever  since.  He  soon  after- 
ward commenced  buying  land,  and  is  now  one  of 
the  largest,  if  not  the  largest,  land-owner  in  the 
county,  and,  in  addition,  owns  some  of  llic  finest 
town  property  in  Vienna. 

Our  subject  first  married  iii  1878  Miss  Augusta 
A.  Hess,  a  native  of  Vienna  and  a  daughter  of 
Col.  .Samuel  and  Augusta  U.  Hess.  She  died  in 
1887,  and  he  married  January  2.3,  1890,  Nettie 
L.  Beaupie,  a  native  of  Metropolis,  III.,  and  a 
daughter  of  William  I),  and  Mollie  Beaupie.  He 
has  one  child  by  his  first  wife,  Augusta,  and 
by  his  second  wife  two  children.  Ruby  and  La- 
vina. He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  the 
only  official  position  he  ever  held  for  which  he 
w.as  a  candidate  was  that  of  Stale's  Attorney,  to 
which  he  was  elected  in   1884,  and  held  the  posi- 

21 


tion  four  years.  He  is  a  member  of  \  esta  Lodge 
No.  340,  I.  O.  O.  F.;  and  also  of  Vienna  Lodge 
No.  248,  K.  of  P.  He  has  considerable  literary 
taste,  is  a  great  reader  and  has  written  some, 
both  of  prose  and  poetr}',  for  newspapers  and 
magazines,  and  his  collection  of  books  and  private 
library  is  the  best  in  the  county,  and  said  to  be 
one  of   the  best  in  his  section  of  the  State. 


'il?  EANDER  J.  CLARK  was  born  in  I'nion 
ll  0,  County,  111.,  July  8,  1843,  and  is  a  son  of 
J'—^  Volney  W.  Clark,  who  was  born  in  Allen 
County,  Ky.,  in  1809.  The  latter  was  a  son  of  a 
Virginia  farmer,  who  removed  to  Kentucky  at  an 
early  da}'  and  died  in  that  State  on  his  farm  at  an 
advanced  age.  He  left  three  .sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters. Volney  W.  Clark  married  Julia  Brown,  a 
native  of  Illinois  and  a  daughter  of  John  Brown. 
This  marriage  took  place  in  Union  Count}',  111., 
about  1840.  They  settled  on  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
acres  of  new  land,  near  Western  Saratoga,  upon 
which  they  lived  until  Mrs.  Clark  died  in  the  win- 
ter of  1851-52,  wlien  Leander  J.  was  but  eight 
j'ears  of  age.  She  left  four  children,  one  son  and 
three  daughters.  After  the  death  of  his  wife  Mr. 
Clark  sold  out  and  bought  one  hundred  acres  of 
improved  land,  upon  which  he  resided  until  his 
death.  After  the  death  of  his  second  wife  he  mar- 
ried Mrs.  Sarah  Reed,  «ec  White,  widow  of  William 
Reed.  By  his  first  wife  he  had  one  child,  Martha 
W.,  wife  of  Hezekiah  O'Neal,  a  farmer  of  Union 
County,  111.  By  his  second  wife  he  had  five  chil- 
dren, viz:  Leander  J.;  .Sarah,  who  became  Mrs.  M. 
Hennesy  and  died  in  1870,  leaving  two  children; 
Elizabeth,  who  married  John  Miles,  and  died  in 
1875  ,leaving  two  sons  and  one  daughter;  and  Julia 
Ann,  who  married  J.  Daniels  and  died  about  1873. 
By  the  third  wife  he  had  one  child,  Luc}'  Jane. 

Leander  J.  Clark  worked  out  by  the  month  on 
the  farm  at  86  per  month  in  the  summer  lime,  and 
in  the  winter  he  split  rails  at  fifty  cents  per  hun- 
dred, the  rails  being  ten  feet  long.     He  could  cut 


400 


POUI'RArr   AM)  BIOGRAPHICAL   KKN'I  K\V. 


his  own  timber  and  split  from  one  hundred  and 
fifty  to  two  hundred  rails  per  day.  Wliile  a  boj' 
in  years  he  was  in  reality  a  man  in  slrengtli.  At  one 
time  he  cut  the  timber  for  five  iuindred  rails  in 
one  day.  When  the  War  of  the  Hebellion  uame  on 
he.  in  February,  18G2,  enlisted  in  Company  K,  Six- 
tictli  Illinois  Regiment,  his  Captain  being  Evans. 
He  went  in  as  a  private  and  served  three  and  a-half 
years  in  the  ranks;  during  that  period  he  was  not 
absent  from  his  regiment  more  tlian  a  month  at  a 
time  and  tliat  only  twice,  once  when  suffering  from 
chronic  diarrhd-a,  and  once  from  pneumonia.  The 
rest  of  the  time  he  was  always  ready  for  duty.  He 
was  in  the  battles  of  Missionary  Ridge,  Buzzard 
Roost  Mountain,  Resaca,  Kingston,  Dalton,  and  the 
other  battles  in  the  Atlanta  compaign  and  at  Jones- 
borough,  Ga.,  serving  under  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman 
all  the  time,  including  while  on  the  march  to  sea. 
He  was  mustered  out  at  Springfield,  111.,  and  dis- 
charged August  ',),  1865,  wiien  he  returned  to  the 
old  farm  in  Union  County.  Here  he  was  married 
September  24,  186.'),  to  Miss  Margaret  A.  O'Neal, 
daughter  of  Patrick  and  Rhoda  (Smith)  O'Neal. 
Both  of  the  latter  were  from  Tennessee,  whence  they 
came  to  Illinois  in  1 840,  settling  in  Johnson  County. 
They  made  the  journey  in  their  own  covered  wagon 
drawn  by  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  were  at  the  time  in 
quite  humble  circumstances.  At  first  they  squatted 
on  Government  land,  but  later  bought  forty  acres 
from  the  Government,  upon  wliich  they  lived  un- 
til the  death  of  Mr.  O'Neal  in  18.51,  at  the  age  of 
forty-two.  He  left  his  widow  with  nine  children, 
seven  daughters  and  two  sons.  All  are  now  living 
but  one  son,  Vardeman.  The  mother  of  these  chil- 
dren died  February  3,  1893,  at  the  home  of  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  Clark.  She  was  in  her  eighty-second 
year,  and  had  been  an  invalid  for  five  3'ears. 

Mr.  and  Mrs  Clark  have  buried  three  children, 
two  infant  sons  and  a  daughter,  Ida,  who  died  at 
the  nge  of  sixteen  years,  in  1885.  She  was  a  very- 
promising  young  lady,  and  her  death  was  a  sad 
blow  to  her  parents.  Tiie  children  that  are  now 
living  are  as  follows:  Dora  B.,  wife  of  L.  Coke,  a 
farmer  living  near  Creal  Springs;  W.  AV.,  a  young 
man  of  twenty  at  home  on  tiie  farm;  Thomas  O., 
sixteen  years  old,  at  home  and  attending  school; 
Luella  J.,  a  bright  young  girl    of  thirteen,  Cora, 


aged  twelve,  and  Mary  ten,  all  three  in  school;  and 
V.  W.,  a  boy  of  seven.  L.  W.  Miles,  a  son  of  Mr. 
Clark's  sister,  a  young  man  of  twenty-two,  has 
lived  with  him  since  his  fifth  year,  when  iiis  father 
and  mother  died. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark  lived  in  Union  County  on 
rented  land  two  years  after  their  marriage,  and 
then  removed  to  Goreville  Township,  where  our 
subject  first  bought  forty  acres  of  land  on  section 
8.  Five  years  later  he  traded  this  for  a  farm  near 
Pulley's  Mill,  and  in  the  fall  of  1878  he  sold  the 
latter  place  and  moved  to  his  present  home,  buy- 
ing an  improved  farm  of  eighty  acres  for  $1,000, 
and  going  in  debt  $400.  He  has  since  added 
seventy-five  acres  to  the  first  eighty,  and  now  has 
one  hiHidred  and  fifty-five  acres  of  land,  all  under 
cultivation  bat  thirty-two  acres  of  timber,  and  all 
arable  except  twenty  acres  of  broken  timber  land. 
Mr.  Clark  has  done  a  vast  amount  of  hard  work  in 
his  time,  having  opened  up  three  farms,  cleared  off 
heavy  timber,  and  grubbed  the  greater  part  of 
more  than  sixtj*  acres.  He  has  run  to  no  specialty 
or  speculation,  but  has  made  his  present  fine  prop- 
erty' by  steady  and  hard  work  and  economy.  He 
erected  his  present  modern  one  and  a-half  story 
frame  cottage  in  1885. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  the  industrious  and 
thrifty  farmers  who  believe  in  doing  things  well, 
and  is  bringing  up  his  children  with  the  best 
school  advantages  and  surrounded  by  the  com- 
forts of  life,  of  which  for  the  most  part  he  was 
deprived  when  young.  He  has  always  voted 
the  Republican  ticket,  though  he  is  not  rabidly 
partisan.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Christadelphian  Society,  or  Second  Adventists. 
Both  are  good,  useful  and  highly  esteemed  members 
of  societv. 


AVID  A.  FINNY,  a  [uominent  farmer 
who  has   resided  on    his  present  farm  of 

(^J^'  three  hundred  and  ninety  acres,  on  sec- 
tion  20,  township    11,   range   6,  east,  for 

tlie  past  twent3--three  j'ears,  was  born  in  1833,  and 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


401 


removed  to  his  present  township  in  1856.  His 
fatlier,  Norman  Finny,  was  born  in  1805,  and  his 
grandfather,  Alexander  Finny,  a  native  of  Ire- 
land, was  born  about  1775,  and  was  a  (Juaiier.  He 
came  to  America  with  his  parents  and  brothers 
and  sisters  in  an  early  day,  and  married  Margaret 
Carter,  of  Mrginia,  in  which  State  they  were  mar- 
ried and  where  he  was  a  school  teacher  most  of 
his  long  life.  He  was  an  excellent  scholar  and 
one  of  the  best  of  teachers,  and  removed  from 
Virginia  to  Middle  Tennessee,  whence,  after  liv- 
ing there  many  years,  he  removed  to  Alabama 
and  settled  in  the  Cherokee  Indian  Nation,  where 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  died  about 
1849,  and  was  seventy-five  years  old.  His  wife 
bore  him  fifteen  children,  of  whom 'seven  were 
sons,  and  died  about  1847.  All  of  this  large  fam- 
ily have  died. 

Norman  Finny,  the  fathei'  of  our  subject,  was 
tiie  tiist-born,  and  like  his  father  was  a  fine  scholar. 
Old  .Judge  James  Finny,  brother  of  our  subject's 
grandfather,  who  resided  in  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try from  a  very  early  dale,  was  well  versed  in  the 
dead  languages,  and  died  about  1852.  The  mother 
of  David  A.  Finny  was  Miss  Jane  Floyd,  in  her 
maiden  days,  a  daughter  of  David  and  Margaret 
(Norman)  Floyd,  who  were  from  North  Caro- 
lina. The  parents  of  David  A.  Finnj'  were  mar- 
ried in  Tennessee  in  1825,  he  at  twenty  years  and 
she  at  seventeen  years  of  age.  They  were  the 
parents  of  eleven  children,  four  sons  and  seven 
daughters,  of  whom  two  sons  and  one  daughter 
died  quite  young,  and  the  rest  reached  mature 
years.  Only  two  are  now  living,  David  A.  and 
his  }-oungest  sister,  Mary,  widow  of  Marion  Will- 
iams. William  P.  Finny,  generallv  known  as 
Perry  Finny,  was  a  school  teacher,  and  left  the 
schoolroom  for  the  battlefield  at  the  age  of 
twenty',  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Regi- 
ment. At  fii-st  he  was  a  private,  but  he  was 
soon  made  Quartermaster  and  served  to  the  close 
of  the  war.  He  was  in  command  of  a  regi- 
ment at  Holly  S|)rings,  in  which  there  was  a 
stampede  of  Union  lroo[>s.  He  tried  to  rally  the 
troops  and  was  one  of  the  last  to  leave  the  ground, 
every  private  soldier  and  otlicer  having  left.  He 
returned  liume  with   n    fistula,   and    died  within  a 


year.  The  father  of  this  family  came  in  1859  from 
Tennessee  to  Illinois  by  public  conveyance. 

David  A.  Finny  came  here  in  1856  with  his 
wife  and  one  daughter,  making  the  entire  journey 
of  three  hundred  miles,  in  October  of  that  year,  in 
fourteen  da^'s,  with  one  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  cov- 
ered wagon.  He  was  married  September  15,  1853, 
to  Nanc3'  McGuire,  daughter  of  Andrew  J.  and 
Sarah  (Bcarden)  Jackson.  Mrs.  Finny  was  born 
in  1838  and  lost  her  mother  when  she  was  but 
eighteen  months  old,  being  reared  by  her  grand- 
mother Bearden.  Her  father  served  in  the  Mexi- 
can War,  and  died  in  Tennessee  some  fifteen  yeai-s 
ago.  She  had  one  half-brother,  William  Mctiuire. 
The  father  of  David  A.  Finn^-  died  at  Golconda, 
in  1884,  at  the  age  of  seven t3--nine  3'ears.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  a  school 
teacher  most  of  his  life.  He  was  a  high-minded, 
generous  man,  and  in  politics  was  a  Whig  until 
the  organization  of  the  Republican  parly,  when 
he  was  always  a  Republican  until  his  death. 

David  A.  Finny  and  his  wife  bought  their  first 
farm  in  Illinois  in  1857,  near  their  present  home. 
It  comprised  at  first  ninety'  acres,  of  which  ten 
were  cleared,  and  had  an  old  log  cabin  upon  it,  and 
for  the  whole  the^-  gave  ^200.  They  lived  there 
eleven  years  and  he  added  forty  acres,  and  had  forty 
acres  cleared  when  he  sold  out  for  ^  1 ,000.  He  then 
bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  a  part  of  his 
present  farm.  Since  then  he  has  added  to  it  from 
time  to  time,  until  now  he  has  three  hundred  and 
ninet3'  acres  of  good  farm  land.  The  house  which 
he  built  the  first  summer  is  a  double  log  house, 
with  a  threshing  floor,  or  large  open  hall  between 
the  two  portions,  and  the  rooms  are  each  16x16  feet 
in  size.  In  1877  he  erected  a  good  frame  barn. 
He  carries  on  general  farming,  makes  horses  and 
mules  his  leading  stock,  but  raises  Cotswold  shee|) 
and  Poland-China  hogs.  He  also  Uiuglit  school 
six  months  in  the  year  for  ten  years.  He  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  while  his  wife  is  a  Baptist.  They  liave 
had  twelve  children,  three  sons  and  nine  daugh- 
ters, of  whom  one  son  and  two  daughters  died  in 
infancy.  The  first-born,  Sarah,  wife  of  John  R. 
Morse,  died  July  3,  1886,  in  her  thirtieth  year, 
leaving  two  sons.     The  eight  living  ones  are  as 


402 


l-ORTKArr  AND    l!I  (H  1  I^AI'III  (  AL    KKVIKW. 


follows:  Mary,  wife  of  G.  D.  Lightfoot,  a  farmer 
of  I'ope  County,  and  who  has  five  sons  and 
two  dauj;:liters.  Orrilla,  wife  of  A.  R.  Mui'])hy,  a 
farmer  and  preacher  of  Edd3'ville  Precini't,  who 
has  three  sons  and  three  daughters;  BcrdeUa  A., 
wife  of  Samuel  ^[orse,  a  farmer  of  Eddy  ville  Town- 
ship, who  has  two  sons  and  four  daughters;  Cora, 
wife  of  Reese  Roberts,  of  Hamilton  County,  a  stock 
bu^'er,  who  has  one  son;  Alice,  wife  of  George  A. 
Roland,  a  farmer  of  Polk  Precinct,  who  has  three 
sons;  Hubert  N.,  a  school  teacher,  who  married 
Cordelia  J.  Duncan,  by  whom  he  has  two  daugh- 
tei's;  Clarence,  a  youth  of  seventeen  at  home  and 
in  school;  and  A.  Grace,  a  miss  fourteen  years 
old.  All  are  well  educated,  two  are  teachers,  and 
all  are  competent  to  teach. 


\T/  AMES  O.  MOORE,  who  has  resided  on  his 
I  present  farm,  which  is  located  in  Burnside 
^^5^  I,  Township,  Johnson  Count3%for  the  past  ten 
'(^f/  years,  was  born  in  Rutherford  County, 
Tenn.,  in  October,  1848.  He  is  a  son  of  Leroy  and 
Martha  (Gordon)  Moore,  both  natives  of  Tennes- 
see, and  the  former  a  farmer  by  occupation.  The 
father  of  Leroy  Moore  was  Isaac  Moore,  a  native  of 
North  Carolina,  who  also  followed  agricultural 
pursuits.  He  removed  to  Tennessee  with  his  fam- 
ily when  that  State  was  nothing  but  a  wilderness, 
and  settled  on  the  tablelands  of  the  Cumberland 
Mountains  on  a  new  farm,  upon  which  he  lived  the 
rest  of  his  life,  and  there  died.  He  left  six  sons 
and  two  daughters,  of  whom  Leroy  was  the  young- 
est son.  Isaac  Moore  died  at  about  eighty  years  of 
age.  his  wife  having  died  a  short  time  previously, 
at  nearly  the  same  age.  Leroy  was  a  farmer  of 
Tennessee;  his  wife  died  at  about  forty-two  years 
of  age,  leaving  a  family  of  ten  children,  of  whom 
James  was  the  youngest.  He  was  reared  by  a  step- 
mother, whose  name  was  Mary  Armstrong  in  her 
maidenhood;  she  liad  several  children,  but  only  one 
of  them  reached  maturity,  Francis.  The  father 
of  these  children  died  in  Tennessee  in   1864,  aged 


about  sixty  years,  and  his  widow  is  probably  still 
living  in  Texas.  He  was  at  one  time  well-to-do, 
bill  in  later  years  lost  much  of  his  property. 

James  O.  Moore  was  reared  at  home  until  he 
was  fifteen  yenvs  of  age,  but  had  limited  op- 
portunities for  securing  an  education,  these  being 
in  the  subscription  schools  of  his  day.  He  began 
life  for  himself  at  the  above-mentioned  age,  work- 
ing on  the  farm  by  the  month.  When  he  was  six- 
teen years  old, "in  August,  1863,  he  came  to  Illi- 
nois with  the  family  of  Jesse  Van,  who  settled 
near  New  Burnside.  He  lived  with  them  some 
four  months  and  then  went  to  Pope  County, 
there  vvorkiugfur  a  Mr.  Davis  at  $15  per  month. 
In  May,  1864,  he  enlisted  in  Company  K,  One 
Hundred  and  Thirty-sixth  Illinois  Infantry,  under 
Capt.  W.  R.  Floyd,  and  served  six  months  in  the 
ranks  and  was  mustered  out  in  November,  1864. 
He  was  sick  in  the  hospital  with  the  measles,  and 
when  he  returned  home  it  was  w^itli  health  greatly 
impaired. 

Mr.  Moore  returned  to  the  home  of  Robert 
Davis,  with  whom  he  lived  and  worked  until  the 
23d  of  September,  1866,  when  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Lutetia  Marshall,  daughter  of  Will- 
iam and  Rebecca  (Hern)  Marshall,  who  came,  it 
is  believed,  from  Alabama  to  southern  Illinois  in 
the  year  1832,  where  this  daughter  was  born. 
Mr.  Moore  began  on  a  rented  farm  in  the  north- 
east corner  of  Johnson  County  and  continued  to 
rent  for  fifteen  j'ears  with  but  few  removals.  He 
bought  his  first  farm  for  $1,800  in  1880.  It  lies 
near  the  village  of  Ozark,  and  contains  eighty 
acres  of  finely  improved  land,  on  which  they  are 
still  living. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moore  have  lost  one  son  and 
two  daughters:  Florence,  who  died  in  1881,  aged 
three  years;  Leroy,  who  died  in  1881,  aged  thirteen 
3'ears,  and  Martha,  who  died  in  September,  1883, 
aged  seven  years.  They  have  one  son  and  one 
daughter  living,  viz:  Thomas,  born  in  March,  1870, 
and  Amanda,  in  February,  1872,  both  of  whom  are 
living  at  home  on  the  farm  and  being  educated  in 
the  district  schools.  IMr.  ISIoore  has  served  the 
township  as  Commissioner  of  Highways,  as  School 
Trustee  and  as  Director  for  ra:iny  j^ears.  He  has 
always  voted  the  Re[)ublican  ticket,  and  is  a  mem- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


403 


her  of  tlie  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 
He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church. 
Mr.  Moore  has  been  in  frail  health  ever  since  he 
came  from  the  army  and  is  now  receiving  a  pen- 
sion ,is  a  reward  for  his  services.  He  carries  on 
general  farming  in  crops  and  stock,  although  lie  is 
practically  retired,  his  son  attending  to  the  farm. 
Considering  the  circumstances  of  iiis  life,  his  poor 
health,  etc.,  he  has  been  successful,  and  does  not 
regret  the  severe  trials  he  has  undergone. 


e^+^i 


'  OHN  X.  LEDBETTER,  a  real-estate  dealer 
of  Elizabethtown,  is  a  grandson  of  Wiley 
Led  better,  who  was  a  native  of  South 
^i~y  Carolina,  and  was  a  pioneer  Methodist 
preacher  in  most  of  the  Southern  States.  He  was 
a  strong,  vigorous  and  active  man,  a  typical  cir- 
cuit rider  of  the  early  da^'s,  and  experienced  all 
tiie  hardships,  trials  and  privations  of  a  life  such 
as  he  led,  preaching  in  the  wilderness,  in  log  cab- 
ins, and  with  but  little,  if  any,  compensation.  With 
this,  however,  he  was  satisfied,  as  it  was  one  of  the 
cardinal  doctrines  of  many  of  the  early  entliusiastic 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  tliat  the  good  they  could 
do  was  a  sutlicient  reward  for  their  labors.  Rev. 
Wilej'  Ledbetter  had  one  son,  Matthew,  an  only 
child,  who  was  born  in  Kentucity.  The  motiierof 
tills  child  died  when  he  was  but  two  j'ears  old,  so 
that  he  was  deprived  of  a  mother's  care  and  love, 
so  much  needed  in  the  tender  years  of  childhood, 
and  was  brougiit  up  by  his  grandmother  in  Ken- 
tucky. When  old  enougli,  lie  was  apprenticed  to 
a  blacksmith  by  tiie  name  of  Wolf,  with  wiiom  he 
learned  the  blacksmith's  trade.  From  lack  of  op- 
portunity' his  education  was  iiecessaril3'  limited. 
However,  as  he  grew  to  years  of  discretion  he  se- 
cured a  fair  practical  eriucation  by  observation 
of  the  wa^-s  of  men  and  by  such  reading  as  he 
could  find  time  to  pui-sue.  He  was  an  orator  by 
nature,  and  iiis  gift  of  speech  and  flow  of  language 
were  something  wonderful.  He  was  born  in  1800, 
and  began  life  on  his  own  account  the  same  j'ear 


that  Illinois  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  and  as 
he  was  a  strong  man  in  nian^-  wa3'S,  when  he  en- 
tered the  ministry  liis  natural  ability  was  recog- 
nized at  once.  B3'  his  own  persistent  application 
to  study  he  acquired  a  knowledge  of  medicine,  and 
was  a  practicing  physician  .as  well  as  minister,  and 
a  very  .nctive  m.an  in  the  da3-s  of  Henr}-  Cla^'.  He 
was  successful  in  whatever  he  undertook,  and  be- 
sides preaching  and  practicing  medicine  he  en- 
gaged in  general  merchandising  in  Providence, 
Ky.  During  his  lifetime  he  accumulated  a  large 
amount  of  property,  but  being  of  a  generous  dis- 
position he  saved  but  little  of  what  he  did  accumu- 
late.    He  was  a  slaveholder. 

In  1842  the  father  of  our  subject  removed  to 
Illinois  and  practiced  medicine  in  this  State  until 
1847.  In  the  spring  of  this  latter  year  he  removed 
to  Arkansas,  and  followed  the  same  profession 
there,  having  a  very  extensive  practice,  and  riding 
over  an  immense  amount  of  territory,  administer- 
ing to  the  physical  necessities  of  the  sick  and  dis- 
tressed, and  at  the  same  time  giving  them  spiritual 
consolation.  His  labors  in  this  field  of  usefulness 
did  not  last  long,  however,  for  in  1850  he  was 
himself  taken  sick  with  the  cholera,  and  never  re- 
covered, and  was  buried  in  Arkansas.  His  wife, 
who  had  like  a  true  woman  and  wife  participated  in 
his  joys  and  sorrows,  lived  until  March,  1868. 
Her  maiden  name  had  been  Rachel  Wood,  and 
she  was  a  daughter  of  William  Wood,  who  was  a 
Captain  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  To  the  mar- 
riage of  Matthew  Ledbetter  and  Rachel  Wood 
were  born  twelve  children:  J.ine,  who  became  the 
wife  of  John  C.Ramsey,  and  died  in  1863,  Mr. 
Ramsey-  being  now  also  deceased;  Wiley,  who  died 
in  Providence,  Ky.;  William,  now  living  at  Santa 
Barbara,  Cal.;  James  A.,  now  living  at  Cave  in 
Rock,  Hardin  County;  John  X.;  Xancy,  living  in 
northern  Illinois;  Rachel  and  Helen,  both  of  whom 
died  in  Arkansas;  George  W.,  who  enlisted  in 
Company  A.,  Twent^'-ninth  Illinois  Infantiy,  and 
whose  present  whereabouts  are  unknown ;  Matthew, 
who  died  in  Hardin  County  in  1850;  and  Marion 
and  an  infant,  both  of  whom  died  in  infancy. 

John  X.,  the  fifth  child  in  order  of  birth,  was 
born  April  26,  1830,  in  Caldwell  County,  K3'. 
When  a  mere  boy  his  father  was  engaged  in  mer- 


404 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


chandisiiig,  and  on  tliis  account  his  wdik  was 
then  light.  Ik'  allciicled  the  subscripliun  >uhuols 
of  the  time  and  secured  a  fair  education,  and  later 
in  life  increased  the  amount  of  his  knowledge,  and 
is  now  a  man  of  broad  views  and  wide  informa- 
tion. Thesehoolhousein  which  he  received  his  early 
training  was  of  the  typical  pioneer  style  of  archi- 
tecture, constructed  of  and  furnished  wholly  with 
logs,  with  a  large  open  fireplace  at  one  end.  Mr. 
Ledbetter  was  a  natural  mathematician,  and  .iny 
kind  of  calculation  in  figures  came  easy  to  him. 
When  he  started  out  in  life  for  himself  he  was 
without  money,  and  so  chopped  cord-wood  in  Ar- 
kansas and  hauled  it  to  the  river  with  a  yoke  of 
oxen  and  an  old-style  cart,  the  wheels  of  which 
were  made  from  logs  and  were  without  tires.  He 
also  ran  a  ferry  across  the  river,  and  worked  at 
these  two  occupations  until  the  death  of  his  father, 
when  with  his  mother  he  came  to  Illinois  and  en- 
gaged as  clerk  on  a  wharf-boat  at  Caseyville,  Un- 
ion County,  Ivy.,  remaining  there  eighteen  months. 
In  the  meantime  he  was  saving  his  small  earnings, 
and  when  he  had  accumulated  1300,  fearing  that 
he  might  lose  it,  he  gave  it  into  the  keeping  of  a 
man  named  Brown.  When  he  was  married  and 
assumed  the  duties  of  a  head  of  a  family  he  se- 
cured the  return  of  this  ii300,  and  with  it  began 
the  establishment  of  a  home. 

Our  subject  married  Rebecca  A.  M3'res,  a  native 
of  Indiana,  who  w.is  the  daughter  of  Joshua  and 
Mary  Myres,  pioneers  in  that  State,  whence  they 
removed  to  Hardin  Count}'.  This  marriage  oc- 
curred March  25,  1856,  after  which  he  bought 
forty  acres  of  land,  the  northeast  quarter  of  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  33,  township  1 1,  range 
10,  which  had  upon  it  a  little  house  and  a  small 
orchard,  but  the  land  was  poor.  When  he  moved 
to  this  land  to  make  a  start  in  life  he  had  a  bob- 
tailed  pony  and  a  few  i)igs.  After  working  hard 
for  six  years  he  could  sec  that  he  was  getting 
ahead  a  little,  and  had  saved  a  little  money  by 
practicing  the  most  rigid  economy.  Thinking  to 
use  this  money  to  better  advantage  than  he  had 
hitherto  been  able  to  use  his  money,  he  went  to 
Elizabethtown  and  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  which  he  soon  afterward  sold  at 
an  advance  over  the  puicliase  price  of  >^28().     This 


liaiisaction  opened  up  U>  liliii  :i  new  lield  for  mak- 
ing inoiiey,  and  since  that  time  he  has  been  en- 
gaged to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in  the  purchase 
and  sale  ol  real  estate.  He  lived  on  the  old  place 
for  eleven  years  before  moving  to  Elizabethtown, 
and  since  then,  in  addition  to  his  real-estate  busi- 
ness, has  also  been  engaged  in  general  merchandis- 
ing for  the  past  fifteen  or  sixteen  years.  He  has 
always  been  successful  in  liis  business,  and  has 
owned  at  one  time  or  another  a  great  many  differ- 
ent farms  and  tracts  of  land. 

By  his  marriage  to  Miss  Myres  our  subject  has 
had  eight  children:  Rachel,  who  lives  at  Evans- 
ville,  Ind.;  Wile}',  deceased;  Mollie,  wife  of  Rich- 
ard S.  Taylor,  State's  Attorney;  Mattie  wife  of 
John  Abbott,  editor,  of  Elizabethtown;  John  M., 
bookkeeper  at  Evansville,  Ind.;  and  three  others 
who  died  in  infanc}'.  Politically, Mr.  Ledbetter  was 
fornierl}-  a  Whig,  but  has  been  a  Republican  since  the 
organization  of  tliis  party,  and  has  for  many  years 
been  a  prominent  man  in  the  county.  For  twenty- 
four  years  he  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  for 
nine  years,  while  living  on  the  farm.  Deputy  Cir- 
cuit Clerk,  and  attended  to  a  large  amount  of 
business  in  connection  witli  the  office.  He  has 
served  repeatedly  on  the  School  Boards  of  the 
county,  and  is  a  memlier  of  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church. 


iU'^NJAMIN  O.  JONES,  is  one  of  the  promi- 
''  nent  and  influential  men  of  Massac  County, 
his  home  being  in  ^Metropolis.  In 
1890  he  was  elected  County  Judge,  which 
position  of  high  honor  and  responsibility  he  still 
holds.  He  is  a  man  of  literary  taste  and  high  in- 
tellectual acquirements,  his  talent  in  this  direction 
being  generally  recognized  among  those  who  know 
him.  He  has  been  a  resident  of  this  city  since 
March  22,  1864,  and  has  been  much  interested  in 
various  newspapers.  In  the  year  1869  he  became 
editor  of  the  Wesle>-tt  Sin?;  and  a  year  later  pur- 
chased   the    Promulf/alor,  the   name   of    which   he 


POUTUAIT  AND   BIOGKArillCAL    1{E\"IE\Y. 


405 


changed  to  the  Massac  Journal.  In  1871,  in  com- 
pan}-  with  A.  J.  Alden,  now  a  resident  of  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  he  founded  and  naine<l  the  Pulaski 
Patriot,  a  wcekl\-  paper  published  at  Mound  Cit}', 
111.  Three  years  later,  duriiii^  the  Farmers' Club 
excitement,  Jlr.  Jones  ran  and  was  elected  as  a  Re- 
publican to  the  Twenty-ninth  General  Assembly 
of  Illinois,  a  position  in  which  he  served  his  con- 
stituents acceptabl3'  and  to  their  full  satisfaction. 
Two  years  later  he  declined  a  rcnomiuation,  and 
having  studied  law  under  .ludge  1\.  W.  McCartney, 
obtaineda  license  to  practice  law  in  Seplcmber,1879. 
The  following  3-ear  he  was  elected  State's  Attornej', 
filling  the  otiice  for  one  term,  and  in  December, 
18)^7,  parted  with  his  interest  in  the  Massac  Jour- 
nal, Messrs.  llines  &  Starks  becoming  the  proprie- 
tors, the  latter  of  whom,  in  company  with  P.  H. 
Norris,  is  one  of  the  present  owners. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Graves 
County,  Ky.,  November  2:3,  184  1.  His  father.  Dr. 
Caleb  Jones,  was  a  native  of  Suffolk,  Isle  of  Wight 
County,  Va.,  and  his  mother,  who  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Sarah  Clapp,  was  a  native  of  Guilford 
Counts,  N.  C.  Our  subject  was  educated  under 
tiie  Kentucky  school  s^'stem,  where  to  go  to  school 
meant  severe  mental  work,  with  ten  hours  in 
the  schoolroom,  and  from  two  to  four  hours 
of  hard  study  was  required  each  night.  lie  first 
attended  a  school  at  Alabama,  ou  the  Trinity  River, 
IIou^ton  County,  Tex.,  during  the  winter  of  1850 
and  1851.  During  the  winter  of  1858-59,  he  en- 
gaged in  study  at  the  Mayfleld  Seminary,  near  his 
bu'th place,  where  he  pursued  the  studies  of  Latin, 
rhetoric  and  the  higher  mathematics.  This  insti- 
tution was  destroyed  by  fire  some  time  in  1859,  and 
after  leaving  its  friendly  walls  our  subject  contin- 
ued the  same  studies  under  the  tutorage  of  Prof. 
W.  H.  Watkins,  of  Booneville,  Ind.  The  rebellion 
coming  up  terminated  his  scholastic  course  in  18C1. 
Mr.  Jones  has  been  in  reality  an  earnest  student 
throughout  life  and  has,  in  the  opinion  of  his 
friends,  built  well  upon  the  secure  foundation 
which  he  laid  in  earl}'  life. 

In  18G  t,  Mr.  Jones  removed  to  Metropolis,  where 
he  has  since  made  his  home,  and  December  4  of 
that  year,  he  wedded  Miss  Mary  T.  Brown,  of 
Princeton,  Ky.     To  them  has  been   born  a   family 


of  seven  children,  three  of  whom  are  living.  Our 
subject  is  of  .i  social  disposition  and  is  an  olticial 
member  of  tiie  Coramandery,  Ciiapter  and  Blue 
Lodge  of  the  Ancient  Free  it  Accepted  Masons,  of 
the  Odd  Follows  and  Knights  of  Pythias.  In  man- 
ner he  IS  plain  and  unassuming,  and  is  one  who 
regards  no  man  for  his  external  appearance,  but  only 
for  his  intrinsic  worth.  It  is  his  intention  to  pass 
his  remaining  years  in  this  place,  which  has  been 
his  home  for  so  long,  among  the  warm  personal 
friends  whom  he  has  drawn  to  him  by  his  honor- 
able qualities  as  a  man.  IIis  highest  ambition  is 
that  he  may  live  so  that  after  his  decease  those 
who  knew  hiin  may  be  able  to  say  in  all  sincerity, 
"Here  lies  an  honest  man." 


^#^^i-^i"i^ii^^ 


4^$)II0MAS  B.  HUMPIIRKY,  a  blacksmith  at 
/r^\i  ^'"""^l  Hill,  Johnson  Count}',  was  born  in 


Callowaj-  Count}',  Ky.,  November  11,  1846- 
His  father,  Alfred  Humphrey,  was  born  in  Noith 
Carolina.  He  was  a  farmer  and  was  united  in 
marriage  in  North  Carolina  with  Miss  Nancy 
Pascal.  They  came  from  Kentucky  to  Union 
County  ill  the  fall  of  1854,  driving  through  by 
land  with  their  family  of  four  sons  and  three 
daughters  and  their  stock.  Thomas  B.  was  the 
youngest  of  the  seven.  Mr.  Humphrey  bought 
forty  acres  of  hand,  on  which  they  lived  less  than 
one  year  and  sold  out.  They  then  removed  to 
Johnson  County  in  1855,  and  entered  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  land  near  old  Reynolds- 
burgh,  in  Tunnel  Hill  Township.  After  living 
there  five  years  they  sold  out  and  removed  to 
Missouri,  living  in  Crawford  County  one  year, 
when  they  returned  to  Johnson  County  and 
bought  eighty  acres  at  Tunnel  Hill,  or  where  lliat 
place  now  is.  This  move  was  made  in  the  fall  of 
18G0,  and  there  tiiey  made  their  permanent  home, 
the  father  dying  there  April  26,  1873,  agedeigiily- 
six  years.  His  widow  died  witiiin  a  year  after- 
ward, aged  seventy-six.  They  buried  one  daugh- 
ter, Martha,  a  young  lady   of   sixteen.     Since   the 


106 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


death  of  the  pjirents  .lames  died  in  Trinity  County, 
Tex.,  in  1871  or  187'),  leaving  a  wife  and  family 
on  his  farm  in  that  .State.  Tlie  children  living 
areas  follows:  William  II..  of  Paris,  Tenn.;  Sid- 
ney D.,  a  farmer  in  Tunnel  Hill  Township;  Eliza- 
beth, widow  of  Alvali  Lawrence,  who  was  a  farmer 
in  this  vicinity;  Lucy,  wife  of  Alvnh  Ooiton,  a 
farmer  near  by;  and  Thoni.as  H. 

Our  subject  was  twenty-six  years  old  when  he 
married  ^Margaret  Ann  Colboth,  who  was  born  in 
Tunnel  Hill  Township  February  14,  1847,  whose 
parents  were  born  and  reared  in  this  county. 
Thomas  B.  Humphrey  and  his  wife  have  lived 
on  the  farm  ever  since  their  marriage.  March  9, 
1890,  he  purchased  a  half  interest  in  the  black- 
smith and  w.Tgon-making  business  of  .L  H.  Ilailey, 
and  the  firm  name  is  Miller  tV-  Humphrey.  Though 
our  subject  had  served  no  apprenticeship  .at  any 
trade,  yet  he  naturally  takes  to  mechanics,  and 
hence  his  success  at  his  present  business.  He  still 
owns  his  farm  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres 
one  mile  east  of  Tunnel  Hill.  He  and  his  wife 
have  buried  three  infant  children  and  have  eight 
living,  three  sons  and  five  daughters,  viz:  Rosa 
Ann,  a  young  lady  of  twenty;  Ida  .Jane,  Thomas, 
Edward,  Arthur,  Mclinda,  Julia  A.,  and  Adeline, 
four  years  old.  all  at  home  and  in  school  except 
the  baby.  The  children  are  conducting  the  farm, 
and  Mr.  Humphrey  gives  his  attention  to  his 
blacksraithing  and  wagon -making.  He  is  an  un- 
swerving Republiciin  and  Master  M.ason,  and  is 
also  Secretary  of  Hcynoldsburgh  Lodge  No.  419. 


^j^EORGE  A.  ADAMS,  who  has   lived  on  hi 


G 


'[  present  farm  of  two  hundred  and  twent}'. 

^^  eight  acres  in  (ioreville  Township,  .Johnson 
County,  for  the  past  forty-five  years,  was  born  in 
North  Carolina  on  the  River  Adkin,  January  9, 
1801.  Mis  father,  Moses  Adams,  who  w.as  born  in 
the  same  county,  Surry,  seven  miles  from  Rock- 
ford,  W!is   a    son    of    William  Adams,  who   came 


from  England,  and  whose  wife  was  a  Miss  Martin 
Ireland.  They  had  eight  children,  five  sons  and 
three  daughters,  the  father  of  fJeorge  A.  Adams 
being  either  the  second  or  third  child  in  order  of 
birth.  The  grandmother  of  our  subject  died  in 
old  age,  and  the  grandfather  lived  to  be  about 
seventy-rive  years  old.  Moses  Adams  married 
Elizabeth  Horn,  of  North  Carolina,  and  by  her  had 
eight  children,  four  sons  and  four  ilaughters.  the 
sons  being  John,  William.  Jonathan  and  George  A. 
Moses  Adams  and  his  wife  both  died  in  North 
Carolina  and  were  buried  at  the  (Quaker  meeting 
house,  where  had  been  buried  William  Adams  and 
his  wife.  ISIoses  died  some  fifteen  years  before  Lis 
wife,  who  at  her  death  was  very  nearly  a  hundred 
years  old.  Both  grandparents  and  parents  were 
well-to-do  and  well-informed  people,  and  George 
A.  had  excellent  educational  advantages  in  a  good 
select  school,  but  he  did  not  appreciate  and  im- 
prove them.  However,  he  learned  to  read  and  has 
been  a  great  student  of  the  Bible.  At  twenty-one 
years  of  age  he  left  home  and  began  farming  for 
himself,  and  was  married  in  his  twenty-second 
year  to  Miss  Lorey  Cannon.  In  1831,  he  and  his 
wife  removed  to  East  Tennessee  with  their  four 
children,  where  he  purchased  a  farm  of  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  .acres,  well  timbered  with  yellow 
pine.  He  sold  his  farm  and  removed  to  Illinois  in 
1849,  with  horses  a  portion  of  the  way  and  with 
oxen  the  rest.  They  were  four  weeks  on  the  way 
and  arrived  January  1,  1849,  in  Johnson  County, 
where  he  at  first  took  up  eighty  .acres  of  land,  and 
later  was  enabled  to  enter  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  more  of  Government  land.  His  wife  died  in 
March,  1887,  aged  nearly  eighty  years,  leaving 
her  husband  and  eleven  children,  six  sons  and  five 
daughters.  Columbus  N.  died  in  the  prime  of 
life  leaving  a  family,  and  since  the  mother's  death 
John,  a  farmer  of  Williamson  County,  died  Novem- 
ber 7,  1892,in  his  sixty-fifth  year,  leaving  a  family. 
Those  living  are  as  follows:  William  C,  a  farmer 
on  the  home  farm,  whose  wife  was  Melissa  Crawford, 
of  East  Tennessee,  where  they  were  married;  they 
have  nine  children  living;  Msiry  Ann,  wife  of 
Jesse  Stroud,  a  farmer  of  Tunnel  Hill  Township, 
who  has  five  children  living;  Elizabeth,  widow  of 
the  late  Harvey  C.  Craig,  who  has  no  children  liv- 


PORTRAIT   AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


407 


ing;  George  W.,  a  farmer  of  Tunnel  Hill  Town- 
sliip,  and  a  practicing  physician,  who  has  seven 
children;  Martha  C,  wife  of  Thomas  Hart,  who 
has  five  children;  James  M.,  a  farmer  of  Tunnel 
Hill  Township,  who  lias  a  wife  and  four  children; 
and  \Yilliam  F.,  who  has  a  wife  and  six  children. 
George  A.  Adams  was  reared  a  (Quaker,  but  is  not 
now  a  member  of  any  church. 

Politically,  our  subject  was  formerly  a  Demo- 
crat, but  is  now  a  Republican.  He  is  now  uearlj' 
ninety-three  years  of  age  and  is  a  wonder,  still 
looking  after  his  farm  and  working  in  the  field  every 
day  of  his  life.  His  onl^'  weakness  is  that  of 
deafness,  but  he  is  briglit  and  intelligent,  and  is  an 
entertaining  conversationalist  considering  the  op- 
portunities he  lias  had.  For  his  age  he  is  yet 
young,  and  has  good  prospects  of  reaching  his  one 
hundredth  year. 


^=^REEN  I?.  WILLIAMS,  a  prominent  farmer 
jlj  (— ^  of  Pope  County,  was  born  in  1844  and  is  a 
^»il  *0"  of  Josiali  Williams,  who  was  also  born, 
it  is  believed,  in  Pope  County,  Marcli  20,  1808, 
and  was  the  eldest  ciiild  of  John  Williams,  who  was 
probablj'  born  in  Virginia,  and  came  to  Illinois 
about  the  time  llie  Indians  were  removed  from 
Virginia,  tliat  is  al)out  1832.  He  wiis  a  farmer, 
and  died  on  his  farm  in  Pope  County  about  1858, 
having  been  the  fatiier  of  ten  children,  of  whom  but 
three  grew  to  manhood,  viz:  John,  a  farmer  and  a 
Methodist  minister,  residing  in  Pope  County,  who 
has  a  family;  James,  wlio  died  at  the  age  of  twent^'- 
two^'ears;  and  .losiah,  who  married  Hannah  Maiiala 
Hathaway. 

The  maternal  grandfatiicr  was  one  of  the  ver^- 
first  settlers  in  southern  Illinois,  and  died  at  an 
early  age  either  in  Pennsylvania  or  Virginia;  his 
widow  came  to  Illinois  about  1818.  His  nearest 
neighbor  at  first  was  some  ten  miles  away,  and  was 
a  stpiatter  on  laud  about  four  miles  northeast  of 
the  present  home  of   (!reen  H.  Williams.     He  first 


had  to  go  twenty  miles  to  mill,  but  soon  made  a 
hand  mill  in  which  to  grind  corn.  He  was  a  suc- 
cessful and  prosperous  man,  owning  at  the  time  of 
his  death  three  hundred  and  sixtj-  .acres  of  land. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  lived  in  Pope  County 
all  their  lives  except  for  two  years'  residence  in  Mis- 
souri, and  had  twelve  children,  si.x  sons  and  six 
daughters,  of  wliom  (Jreen  D.  was  the  seventh 
child  and  fourth  son  in  order  of  birth.  The  father 
of  these  children  died  December  1,  18G3,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-five  j'ears,  and  iiis  wife  passed  away 
July  3,  1874,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years.  They 
were  well  situated  in  life,  and  all  their  prop- 
erty was  unencumbered  by  debt.  Five  of  their 
children  are  living,  viz:  Parmelia,  wife  of  T.  G. 
Gibbs,  a  farmer  of  Kentuck}';  Ph(ebe,  wife  of  P.M. 
Gibbs,  of  Saline  County,  111.;  Green  B.;  Francis 
Marion,  a  farmer  of  Missouri;  and  Cynthia,  wife 
of  S.  L.  Hayes,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County.  (Jrcen 
B.  Williams  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  and  during 
his  boyhood  days  received  but  littleeducation;  but 
during  his  four  years'  service  in  the  Civil  War  he 
learned  to  read  and  write.  He  enlisted  when  he  was 
twenty  years  of  age,  in  November,  1861,  in  Com- 
pany K,  Fifty-sixtli  Illinois  Infantrj-,  under  com- 
mand of  Capt.  W.  R.  Floyd.  He  was  on  duty  dur- 
ing the  entire  term  of  his  service,  except  for  three 
months  in  tlie  hospital,  and  two  furloughs,  one  of 
ten  and  one  of  twenty  days.  He  w.as  wounded  in  the 
left  leg  at  Missionary'  Ridge  by  a  ball  and  was  off 
duty  a  few  da3'S  in  conse(iuence. 

Mr.  Williams  was  married  December  24,  1865, 
to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Gibbs,  of  Hardin  Count}',  111.;  the 
wedding  occurred  in  Pope  County,  where  tlie}-  soon 
afterward  settled  on  a  farm,  upon  which  they 
lived  until  removing  to  their  present  ninety-five 
acre  farm  on  section  27  in  1881.  They  have  buried 
two  infant  children,  and  have  the  following  living: 
Francis  M.,  a  farmer  near  l)y,  who  has  a  wife  and 
one  daughter;  William  T.,  a  3"0ung  man,  now  mar- 
ried; Martha  Catherine,  <vife  of  George  T.  Hancock, 
a  farmer  of  Pope  Count}',  who  li.as  two  sons;  David 
S.,  a  young  man  at  home;  George  W.,  fifteen  years 
old;  James  P.,  thirteen;  Anna  N'iola,  eleven;  Mark, 
ten;  Clara  Etta. eight;  Lorinda  Bell, six;  Isaac  New- 
ton, three,  and  Fann}'  M.,  one  3'ear  old.  Mr.  Will- 
iams is  a  Third  Degree  Odd  Fellow,  holding  mem- 


408 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


beisliip  witli  Lodge  No.  fil5,  at  Kddyvillc,  and  is 
H  Republican  in  politics.  He  has  served  as  School 
Director  nine  years,  and  in  his  religious  affairs  he 
is  a  member  of  the  United  IJaptist  Cliurcli,  in  the 
work  of  which  he  takes  an  active  p;ul,  and  is  a 
most  interesting  exhorler. 


'A.^IKS    K.    XKWTON     was    born    in    I'ope 
County,  111.,  October  25,  1845.     His  father 

tand  mother  were  Isaac  and  Pho'be  (Murphy) 
> '  Xewton,  the  former  of  Ithea  Count}',  Tenn., 
and  the  latter  of  the  same  Slate,  but  it  is  believed 
not  of  the  same  count}'.  The  grandfather  of  James 
K.  Newton  was  .Joseph  Newton,  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  the  great-grandfather  was  John  New- 
ton, who,  in  company  with  his  brother  Isaac,  came 
over  the  sea  from  England  about  the  year  1700. 
They  settled  in  North  Cai'olina,  and  were  wealthy- 
people,  owning  large  plantations,  on  which  great 
numbers  of  slaves  were  kept.  At  the  age  of  six- 
teen years  Joseph  Newton  went  into  the  American 
army  as  a  substitute  and  fought  in  the  battle  of 
Cowpens,  and  was  also  in  the  march  of  the  Bloody 
Trail.  He  was  in  the  Patriot  army  six  j'ears  and 
nine  months,  but  served  in  the  Revolutionary 
AVar  onlj'  three  months.  He  married  Ann  Stephens, 
of  North  Carolina,  and  they  reared  a  large  fam- 
il}'.  He  was  too  old  to  take  part  in  the  War  of 
1812,  and  died  in  either  Williamson  or  Johnson 
County,  111.,  in  1842,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of 
eight}'  years,  and  his  wife  survived  him  about 
five  years,  dying  in  Williamson  County  in  1847, 
at  the  age  of  ninety-three.  An  aunt  of  our  sub- 
ject, Sally  Deason,  was  in  the  ninetieth  year  of 
her  age  at  the  time  of  her  death. 

James  K.  Newton  w.as  reared  on  the  old  home- 
stead where  Green  15.  Newton  now  lives.  His  edu- 
cation, like  that  of  his  brother,  was  (juite  limited, 
but  he  has  always  been  a  great  reader,  and  remem- 
bers what  he  reads,  and  in  this  w.ay  lie  has  ac- 
quired a  considerable  amount  of  knowledge.     At 


the  age  of  twenty-three  he  took  up  the  irado  i<( 
gunsmith  without  instruction  froui  aiiyonu.  but 
though  he  has  worked  a  great  deal  at  his  trade, 
yet  he  has  been  for  the  most  part  of  his  life  a 
farmer.  He  was  married  first  at  the  age  of  twenty 
years  to  Miss  Melissa  C.  AUmond,  of  Illinois.  She 
bore  him  one  son,  William  N.,  now  a  fine  work- 
man as  a  silversmith  at  Vienna,  111.,  who  has  a 
wife  and  one  son.  Mr.  Newton  was  bereft  of  his 
companion  shortly  after  marriage,  and  he  was 
united  to  Miss  Juliette  Fulkerson,  of  Pope  County, 
a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Fulkerson,  who 
bore  him  two  sons,  Thomas  J.,  who  at  this  writing 
(1893)  is  twelve  years  of  age,  and  Miles  G.,  ten 
years  old.  Mrs.  Newton  died  May  25,  1883,  since 
which  time  our  subject  has  been  a  widower,  and 
has  kept  his  little  family  all  together.  Mr.  New- 
ton is  not  a  member  of  any  church,  and  is  entirely 
free  from  church  creeds.  Neither  is  he  a  member 
of  any  society,  and  he  is  a  lover  to  the  fullest  de- 
gree of  intellectual  and  religious  liberty.  He  votes 
the  Democratic  ticket,  and  for  a  livelihood  carries 
on  farming  in  a  small  way,  and  is  a  man  of  hon- 
esty, who  has  the  respect  of  the  entire  community.' 


^^>-^^<-^=^- 


'\Tj  AMES  W.  HEATON,  Ju.,  a  resident  of  New 
Burnside,  Johnson  County,  was  born  in 
^^  I  Graves  County,  Ky.,  in  1862.  His  fa- 
^^f/  ther,  James  W.  Heaton,  Sr..  and  his  mother, 
known  as  Lorinda  J.  Lindsay  in  her  maiden  days, 
were  both  natives  of  Henry  County,  Ky.  They 
resided  in  Kentucky  some  three  years  after  tlieir 
marriage  and  came  to  Illinois  in  the  fall  of  1804, 
when  James  W.,  Jr.,  was  two  years  old.  James  W. 
Heaton,  Jr.,  was  reared  on  the  farm  and  was  well 
educated  in  the  public  schools  until  he  was  twenty 
years  old,  and  then  attended  Ewing  College,  in 
Franklin  County,  111.,  graduating  from  the  com- 
mercial department.  He  remained  at  home  until 
he  was  twenty-four  years  old,  when  he  married, 
April  28,  1886,  Miss  Ella  M.  AVhitnell,  daughter  of 
David  F.  and  Parmelia  (Caldwell)  Whitnell. 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOCiRAWIlCAL    REXIKAV. 


409 


Mr.  and  Mre.  Heaton  began  married  life  at  their 
ju'esent  home  on  the  little  sevenl3'-acre  farm  one 
and  a-half  miles  from  New  Burnsicle,  to  the  north. 
One  infant  daughter,  Jessie  L.,  has  been  carried  to 
her  final  rest,  and  a  son,  Lindorf,  was  born  No- 
vember 2,  1888.  Mr.  Heaton  has  been  engaged  in 
farming  and  stock-raising  all  his  life,  making  a 
specialty  of  hogs,  of  which  he  breeds  the  Chester 
Whites,  and  he  has  some  tine  improved  Ohio  stock. 
These  he  sells  for  breeding  purposes,  and  of  this 
and  the  breeding  of  full-blooded  Jersey  cattle  he  has 
made  a  great  success.  He  also  owns  a  fine  farm  of 
one  hundred  acres  near  Parker  City,  which  ho  rents, 
and  is  in  company  with  his  brother,  J.  C.  H.  Hea- 
ton, in  the  nursery  and  fruit-growing  business. 

Mr.  Heaton  is  a  Prohibitionist  in  politics,  hav- 
ing become  interested  in  the  primaries  of  the  new 
part3'  in  1882,  and  he  went  into  the  movement  to 
sta3'.  He  is  one  of  the  few  stanch  members  of  that 
j)artv  in  this  part  of  the  country.  Mi's.  Heaton  is 
an  accomplished  lady,  and  both  she  and  her  hus- 
band are  members  of  the  Haptist  Church,  active  in 
the  work  and  strong  in  the  faith.  Our  subject  iS' 
a  man  of  resouices,  has  a  well-poised  intellect,  is 
quick  to  think  and  prompt  to  act,  and  is  indepen- 
dent in  all  tliinjis. 


^^ 


•?-#^#^-?--"^ 


^j<^Il.S()N  SLACK.  The  career  of  this  gen tle- 
Itl  g— ;  man  has  been  one  of  honor  and  profit  to 
^^^ijj  himself  and  of  great  benefit  to  the  commu- 
nity in  which  he  resides,  for  he  lias  not  only  been 
energetic,  but  also  public-spirited  and  enterprising. 
His  father,  William  Slack,  was  a  Kentuckian  by 
birih,  his  natal  year  being  1795,  and  his  youth 
was  spent  on  a  farm,  his  education  being  limited 
to  the  common  schools,  which  were  of  a  very 
primitive  description  during  the  period  of  his 
j'outh.  At  the  age  of  eigtiteen  years  he  enlisted 
as  a  private  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  was 
an  active  participant  in  the  battle  of  New  Orleans, 
when  Packenham  was  put  to  llight  by  the  strategy 
of  Gen.  Jackson.     After  the  termination  of  that 


war  he  returned  to  Ins  home,  where  he  learned  the 
trade  of  a  carpenter,  but  after  his  removal  to  Illi- 
nois in  1815,  he  turned  his  attention  to  farming, 
becoming  the  owner  of  a  large  tract  of  timber 
land,  on  which  no  improvement  had  been  made. 
He  at  once  erected  thereon  a  log  cabin,  and  with 
his  usual  energy  began  the  work  of  cultivation 
and  clearing,  and  in  due  course  of  time  he  was  the 
owner  of  a  highly  productive  and  well-tilled 
famn,  on  which  some  very  valuable  improvements 
had  been  ninde  in  the  waj' of  buildings  and  fences. 
He  is  a  man  of  genuine  merit,  has  always  been  of 
a  strong  and  self-reliant  character,  and  his  success 
was,  without  doubt,  owing  to  the  attention  he  al- 
waj-s  paid  to  each  minor  detail  of  his  calling. 
About  1818  he  married  a  Virginia  lady.  Miss 
Mary  Finney,  to  which  union  thirteen  children 
were  born:  John,  deceased;  Salinda,  wife  of  J. 
M.Benson;  Mariah  and  .Sarah,  deceased;  Gilson, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  William,  deceased; 
James;  Mary;  Louisa,  deceased;  Melissa,  widow  of 
James  Taylor;  Emily  and  Norman  J.,  deceased; 
and  ^laigaret,  widow  of  George  Elkins. 

Gilson  Slack  was  born  September  29,  1831,  in 
Johnson  County,  HI.,  and  there  on  the  farm  of 
which  his  father  was  the  owner  his  youthful  days 
were  spent  and  were  characterized  by  hard  work. 
He  was  earl}-  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  farm- 
ing, and  being  a  bright  and  energetic  3'outh  he 
soon  mastered  its  details.  The  summer  months 
were  usuall}'  S]>ent  in  attending  the  schools  of  the 
rural  district,  which  were  conducted  in  the  primi- 
tive log  building  of  pioneer  days,  with  which 
our  ancestors  were  familiar.  In  1819,  as  a  means  of 
obtaining  his  own  living,  lie  began  the  cultivation 
of  forty  acres  of  land,  which  had  been  given  him 
by  his  father,  but  after  giving  his  lime  and 
strength  to  this  business  for  three  years  he  aban- 
doned it  to  remove  to  Vienna,  111.,  where  he  fol- 
lowed the  calling  of  a  merchant,  and  continued 
to  make  his  home  until  July  IS,  1861.  Knowing 
well  that  his  country  needed  his  services,  he  un- 
hesitatingly offered  his  life  for  the  preservation 
of  the  land  of  his  birth,  and  was  mustered  into 
Company  H,  First  Illinois  Infantry,  and  after  one 
year's  active  service  was  honorably  discharged  at 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  after   which  he  raised  a  company 


410 


PORTRAI  r  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


and  retiirneil  to  the  fmiit.  lie  was  elected  Major 
of  the  One  Hundred  and  'rwonti(!tli  Illinois  In- 
fantry, and  served  to  the  close  of  the  war.  He  at 
once  returned  to  N'ienna,  and  after  conducting  a 
mercantile  establishment  there  for  one  year  he 
gave  up  that  business  to  engage  in  carpentering, 
and  to  this  occupation  his  attention  has  since  been 
devoted,  and  numerous  are  the  substantial  and 
handsome  buildings  which  stand  as  monuments  to 
his  skill  througliout  this  portion  of  the  Prairie 
State. 

Since  1887  he  has  been  a  resident  of  Metropolis. 
Here  he  purchased  a  few  acres  of  land,  erected  a 
handsome  residence, and  in  it  he  and  his  family  now 
reside.  He  is  at  present  eng.aged  in  the  bee  business. 
His  marriage  was  celebrated  on  the  28th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1854,  with  Miss  Mary  E.  Smith,  a  daugh- 
ter of  B.  S.  Smith,  of  Tennessee,  and  they  have  a 
famdy  of  three  children:  Henry  F.,  a  resident  of 
Metropolis;  AVilliara  B.,  a  citizen  of  Lexington, 
Ky.;  and  Oscar  G.,  who  is  an  employe  on  a  rail- 
road. Mr.  Slack  belongs  to  the  honorable  orders 
of  the  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons  and  the 
Odd  Fellows,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  communi- 
cants in  the  Baptist  Church,  with  which  they  have 
long  been  closely  identified,  .and  to  which  the3- 
are  generous  contributors. 


J****^ 


•S-'J-'i'^'t; 


"•i"!"5"5-'^^"i"S"i-*F 


JOHN  CARTER,  who  owns  one  of  the  best- 
managed  farms  in  all  Vienna  Township, 
located  on  section  12,  is  a  farmer  and  stoek- 
.^^^^  raiser  of  marked  intelligence,  who  stands 
well  at  the  front  among  the  men  of  his  class  in 
Johnson  Count}',  and  has  done  good  service  in  the 
public  life  of  the  county.  He  is  a  native  of  John- 
son County,  III.,  his  father  being  Vincent  Carter, 
who  w.as  born  in  North  Carolina  in  1803,  and  at 
the  age  of  three  j'ears  was  taken  by  his  parents  to 
Smith  County,  Tenn.,  where  he  w.as  brought  upon 
a  farm,  with  but  little  chance  to  obtain  an  educa- 
tion. He  became  a  farmer  and  a  butcher,  and 
worked   hard  lo  get  along  in  life.     He  remained 


in  Sinitli  Cdunlv  until  lie  was  of  age,  ;iiid  then 
took  up  his  residence  in  (iiles  County,  the  same 
.State.  In  18.50  he  emigrated  to  this  Stale  with  his 
family,  journeying  hither  with  team  and  wagon, 
and  he  cast  in  his  fortunes  with  the  pioneer  set- 
tlers of  Vienna  Township.  He  first  bought  forty 
acres  of  land  on  section  2,  which  was  partly  im- 
proved, paying  $400  for  it,  and  in  the  month  of 
November,  1850,  he  moved  into  the  log  cabin  that 
stood  thereon.  He  lived  upon  the  place  for  nearly 
three  years,  actively  engaged  in  its  further  im- 
provement, and  then,  selling  that  place,  took  pos- 
session of  a  tract  of  wild  land  on  Dutchman  Creek, 
erected  a  log  house  for  a  dwelling,  and  engaged  in 
clearing  and  tilling  the  soil  there  a  number  of 
years.  He  finally  sold  it  and  took  up  his  residence 
in  Vienna.  His  last  daj's  were  spent  in  the  home 
of  our  subject,  where  he  died  in  1873.  The  mother 
died  in  1857,  and  both  were  laid  to  rest  in  John- 
son Cemetery. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  twice  married. 
His  first  marriage,  which  took  place  in  Alabama, 
was  to  Miss  Sarah  Patterson,  who  died  in  Smith 
Count\-,  Tenn.,  leaving  three  children:  Dorcas,  who 
died  in  1857,  in  Missouri;  Neal  S.,  who  died  in 
Vienna  Township,  and  is  buried  in  Johnson  Ceme- 
terj';  and  William  G.,  who  died  in  Union  County. 
The  father's  second  marriage  was  to  Elizabeth 
Rose,  a  native  of  Giles  County,  Tenn.,  and  they 
had  eleven  children:  .Tohn,  the  eldest  born ;  F.  M., 
who  is  at  work  in  the  asylum  at  Anna;  Mary,  wife 
of  Heni-y  F.  Bridges,  of  Vienna;  Rebecca  A.,  who 
died  in  Union  County;  Luc}'  B.,  wife  of  James 
Card,  of  Vienna;  Saba  W.,  wife  A.  D.  Williams,  of 
Bloomfield  Township;  James  H.,  a  resident  of  Vi- 
enna, who  at  the  age  of  seventeen  went  into  the 
army  at  the  time  of  the  war;  Tennessee  E.,  wife 
of  Hugh  Wallace,  a  blacksmith  at  Vienna;  Sarah, 
who  married  William  H.  Adams,  of  McLean 
County,  Mo.,  and  died  in  that  State;  Virginia, 
who  died  at  Vienna,  at  the  age  of  fourteen;  and 
Eliza,  who  died  and  was  buried  in  Vienna. 

The  subject  of  this  life  record  w.as  brought  up 
on  a  farm,  and  early  became  inured  to  hard  work. 
He  went  to  school  whenever  he  could,  but  his  edu- 
cational advantages  were  exceedingly  limited,  and 
he  has  gained  more  knowledge  by  experience,  in- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  KKVJKW. 


411 


telligeiit  observation  and  reading  than  his  earl}' 
•schooling  gave  him.  At  tiie  age  of  twenty-one  he 
left  home  to  begin  life  independenlh, starting  out 
without  money,  but  brains,  muscle  and  determin- 
ation were  sufficient  capital.  He  cultivated  land 
on  shares  the  lirst  year,  the  owner  furnishing  the 
wherewithal,  and  was  fortunate  in  reaping  a  line 
harvest,  of  which  half  belonged  to  him.  Corn  was- 
but  fifteen  cents  a  bushel,  but  Mr.  Carter  made 
some  money,  and  in  the  fall  of  1852  Mr.  Price  en- 
gaged liim  to  work  in  his  mill  at  ^11  a  month  for 
eighteen  months,  and  he  prudeutU"  saved  his  earn- 
ings. He  then  went  to  Vienna  to  serve  an 
apprenticeship  with  Henry  T.  Briggs,  a  black- 
smith. He  remained  with  him  until  Juli',  1855, 
but  did  not  find  the  trade  as  profitable  under 
the  bargain  that  he  made  with  Mr.  Briggs  as  he 
had  luiped.and  in  the  month  mentioned,  he  aban- 
doned it  to  turn  his  attention  to  farming,  bu3-- 
ing  sixty  acres  of  the  farm  which  he  still  owns,  and 
which  at  that  time  was  but  very  little  improved. 
He  has  added  forty  acres  by  subsequent  purchase, 
and  by  persistent  and  skillful  labor  has  made  of  it 
a  highly-  i)roductive  and  well-equipped  farm,  on 
which  he  raises  a  good  grade  of  stock,  and  his  care- 
fully tilled  fields  j-ield  large  crops  of  grain  and 
other  product*  common  to  the  soil  of  this  region. 
Mr.  Carter  was  first  married  October  24,  1854,  to 
Miss  Martha  Neathery,  a  native  of  Tennessee.  She 
died  December  28,  1873,  and  was  laid  at  rest  in 
Johnson  Cemetery.  By  that  union  five  children 
were  born:  William  H.,  a  farmer  in  Hloomfield 
Township;  John  D.,  who  died  at  home;  JIary  E., 
living  at  home  with  her  parents;  Robert  F.,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  nineteen  months;  and  Charles 
E.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen  months.  Mr. 
Carter's  marriage  with  Jlis.s  Nancy  Jane  Dunn,  his 
present  wife,  occurred  April  12,  1874.  She  was 
born  m  Robinson  County,  Tenu..  and  is  the  eldest 
child  of  Henry  Dunn,  who  came  from  that  State  to 
this  when  she  was  young,  and  was  an  early  settler 
of  this  region. 

Our  subject  possesses  a  clear,  well-balanced  mind 
and  a  keen  insight  into  the  affairs  of  life,  which 
make  him  a  valuable  citizen  and  most  desirable 
material  for  an  ollicc-holder.  He  is  warmly  inter- 
ested in  all  that  concerns  his  township,  especially 


in  educational  matters,  and  his  influence  in  the 
twenty  years  that  he  has  been  School  Director  has 
always  been  exerted  to  have  the  best  possible 
schools.  In  1872  and  1873  he  held  the  office  of 
Count}'  Commissioner,  discharging  the  duties  thus 
incumbent  upon  him  with  characteristic  fidelit}', 
and  so  as  to  enhance  the  welfare  of  the  count}'. 


!i^^ 


AMUEL  F.  HART,  M.  D.,  was  born  in  Bed- 
ford County,  Tenn.,  in  1847,  and  now  makes 
his  home  in  Eddyville,  Pope  Count}-.  His 
father,  Martin  M.  Hart,  w.as  born  in  the 
same  county,  about  1820,  and  was  a  son  of  Henry 
Hart,  of  the  same  place.  Henry  Hart  was  a  well- 
to-do  farmer  for  that  period,  and  married  Nancy 
Rainy,  of  South  Carolina,  who  was  born  M.iy  12, 
1780,  the  day  the  British  left  Charleston.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hart  reared  all  their  fourteen  children, 
seven  sons  and  seven  daughters,  Martin  M.  being 
next  to  the  youngest  member  of  the  family,  and 
the  sixth  son.  All  these  children,  as  well  as  their 
parents,  have  died,  the  father  dying  at  the  age  of 
sixty-five,  and  the  mother  at  the  age  of  ninety 
years,  at  the  home  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  George 
W.  Gossage.  She  lived  to  see  her  youngest  son 
twice  married,  and  was  a  midwife  for  many  years, 
being  present  at  some  two  hundred  and  twenty 
births.  She  and  her  husband  were  well  informed, 
and  were  devoted  to  the  church  to  which  they  be- 
longed. The  law  of  heredity  appears  to  show 
strongly  in  the  case  of  her  children,  for  there  are 
three  doctors  in  the  family  and  one  cousin  is  a 
physician. 

Martin  M.  Hart,  father  of  our  subject,  married 
Mary  Jlorris,  of  Tennessee,  and  resided  in  that 
State  on  his  own  farm  some  years,  after  which 
they  removed  to  Pope  County,  in  1854,  the  year 
of  the  great  drouth.  They  made  the  journey  by 
land,  bringing  with  tliom  their  three  children,  and 
settled  on  a  farm  of  eighty  acres  with  limited  im- 
provements near  Hartsville.  Here  the  subject  was 
reared  on  the  farm  from  a  child  of  six  years  of  age. 


412 


PORTRAIT  AM)  lilOGRAl'lIICAl.  KKVIKW. 


and  was  accustomed  to  haid  work,  such  as  plowing 
among  the  stones  and  stumps,  beginning  at  eight 
3'ears  v{  age.  lie  grew  up  healthy  and  strong,  and 
by  liie  lime  he  was  sixteen  years  old  had  received 
but  thirty  days  of  schooling,  liis  teacher  being 
J.  C.  D.  C'arr,  now  a  physician  of  Gallatin  County. 
He  remained  at  liome  until  his  twentieth  year,  and 
then  began  as  a  traveling  salesman  in  the  i)atcnt 
medicine  business.  He  remained  thus  engaged 
some  five  years,  traveling  in  Illinois  and  Missouri, 
a  part  of  the  time  on  foot,  and  a  part  on  horse- 
back. Later  on  he  traveled  a  portion  of  the  time 
with  a  team,  and  received  from  *2.')  to  ^40  per 
month. 

Our  subject  was  married  at  the  age  of  twent}'- 
seven  September  23,  1875,  to  Miss  Martha  A.  Ran- 
dolph, who  was  born  in  Illinois  June  7,  1855,  to 
R.  M.  and  Dorindia  (Shurlock)  Randolph.  The 
parents  of  Mrs.  Hart  came  from  Tennessee  to  Illi- 
nois in  1846.  Dr.  Hart  and  his  wife  began  domes- 
tic life  on  his  father's  old  farm  and  farmed  there 
some  six  years.  Thej'  then  settled  on  a  farm  of 
their  own  of  one  hundred  and  twenty'  acres  a  few 
miles  west,  upon  which  they  lived  some  two  years, 
when  they  sold  out  and  moved  to  Eddyville,  in 
November,  1882.  They  at  first  bought  a  small 
house  and  lot,  and  later  bought  a  house  and  lot 
where  his  otHce  now  is.  In  1887  he  bought  his 
present  home,  which  comprises  fifty-one  acres  of 
land  and  a  good  two-story  frame  house,  for  which 
he  paid  $1,000.  The  Doctor  has  obtained  much 
of  Ills  education  by  his  own  lamp  and  fireside,  his 
wife  being  his  instructor,  she  having  been  well 
educated  in  her  youth. 

The  Doctor  had  one  term  of  schooling  in  a 
select  school  at  Eddyville  after  his  marriage,  and 
then  took  medical  lectures  at  Keokuk,  Iowa,  re- 
ceiving his  diploma  from  PjVansville,  Ind.,  after 
which  he  first  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine 
in  Eddyville,  and  has  been  practicing  here  ever 
since,  except  one  year  in  Columbus,  Pope  County. 
He  has  lost  one  infant  daughter,  and  a  daughter. 
Bertha,  aged  three  and  a-half  years,  and  has  seven 
children  living,  viz:  Ida  L.,  a  young  lady  of  sev- 
enteen at  home;  Olive  M.,  fifteen;  James  O.,  four- 
teen; IMilton  J.,  twelve;  Zilla  Ada,  nine;  Eunice, 
three;  and  Edna  Beatrice,  one  year  old.     Dr.  Hart 


has  been  Justice  of  the  Peace  two  years,  and  is  a 
third  degree  Odd  Fellow,  and  a  stanch  Democrat. 
He  has  been  a  Democrat  for  many  years,  and 
helped  elect  Grover  Cleveland  in  1892.  Tiie  chil- 
dren are  being  well  educated,  and  the  eldest 
daughter,  though  possessing  musical  talent  to  an 
unusual  degree,  yet  aspires  to  the  medical  profes- 
sion. The  Doctor  has  a  large  and  profitable  prac- 
tice in  both  medicine  and  surgery,  and  has  been 
very  successful. 


e^+^i 


'^T'OIIN  A.  JONES  was  born  in  Johnson 
County  February  9,  1847,  and  is  now  a 
resident  of  Cache  Township.  He  is  a  son 
of  Absalom  and  Catherine  (Wilhelm)  Jones, 
both  of  whom  were  born  in  North  Carolina. 
The  former  came  to  Illinois  at  an  early  day  and 
took  up  Government  laud,  upon  which  he  contin- 
ued to  reside  until  his  death.  John  A.  Jones  was 
born  shortly  after  his  father's  death,  and  as  his 
mother  married  again,  he  remained  at  home  until 
he  was  thirteen  \'ears  of  age.  He  then  started  out 
in  the  world  for  himself,  first  going  to  Kentucky, 
and  working  there  about  four  years,  when  he  re- 
turned to  his  native  State  and  worked  on  a  farm 
one  year.  He  then  worked  land  on  shares  for 
several  seasons,  and  finally,  at  the  age  of  twent3'- 
five,  had  saved  up  money  enough  to  purchase  a 
farm  in  Johnson  County.  This  farm  was  located 
on  section  17,  Cache  Township,  and  was  his  home 
for  some  years. 

In  1883  Mr.  Jones  sold  that  place  and  bougiit 
the  farm  where  he  now  lesides.  This  farm  is  also 
on  section  17,  Cache  Township.  He  has  now  three 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  good  land,  and  has 
upon  this  farm  a  comfortable  house  and  other 
valuable  improvements.  He  has  always  been  a 
hard-working  and  industrious  man,  and  by  his 
good  judgment  and  economy  has  acquired  his 
present  handsome  property,  and  is  classed  among 
the  most  enterprising  and  successful  farmers  of 
Johnson  County.     November  3,  1872,  he  mariied 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


413 


Nancy  E.  Dunsworth,  who  was  born  in  Johnson 
County,  and  died  in  1888,  leaving  tliree  children: 
Sarah  J.,  William  Joseph  and  Mary  E.  Mr.  Jones 
was  again  married,  choosing  as  his  wife  Ruth 
Wright,  of  Johnson  County.  In  their  religious 
connections  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  are  identified  with 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Politically  he  is 
a  stanch  Republican,  and  alwa3-s  votes  the  ticket 
of  the  i):irty  of  his  choice. 


^I,  AJIES  D.  STORY.  During  the  many  years 
that  this  worth}-  tiller  of  the  soil  has  been  a 
^^.  ,  resident  of  M.ass.ac  County,  111.,  he  has  been 
i^f'  progressive  and  intelligent  and  his  course 
has  been  marked  by  a  reasonable  degree  of  pros- 
perity, and  by  usefulness  and  credit  to  the  section 
in  which  he  lives.  His  father,  John  Story,  was  a 
native  of  the  Pine  Tree  State  and  was  possessed  in 
the  usual  degree  of  thrift,  pusii  and  determination 
of  the  native  New  Englander,  coupled  with  un- 
doubted integrity  and  a  strong  sense  of  rigiit  and 
wrong.  When  in  the  full  vigor  of  earl}*  manhood 
he  moved  to  the  State  of  Oliio,  and  becoming  well 
known  as  an  expert  surveyor  he  was  ciiosen  as 
one  of  the  men  to  assist  in  the  arduous  duties  of 
surveying  the  State,  and  he  performed  his  duties  in 
an  exceptionallv  creditable  and  capable  manner. 
He  chose  .is  his  companion  through  life  Miss  Mar- 
iah  I'izer,  who  came  of  Pennsylvania  stock  and 
was  a  (ierman  V)y  descent,  and  to  their  union  a 
family  of  three  children  was  given,  two  of  whom 
grew  to  maturity  and  became  a  credit  to  their  par- 
ents. They  were  James  D.,  whose  name  heads 
this  memoir;  and  Marilla,  wife  of  W.  D.  Post,  of 
Nebraska.     Eliza,  the  second  child,  is  deceased. 

.James  D.  Story  is  a  product  of  the  Buckeye 
.Stale,  his  birtii  occurring  December  10,  1842,  and 
owing  to  the  fact  that  his  parents  were  called  from 
life  when  he  was  a  small  lad,  he  was  at  an  early 
age  compelled  to  begin  tlie  struggle  for  the  bare 
necessaries  of  life.  Fortunately  he  found  employ- 
ment on  the  farm   of  an  uncle,  with  whom  he  re- 


mained until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  At 
that  period  of  his  life  he  went  to  Gallatin,  Ohio, 
and  did  the  numerous  duties  required  of  a  boy 
around  a  hotel  for  one  3'ear.  When  a  stripling  of 
fifteen  years  the  West  Lad  great  attractions  for 
him,  and  he  according!}'  turned  his  face  toward 
the  setting  sun,  and  in  a  short  time  he  found  him- 
self in  Nebraska  and  in  the  employ  of  the  well- 
known  freighters,  Russell  it  AVadell.  He  assisted 
in  guarding  the  numerous  wagon  trains  they  sent 
across  the  plains,  during  which  time  he  had  num- 
erous interesting  and  romantic  experiences.  Event- 
ually becoming  tired  of  this  occupation,  he  began 
clerking  in  a  store,  but  discontinued  this  business 
after  following  it  one  winter  to  accept  a  position 
as  mail  carrier  from  Nebraska  City  to  Rockport, 
Mo.,  but  after  a  severe  encounter  with  horse- 
thieves,  he  concluded  to  change  his  occup.ation. 

Our  subject  resumed  the  former  calling  of  a 
clerk  for  the  winter  of  1859,  and  afterwards 
learned  that  the  proprietor  of  the  store,  Frank 
Wilcox  by  name,  was  the  leader  of  a  notorious 
gang  of  counterfeiters  by  accidentally  stumbling 
upon  their  mint,  tlieir  illegal  work  being  carried  on 
in  a  dug-out.  He  w.as  discovered  by  some  members 
of  the  gang,  who  swore  him  to  secrecy,  the  penalty 
of  divulging  their  secret  being  death.  On  the  1st 
of  June,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  the  United  States  array 
for  territorial  service,  but  afterwards  became  a 
member  of  Company  H,  First  Nebraska  Infantry, 
and  was  in  the  bloody  battles  of  Ft.  Donelson  and 
Shiloh,  as  well. as  various  others  of  less  importance. 
After  being  in  the  service  three  years  he  was  hon- 
orably discharged  and  immediately  went  to  Padu- 
cali,  Ky.,  where  he  began  working  as  a  ship  car- 
penter in  the  navy-yard  and  continued  to  give 
his  attention  to  this  calling  for  a  number  of  years 
in  that  city,  in  ^Mound  City  and  in  Cairo.  In 
1867,  he  settled  on  a  farm  in  M.assac  County,  III., 
and  is  now  the  owner  of  a  finely  improved  and 
cultivated  farm  of  considerable  value. 

On  the  26th  of  November,  1867,  our  subject  was 
married  to  Eliza  Taylor,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
Taylor,  of  Virginia,  and  a  family  of  five  children 
blessed  their  union:  John,  who  is  deceased; 
Charles,  a  farmer  of  Mass.nc  County;  Ada,  wife  of 
William  Shelton,   of   Metropolis,   III.;  Walter,  at 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


home;  and  Arlluir.  who  also  resides  witli  his  father. 
The  mother  of  these  cliildren  was  called  from  life 
March  29,  1883,  and  on  the  2lth  of  January, 
1885,  Mr.  Story  wedded  his  present  wife,  Caro- 
line Obermark,  to  which  union  one  child  has  been 
born,  William  Clifford.  Mr.  Story  is  a  member  of 
the  Kui<rhts  of  Labor,  and  of  the  Farmers'  Mutual 
Benefit  Association,  and  votes  with  the  People's 
party,  liaving  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  two 
terms.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Method- 
ist Church  and  lake  great  interest  in  church  and 
Sunday-school  work. 


^1^^ 


eAPT.  SAMUEL  ATWELL  was  born  in  Har- 
rison County,  Ind.,  December  16,  1834. 
His  father,  Thomas  Atwell,  was  born  in 
Maryland,  January  24,  1789,  and  his  father,  the 
grandfather  of  Capt.  Atwell,  removed  from  Mary- 
land to  North  Carolina,  and  from  there  to  Barren 
County,  Ky.,  where  he  bought  land  and  lived  upon 
it  until  his  death.  Thomas  Atwell  was  but  a  lad 
when  his  parents  moved  to  Kentucky,  where  he 
was  reared  and  married,  and  in  1832,  accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  seven  children,  removed  by  teams 
and  wagons  to  Harrison  County,  Ind.  Here  he 
rented  land  and  lived  until  1849,  when  he  came 
down  the  Ohio  River  in  flatboats,  and  landed  in 
Brooklyn  IMarch  1.  Here  he  also  rented  land,  en- 
gaged in  farming  and  resided  until  his  death, 
August  18,  1863.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Nancy  Harlow.  She  was  born  in  1800  in  Ken- 
tucky. Her  father,  Michael  Harlow,  was  born  in 
one  of  the  Eastern  States,  and  served  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  spent  the 
last  years  of  his  life  in  Barren  County,  Ky.  The 
mother  of  Capt.  Atwell  died  in  August,  1851,  and 
was  the  mother  of  ten  children. 

Capt.  Samuel  Atwell  attended  school  in  Harri- 
son County,  Ind.,  the  schoolhouse  being  of  the 
primitive  style  so  often  described  in  these  pages. 
He  afterward  attended  school  in  Massac  County 
for  a  time,  and  in  1859  entered  Shurtlcff  College, 


at  Alton,  111.,  remaining  there  two  years.  He  was 
converted  in  his  eighteenth  year,  and  joined  the 
regular  Baptist  Cliurch.  In  1855  he  began  teach- 
ing school  and  continued  to  teach  until  1859. 
Two  years  later  he  commenced  preaching,  and  the 
same  year  he  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier  in  Com- 
pany A,  Fifty-sixth  Illinois  Infantry.  He  was  pro- 
moted to  be  Sergeant  in  1862,  and  to  Captain  the 
same  year,  and  in  1865  was  commissioned  Major, 
but  was  not  mustered.  He  was  in  command  of  his 
regiment  at  the  time  of  his  discharge.  Among 
the  important  battles  in  which  he  was  engaged 
may  be  mentioned  the  siege  of  Corinth,  in  Ma^-, 
1862;  the  battle  of  Corinth,  October  3  and  4, 
1862;  the  seige  and  capture  of  Vicksburg,  and 
Missionary  Ridge.  He  started  with  Siierraan  on 
the  Atlanta  campaign,  his  regiment  constituting  a 
part  of  the  rear  guard  until  after  the  fall  of  Atlanta. 
Afterward  he  started  im  the  march  to  the  sea,  and 
participated  in  the  capture  of  Savannah.  From 
there  he  went  to  South  Carolina,  and  was  there 
when  the  city  of  Columbia  was  burned.  The 
rebels  had  taken  all  the  cotton  on  hand  and  placed 
it  in  the  middle  of  the  streets  and  set  it  on  fire. 
At  night  the  wind  arose  and  carried  the  flames  from 
the  burning  cotton  to  the  buildings.  The  soldiers 
could  not  arrest  the  progress  of  the  flames,  though 
many  worked  all  night  trying  to  do  so,  and  as  a  con- 
sequence the  city  was  destrojed.  From  Colum- 
bia he  went  to  North  Carolina  and  participated  in 
the  battle  of  Bentonville,  and  from  there  marched 
through  Virginia  bj'  way  of  Richmond  to  Wash- 
ington, and  participated  in  the  -Grand  Review, 
Maj^  23  and  24,  1865.  After  this  review  he  went 
to  Louisville,  and  thence  to  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  where 
he  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  August  12, 
1865,  and  was  finall}' discharged  atSpringfield,  111., 
on  the  26th  of  the  same  month.  Upon  returning 
home  he  found  his  health  much  impaired,  and  has 
never  fully  recovered.  Previous  to  his  return  be 
purchased  a  farm,  upon  which  he  lived  until  the 
spring  of  1866,  when  he  sold  out  and  removed  to 
Brooklyn,  and  lived  there  until  the  spring  of  1867. 
He  then  removed  to  Metropolis,  and  resided  there 
until  1878,  when  he  removed  to  Oregon  and  there 
lived  two  months,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he 
went  to  Auburn,  Cal.     There   he   bought  a   home 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


415 


and  lived   two  j'enrs,   when   he    returned   to  Me- 
tropolis, where  he  has  lived  ever  since. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  October,  1865,  to 
Josepiiine  Pell,  wiio  was  born  in  Rosiclare,  Hardin 
County,  111.,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Mitchell  and 
Letlie  (Hadger)  Pell.  There  are  live  children  liv- 
ing, viz:  (leorge  P.,  Lillian,  Olive,  Lethe  and 
William.  Samuel,  the  fourth  child,  died  in  1875, 
aged  two  years;.  Capt.  Atwell  has  always  been  a 
Republican,  and  has  filled  various  offices  of  honor 
and  trust.  In  1866  he  was  elected  Sheriff,  and  in 
1869  elected  County  Clerk,  serving  in  this  latter 
office  eight  years.  In  1882  he  was  again  elected 
County  Clerk,  and  has  served  continuously  until 
the  present  time.  In  addition  to  his  official  duties 
he  has  also  attended  to  his  jjastoral  labors,  i)reach- 
ing  in  different  places,  and  a  portion  of  the  time 
he  has  been  pastor  of  the  church  at  Metropolis. 
His  life  lias  thus,  it  will  be  seen,  been  a  very  active 
and  useful  one,  and  the  esteem  in  which  he  is  held 
is  verv  high. 


E^^- 


man3'. 


'UGUST  QUANTE,  Mayor  of  the  city  of 
Metropolis,  Massac  County, and  one  of  the 
leading  business  men  of  tlie  place,  is  a  son 
of  John  Frederick  Quante,  a  native  of  Ger- 
The  latter  was  a  very  successful  man  in  his 
native  country-,  and  a  man  of  considerable  prop- 
erty and  influence.  As  his  boys  were  attaining  ma- 
jority, he  sent  the  eldest  ones  to  the  United  States, 
because  he  did  not  want  them  to  serve  in  the  army. 
They  sent  home  such  glowing  accounts  of  the  op- 
portunities furnished  by  this  country  to  men  who 
desired  to  make  something  of  life,  that  the  rest  of 
the  family  concluded  to  emigrate  from  their  na- 
tive land.  While  he  was  himself  well  enough  off 
in  the  ( )ld  Country, yet  on  account  of  his  children, 
lie  made  the  movement  just  mentioned.  He  took 
passage  with  the  rest  of  his  f.amily  in  1846,  on  a 
sailing-vessel, and  after  a  long  and  tedious  voyage 
of  six  months,  during  which  they  experienceil  all 
kinds  of  storms  and  calms,  being  driven  back  by 

22 


the  one  and  dela3'ed  b^-  the  other,  they  arrived  in 
New  Orleans.  They  remained  there  about  four 
years,  and  then  came  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Massiic 
County,  on  what  is  known  as  the  Ledbetter  farm. 
At  that  time,  this  farm  was  unimproved,  with  the 
exception  of  three  acres  of  clearing.  He  made  of  it 
a  good  farm,  and  lived  upon  it  about  .seven  years, 
when  he  sold  it  and  removed  to  Princeton,  Ind., 
where  he  lived  three  years.  He  then  removed  to 
Metropolis,  in  1859,  built  a  residence  there,  and 
resided  until  Ins  death,  which  occurred  November 
16,  1860.  He  was  married  in  Germany  to  Sophia 
Wedkiug,  a  native  of  that  country-.  She  was  al- 
ways a  loving,  helpful  and  cheerful  companion, 
and  survived  him  until  October  3,  1877.  To  their 
marriage  there  were  seven  children,  William,  Fred 
and  William,  all  deceased;  Jestina,  wife  of  Henry 
Schutte  of  Metropolis;  John,  deceased;  and  Hiram 
and    August,    partners  in   business  at  Metropolis. 

Our  subject,  the  youngest  of  the  family,  was  born 
in  Hanover,  Germany,  August  29,  1841,  and  was 
thus  five  years  old  when  l)rought  by  his  parents  to 
this  country.  He  obtained  a  fair  education  in  the 
schools  in  Princeton,  Ind.,  and  at  the  early  age  of 
thirteen  began  life  on  his  own  account,  and  made 
a  living  for  himself.  He  possessed  what  was  better 
than  money,  a  level  head  and  willing  hands.  His 
first  ])lace  was  in  an  hotel  at  Metropolis,  at  %6  per 
month,  and  here  he  remained  two  years.  He 
then  took  a  position  on  a  steamboat  as  cabin  boy, 
lamp  trimmer,  etc.  His  desire  was  then  to  become  a 
pilot  on  the  rivers,  and  he  would  in  all  probability 
have  succeeded  in  this,  but  for  the  opposition  of 
his  mother,  who  was  opposed  to  his  following 
steamboating  in  any  capacity.  So  after  four  years 
spent  on  the  boat,  during  which  time  he  faithfully 
performed  his  duties,  he  left  the  river  and  engaged 
in  a  store  with  Morris  Cann.  a  general  merchant  at 
Metropolis,  and  for  his  services  received  ^2110  per 
year.  He  remained  thus  engaged  until  1859, 
learning  the  business  thoroughly,  and  the  knowl- 
edge thus  obtained  has  been  of  inestimable  value 
to  him  in  his  after  career.  During  all  the  years 
that  were  thus  spent,  he  saved  his  money,  and  in 
March,  1860,  in  company  with  his  lirotlier  Hiram, 
opened  a  grocery  at  Metropolis. 

Coinmencinii  in  a  small  wav  and  with  but  little 


ik; 


rouTRArr  and  isuxiRAriiiCAi,  ri:\ikw. 


capital,  the  two  brothers  have  since  coutinucd 
in  business  in  Metropolis,  and  are  now  the  oldest 
firm  in  business  here.  In  addition  to  tlicir  other 
business,  they  own  and  run  the  Riverside  Flouring 
Mill,  and  have  stocli  in  tlie  National  liank,  and 
also  in  a  number  of  tlie  manufacturing  enter- 
prises of  the  town.  Mr.  (Juante  is  tlius  one  of  the 
most  successful  business  men  of  the  place,  and  has 
attained  to  his  present  position  and  property  by  his 
own  unaided  efforts.  He  was  married  in  1864 
to  Hannah  Foreman,  a  native  of  Europe,  whose 
raotiier  is  dead,  but  whose  father  lives  in  Massac 
County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Quante  have  had  three 
children,  viz:  Addie,  wife  of  Walter  McCalley,  a 
miller  of  Metropolis;  Mellie  and  Hiram  H.,  both  at 
home.  Politically  Mv.  (iuanle  is  a  Rei>ublican; 
fraternally,  he  is  an  Odd  Fellow  and  a  Mason,  and 
religiously  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
He  is  a  man  of  strong  will  and  of  superior  business 
qualifications,  and  has  alwa^'s  been  successful.  He 
is  one  of  the  prominent  men  of  this  part  of  the 
State,  and  is  well  known  and  popular  with  all  who 
know  him. 


H.  RIEPE.  Among  the  substantial  citizens 
§.  of  Massac  County,  111.,  Fritz  Riepe,  the  fa- 
ther of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  ma3'  be 
counted.  He  isoneof  that  vast  army  of  intelligent, 
persevering  and  courageous  people  who  have  gone 
forth  from  the  land  of  their  birth  to  build  up  new 
enterprises  and  iiomes  for  themselves  on  tlie  broad 
and  fertile  prairies  of  the  West.  He  is  a  German 
by  birth,  but  since  18G0  he  has  identified  iiimself 
with  the  interests  of  his  adopted  land,  America,  his 
journe}'  to  this  country  being  made  in  a  sailing- 
vessel,  and  occupying  nine  weeks.  Immediately 
after  setting  foot  on  the  soil  of  the  United  States, 
he  came  to  Massac  County,  111.,  and  located  on  a 
farm,  and  farming  lias  been  his  chief  means  of  sup- 
port ever  since.  Like  the  majority  of  (Germans, 
he  lias  shown  himself  to  be  a  man  of  energy,  push 
and  industry,  and  as  he  has  always  exercised  a  ju- 


dicious prudence  and  thrift,  it  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at  that  his  efforts  have  been  prospered  and 
thai  lie  is  now  in  command  of  a  competency.  Ho 
was  married  in  Detmold,  (iermany,  to  Sophia  Schro- 
der, and  seven  children  were  born  to  them:  F.  H.,  the 
subject  of  this  sketcli;  Minnie,  wife  of  E.  A.  Kot- 
tcr;  Henry,  deceased;  William,  a  successlul  agricul- 
turist; Harmon,  who  is  engaged  in  the  same  occu- 
pation; Sophia,  wife  of  Charles  Ililgeman;  and 
Theodore,  who  has  followed  in  his  father's  and 
brothers'  footsteps  and  is  a  farmer. 

F.  H.  Riepe  is  a  worthy  representative  of  the  race 
from  which  he  sprang — the  flerman — which  has 
contributed  so  much  to  the  thrift,  the  industry 
and  tlie  prosperity  of  this  country.  He  was  born 
in  the  I^atherland,  on  the  5th  of  December,  1847, 
and  there  learned  the  details  of  farming  as  it  was 
conducted  in  his  nativ^e  land,  and  there,  according 
to  the  law  of  his  land,  he  was  an  attendant  of  the 
public  schools  until  his  removal  to  this  couutiT 
with  his  parents.  Here  he  remained  with  and  as- 
sisted his  father  in  improving  the  land  in  Massac 
County,  but  at  the  age  of  eighteen  j-ears  he  started 
out  for  himself  as  a  clerk  in  a  grocery  store,  to 
which  business  his  attention  was  devoted  for  three 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  had  accumula- 
ted enough  means  to  enable  him  to  purchase  an 
interest  in  a  sawmill.  This  mill  he  operated  suc- 
cessfully for  five  years,  then  purciiased  a  stock  of 
general  merchandise  at  Metropolis,  w^here  he  still 
holds  forth.  He  keeps  an  excellent  line  of  goods, 
which  he  disposes  of  at  the  lowest  consistent  figures, 
and  among  his  patrons  he  numbers  the  leading 
families  of  the  community,  who  thus  show  their 
appreciation  of  merit.  His  goods  are  always  fresh 
and  well  chosen,  are  displa3-ed  to  a  good  advan- 
tage, and  his  patrons  may  be  assured  of  being 
wailed  upon  in  a  polite  and  prompt  manner  and  to 
their  satisfaction.  Mr.  Riepe  is  considered  a  pleas- 
ant gentleman  to  deal  with,  and  those  with  whom 
he  has  business  relations  have  the  highest  opinion 
of  him. 

In  the  month  of  .Tune,  ISTii,  our  subject  was 
married  to  Miss  Mary  Korte,  a  daughter  of  Fritz 
Korte,  a  native  of  German3-,and  to  their  union  five 
children  have  been  given,  only  Myra,  the  youn- 
gest,  living.      Those  deceased   are  Albert,   Fred, 


I 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


417 


Adolpli  and  Eraina.  In  every  capacity  in  which 
Mr.  Riepe  has  figured,  tie  is  recognized  as  a  most 
useful  nieinljer  of  the  community  with  wliicli  he 
is  identified. 

His  business  associates  esteem  liiiii,  and  those 
who  know  him  intimately  entertain  for  him  the 
highest  respect  and  the  most  kindly  regard.  He 
has  for  some  time  been  a  communicant  of  the  Ger- 
man Lutheran  Church,  and  politically  is  indepen- 
dent, casting  his  vote  for  the  man  who,  in  his 
estimation,  is  the  best  fitted  for  the  position,  lie 
is  a  useful  citizen,  and  as  such  is  regarded  by  the 
citizens  of  Massac  County. 


>1LLLVM  .1.  FLRX,  31.  D.,  claims  .Johnson 
County  as  his  birthplace,  and  has  since 
made  it  his  home.  He  was  born  in  No- 
vember, 1846,  to  Lawrence  W.  Fern,  whose  bio- 
graphical sketch  ap[)ears  elsewhere  in  this  volume, 
and  who  is  a  native  of  Derby,  England,  but  was 
reared  and  educated  in  New  York  State.  The  fa- 
ther of  our  subject  was  born  January  14,  1814, 
and  was  an  attorney-at-law  for  many  years;  he  also 
taught  school  when  a  j-oung  man.  His  father, 
.lames  Fern,  was  a  farmer,  and  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1820,  settling  in  Oswego  County,  N.  Y., 
where  he  died  a  very  old  man.'  He  reared  a  fam- 
ily of  six  childron,  of  whom  Lawrence  W.  was  the 
youngest. 

Lawrence  Fern  came  to  Illinois  in  1843  from 
Texas,  where  he  followed  civil  engineering  and  sur- 
veying lliree  3'ears,  and  after  coming  to  Illinois  he 
served  as  County  Surve3'or  for  some  j'ears,  but  has 
been  retired  from  this  profession  as  well  as  from  the 
law  some  fifteen  years.  He  now  lives  on  his  farm 
in  Simpson  Township.  He  has  living  three  sons 
and  four  daughters,  of  whom  Dr.  William  J.  Fern 
is  the  eldest.  Dr.  Fern  was  reared  on  the  farm 
up  to  his  sixteenth  year,  and  received  a  good  edu- 
cation in  the  district  sciiools.  He  afterward  at- 
tended the  College  Hill  Seminary,  and  Hu.-.h  Medi- 
cal College,  Chicago,  graduating  there  at  twenty- 


one  years  of  age.  He  began  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine at  Grantsburg,  Johnson  County,  in  1868, 
and  on  October  14,  1869,  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  J.  Poor,  daughter  of  S.  D.  and  Sarah  J. 
(Mount)  Poor,  who  were  from  the  South,  coming 
to  Illinois  about  1825.  Mrs.  Fern  was  born  in 
Johnson  County,  and  is  one  of  four  daughters 
now  living.  She  lost  one  brother,  J.  N.  Poor,  who 
died  in  February,  1889,  at  the  age  of  thirt\-five 
j'ears,  leaving  a  wife  and  two  children. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  F'ern  lived  in  Grantsburg  five 
years;  in  Vienna  two  years,  and  removed  to  Tun- 
nel Hill  about  1876,  bu^'ing  their  pleasant  home, 
and  here  the  Doctor  has  an  extensive  practice  and 
a  good  drug  store,  the  only  one  in  the  town,  which 
was  established  in  1886.  They  have  buried  one  in- 
fant son,  Charles,  and  one  infant  daughter,  Cora, 
and  they  have  now  three  sons  and  one  daughter 
livipg.  Nora,  the  daughter,  and  Lawrence  D.,  a 
30ung  man  of  seventeen  ^-ears,  are  attending  the 
Haywood  College  at  Fairfield,  Wayne  Country,  this 
State.  They  are  both  doing  well  in  their  studies, 
the  daughter  making  a  specialty'  of  music,  which 
she  is  teaching.  William  J.  is  fifteen  3'ears  old, 
and  R03'  is  eight;  both  are  at  home  and  in  school. 
The  Doctor  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  and  has  repre- 
sented the  order  in  the  Grand  Lodge.  He  is  also 
an  Odd  F^ellow,and  is  free  and  untrammoled  both 
in  politics  and  religion. 


-^g 


^OIIN  C.  P.KFX'KKNRIDGE  HEAIXJN,  the 
second  child  and  first  son  of  James  W.  Ilea- 
tou,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Henr3-  Count3-,  Ky., 
^  in  1854.  He  was  reared  until  ten  3'ears 
old  in  Graves  Count3%  that  State,  and  was  then 
brought  b3'  his  parents  to  Johnson  C'ount3-,  where  he 
w.as  educated  in  the  common  schools  until  he  was 
twenty-one  years  old,  when  lie  went  to  Ewing  Col- 
lege, Franklin  County, a  15a])tist  institution  of  learn- 
ing. He  was  married  October  15, 1876,  to  Miss  Al- 
ice F.  Mathis,  daughter  of  Richmond  and  Matilda 
(Morris)  Mathis,  natives  of  Tennessee,  but  who  re- 


418 


I'OHl'KAir  AM)   lUOGUAl'IlICAL  KEVIKW. 


moved  from  Kentucky  to  Illinois  in  early  life,  and 
settled  on  their  farm  near  Vienna.  This  daughter 
is  one  of  five  living  eliildren,  two  sons  and  three 
dauijlilers,  whose  father  died  on  his  farm  in  mid- 
dle life  but  his  widow  still  survives  at  the  age  of 
sixty-nine,  and  lives  on  the  old  homestead. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Heaton  have  lived  at  their  present 
farm  home  of  eighty  acres  ever  since  their  mar- 
riage, with  the  exception  of  a  residence  of  less 
tlian  one  year  in  Arkansas.  They  have  buried 
two  infant  daughters,  and  have  living  two  sons: 
Roy  L.,  a  promising  youth  of  thirteen  and  a  stu- 
dent in  school,  and  Calvin  F.,  ten  3-ears  old.  Mr. 
Heaton,  though  a  young  man,  is  one  of  the  ad- 
vance guard  in  the  line  of  farm  gardening,  and 
was  one  of  the  first  to  import  fertilizers.  He  be- 
lieves in  intensive,  rather  than  extensive,  farm- 
ing, and  is  a  successful  fruit-grower,  having  one  of 
the  finest  young  orchards  of  four  years  in  the 
county.  Tills  orcliard  contains  trees  of  the  fol- 
lowing kinds:  apples,  peaches,  pears,  quinces  and 
plums,  and  contains  in  all  thirtj'-five  acres.  He 
and  his  brother,  J.  W.,  Jr.,  are  together  engaged  in 
horticulture  and  in  the  nursery  business,  having 
one  of  the  best  nurseries  in  their  section.  They 
also  grow  small  fruits,  mostly  blackberries,  for 
market,  together  with  apricots,  grapes  and  straw- 
berries. In  politics  our  subject  is  a  pronounced 
Prohibitionist,  which  ticket  he  has  always  voted, 
and  himself  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church  of  this  place. 


\||  AMES  A.  LEDBETTER,  a  resident  of  Cave 
j  in  Rock.  Hardin  County,  is  a  son  of  Mat- 
^— ,  I  thew  Ledbetter,  who  was  born  in  1799  in 
^^^'  Soiitli  Carolina.  When  the  latter  was  a  small 
boy  his  father  bound  him  out  to  Jacob  Woolf,  by 
wiiom  he  was  brought  up  without  education.  At 
length  his  taskmaster  became  so  oppressive  that  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  young  Ledbetter  ran  away.  He 
located  in  Caldwell  County,  Ky.,  and  engaged  in 


blacksmithing,  and  in   1842  cime  to  Illinois  and 

engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine.  He  was  also 
a  preacher  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
later  in  the  Christian  Church.  In  1847  he  re- 
moved to  Deslia  Count3-,  Ark.,  where  he  practiced 
medicine  until  his  death,  which  occurred  Feb- 
ruary 14,  1850.  He  was  married  in  1818  to  Rachel, 
daughter  of  William  Wood,  who  was  a  Captain  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.  To  this  marriage  ten 
children  were  born,  seven  of  whom  grew  to  ma- 
tuiity,  namel)':  Jane  and  Wile^',  deceased;  Will- 
iam, in  California;  James  A.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  J.  N.,  living  at  r-Clizabcthtown,Ill.;  Nanc}% 
supposed  to  be  dead,  and  George  W.,  deceased. 

James  A.  Ledbetter  was  born  June  19,  1827,  in 
Kentuck}',  where  he  was  reared  to  the  carpenter 
trade,  and  having  natural  mechanical  ability  he 
was  soon  master  of  his  trade.  His  education  was 
obtained  more  by  his  own  olTorts  than  by  any  school- 
ing he  received,  though  he  did  attend  a  subscrip- 
tion school  about  five  months.  In  1845  he  began 
life  for  himself,  and  in  1848  went  with  his  father 
to  Arkansas,  where  he  engaged  in  farming  on 
rented  land.  After  his  fatlier's  death,  in  1850,  he 
returned  to  Illinois,  but  very  poor,  and  bought  a 
small  tract  of  land  in  Hardin  County,  upon  which 
he  erected  a  log  cabin,  in  which  he  lived  four 
j'cars.  He  then  fitted  out  a  trading-boat  with  a 
small  stock  of  merchandise  and  traded  on  the 
Ohio  and  Mississip|)i  Rivers,  afterward  engaging  in 
merchandising  at  Elizabethtown,  III.,  in  which  he 
was  ver3'  successful,  retiring  from  business  in 
1879. 

Mr.  Ledbetter  was  married  February'  23,  1845, 
to  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Chatmaii  Scoggins,  a  na- 
tive of  South  Carolina,  and  to  this  union  there 
were  born  eight  children,  namely:  John  Q.  A., 
whose  biographical  sketch  appears  elsewhere  in 
this  volume;  James  A.,  Jr.,  whose  life  we  have 
herein  written;  George  W.,  whose  biography  is 
also  introduced  into  this  work;  Mary  H.,  wife  of 
L.  F.  Twitchell,  Jr.,  now  in  Color.ado;  Henry,  of 
Elizabethtown,  111.,  and  three  others.  Mr.  Led- 
better has  been  very  liberal  with  his  children,  giv- 
ing each  of  them  $5,000.  He  has  been  a  life-long 
Democrat,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Christian  Church. 


I 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIETV'. 


419 


James  A.  Ledbetter,  Jr.,  is  a  son  of  James  A.  Led- 
better,  Sr.,  and  was  born  October  28,  1856,  at 
Elizabetlitown,  111.,  wjiere  he  was  reared  to  the 
mercantile  business  and  educated  in  the  schools. 
When  he  was  eighteen  years  old  he  engaged  in 
business  for  himself,  running  a  mill  which  his  fa- 
ther had  given  him  and  liis  brothers,  and  has  con- 
tinued in  the  milling  business  ever  since,  accumu- 
lating quite  a  handsome  fortune  thereby.  lie  was 
married  September  13,  1876,  to  Dora,  daughter  of 
James  S.  Herod,  of  Hardin  County,  111.  To  this 
marriage  there  have  been  born  two  children,  namely: 
James  anil  Charles  Millard.  Mr.  Ledbetter  votes 
with  the  Democratic  part3',  and  he  is  a  member  of 
Lodge  No.  i54,  I.  O.  O.  F.  Our  subject  is  a  public- 
spirited  citizen,  one  of  the  wide-awake  and  intelli- 
gent business  men  of  the  community. 


^^EORGE  W.  HILL,  M.  D.,  a  prominent  phy- 
|[  s=7  sician  of  Cave  in  Rock,  Hardin  County,  is 
^^41  ^  son  of  Lytic  T.  Hill,  who  was  born  m 
North  Carolina,  January'  27, 1820,  and  was  brought 
up  on  the  farm,  his  education  being  somewhat 
iimiti'd.  He  removed  to  Kentucky  in  1836,  and 
M'lllcd  in  Union  County,  where  he  engaged  in 
speculating,  and  was  married  in  1815  to  Rachel  A. 
Riggs,  a  daughter  of  William  Riggs,  of  Virginia. 
To  this  marriage  there  were  born  six  children, 
namely:  William  D.,  of  Hopkins  County,  Ky.; 
(George  W.;  Mary  E.,  wife  of  Wesley  Curry;  Ade- 
line, deceased;  Robert  H.,  of  Cave  in  Rock,  111.; 
and  James  A.,  also  of  Cave  in  Rock.  The  mother 
of  these  children  died  in  1863,  and  the  father 
married  in  1876  Miss  Jane  Gregory,  of  Alabama. 
To  this  marriage  there  have  been  born  three  chil- 
dren, namely:  Joseph,  Susan  and  John,  all  at 
home.  The  father,  who  is  now  living  in  Alal)ama, 
has  been  a  very  successful  farmer  and  hasacfumu- 
lated  considerable  property.  . 

George  W.  Hill  was  born  on  board  a  store  boat 
lying  at  Cedar  Point,  111.,  April  8.  185n.  His  boy- 
hood d.ays  wore  spent  on    the  farm   and    iiis  carlv 


education  obtained  in  the  country  schools,  taught 
about  thirty  days  each  year  in  the  pioneer  log 
schoolhouse.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  years  he 
began  the  study  of  medicine,  and  afterward  at- 
tended the  medical  college  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  and 
also  tiiat  at  Evansville,  Ind.  In  1877  he  began 
the  practice  of  medicine  at  Cave  in  Rock,  and  has 
been  a  very  successful  practitioner  ever  since, 
working  up  a  lucrative  business.  He  has,  how- 
ever, now  abandoned  the  general  practice,  and  is 
engaged  only  in  an  office  practice.  In  1879  he 
engaged  in  mercantile  business  at  Cave  in  Rock, 
and  at  tiie  present  time  owns  three  large  stores 
which  are  doing  an  immense  liusiness. 

Our  subject  was  married  January  31,  1878,  to 
Rebecca  C,  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Thomp- 
son, of  Kentucky,  by  whom  he  has  three  children, 
namely:  George  L.,  Bessie  C.  and  John  AV.  Dr. 
Hill  is  a  member  of  Cave  in  Rock  Lodge  No.  444, 
A.  F.  tfe  A.  M.  Mrs.  Hill  passed  to  her  final  rest 
April  6,  1892.  Our  subject  is  a  man  of  good 
business  qualifications,  and  a  gentleman  in  ever}' 
respect. 


lU  AMES  F.  GRAHAM  was  born  in  Marshall 
County,  Tenn.,  October  28,  1823.  His  fa- 
^^  I  ther,  James  Graham,  was  born  near  Char- 
(^^  lotte,  Mecklenberg  County,  N.  ('.,  in  tiie 
year  1771,  and  his  father,  William  Graham,  mar- 
ried his  cousin,  Margaret  Graham,  by  whom  he 
had  nine  sons.  James,  his  second  son,  emigrated 
to  Tennessee  about  the  year  1804,  and  in  1822 
married  Elizabeth  Sasnctt,  by  whom  he  had  one 
child,  James  K. 

William  (iraham,  the  grandfather  of  James  F., 
served  six  years  as  a  soldier  and  (.iuartcrmaster  in 
the  Revolutionary  War  of  1776.  against  (ireat 
liritain.  He  was  possessed  of  quite  a  number  of 
slaves,  and  had  considerable  landed  property  both 
in  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee.  James  Gra- 
ham, the  father  of  James  F.,  was  opposed  to  slav- 
ery, luMK'O  would   not   have  aiiv  of  the  shives  that 


420 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


he  inherited  from  liis  father's  estate.  He  served 
under  Gen.  .Tackson  in  the  Indian  War,  and  in 
the  second  war  with  (ueal  Uritain,  in  IHTJ  and 
1815. 

James  F.  (iraham,  the  subject  of  tiiis  sketch,  was 
married  to  Elizabeth  Ann  Brummett  on  the  31st 
of  August,  1852,  and  to  them  were  born  ten  cliii- 
dren,  seven  of  whom  are  deceased,  viz:  Franklin 
Pearce,  Sarah  Elizabetii,  Erailiza  Catliarine,  Flora 
Smith,  Florence  Bell,  James  Washington  and 
Mareia  Mahala  Graham.  Those  living  are:  Mary 
Alice,  who  married  J.  S.  King,  a  Kentuckian,  and 
a  railroad  man;  Constantine  William,  who  is  in 
the  employ  of  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago 
it  St.  Louis  Railway  Company;  and  Fourthie 
Ann  Graham,  called  Fourthie  because  she  was  born 
on  the  4th  of  July,  thus  commemorating  the  4th 
of  July,  1776,  and  American  independence  from 
under  the  yoke  of  Great  Britain. 

James  F.  Graham  had  a  fair  knowledge  of  the 
elementary  branches  of  an  English  education,  and 
taught  for  many  years  both  in  Tennessee  and  Illi- 
nois, and  was  regarded  as  the  best  penman  in  his 
younger  daj's  in  Johnson  (bounty.  111.,  in  which  he 
lived.  He  held  various  offices,  at  different  times  \je- 
iug  School  Director,  School  Trustee,  Township 
Treasurer,  C'ircuit  Clerk,  Master  in  Chancery,  and 
Recorder  of  Deeds  and  Mortgages.  During  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union, 
he  was  Enrolling  Officer  of  the  Militia  and  Collector 
of  Internal  Revenue  for  Johnson  County.  The 
last  two  offices  were  given  him  on  account  of  his 
loyalty  to  the  Union,  and  without  his  asking. 

In  religion,  he  believes  in,  and  belongs  to,  the 
Christian  Church.  He  denies  the  right  of  any 
man,  or  set  of  men,  to  write  out  what  he  must  be- 
lieve in  order  to  get  to  Heaven,  hence  discards 
all  books  of  discipline  or  confessions  of  faith  writ- 
ten by  men,  and  clings  to  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures  as  his  only  guide  for  a  blessed  Immor- 
tality beyond  the  grave. 

James  F".  comes  of  Whig  stock.  His  grandfather 
was  a  Whig  of  1776,  his  own  father  was  a  Whig, 
and  the  first  vote  that  James  F.  ever  gave  was  for 
that  far-seeing  statesman  and  man  of  indomitable 
courage,  Henry  Clay,  of  Kentucky,  who  taught 
the    doctrine  of  [irotectiiig    American    industries, 


whether  of  the  farm  or  shop,  by  taxing  the  indus- 
tries of  foreign  nations  whose  industries  come  in 
coin  petition  with  our  own  American  citizens  .and 
industries,  thus  giving  our  own  citizens  the  pref- 
erence; hence,  .laracs  F.  is  a  He|)uliiic;ui  in  politics. 


ic^B^ 


ll#^  County,  N.  C,  August  8,  1837,  and  at  the 
Zii*,  present  writing  resides  in  Metropolis  City, 
Massac  County.  His  father,  Nathan  Bar- 
ham,  was  born  in  Virginia,  to  Charles  Barliam, 
who  was  also  a  native  of  Virginia,  as  well  as  his 
three  brothers,  Jarac^s,  Daniel  and  Charles.  Nathan 
Barham  was  a  small  bo}'  when  his  parents  removed 
to  Guilford  County,  N.  C,  and  there  he  was  reared 
and  married.  He  inherited  the  old  home  farm, and 
resided  there  until  his  death,  December  30,  1855, 
aged  seventy-six  years.  The  maiden  name  of  the 
mother  of  Robert  C.  was  Elizabeth  Harris.  She  was 
born  in  Guilford  County,  and  her  father,  Joel 
Harris,  born  in  Virginia,  was  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  in  that  county,  where  he  lived  and  died. 
He  commanded  a  company  in  the  Revolutionary 
War,  .and  was  in  the  battle  of  Guilford  Court 
House.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation  and  owned 
slaves.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Mar- 
gary  Kennedy,  who  was  born  in  Virginia,  and 
died  on  the  home  farm  in  Guilford  County  in 
1864,  having  reared  seven  children,  viz:  Althana. 
Charles  N.,  Julia.  Howell,  Emily,  McArthur  and 
Robert  C. 

Robert  C.  liarham  was  reared  in  his  native 
county,  and  attended  the  subscription  schools  for 
some  time,  later  taking  a  course  in  the  Oak  Ridge 
Institute.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  removed  to 
Tennessee,  and  taught  school  in  McNairy  and 
AVeakley  Counties,  afterward  making  his  home  in 
the  first-named  county  with  his  brother  for  two 
years.  From  that  time  until  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war  he  traveled  in  different  States  of  the  Union, 
and  during  the  time  of  the  war  engaged  in  teach- 
ing in  Weakley  Counl\-.     In  IsOi  lie  entered   the 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


421 


United  States  service  as  a  scout,  and  continued  to 
serve  the  good  cause  until  1864  under  the  commands 
of  Gens.  Ashbeck,  Smith,  Meredith,  Hicks  and 
Payne,  and  was  in  the  States  of  Kentucky,  Ten- 
nessee and  Missouri.  In  1863  he  brought  his  wife 
to  Massac  County,  and  after  the  war  joined  her 
here,  and  engaged  in  teaching  school.  In  1867  he 
opened  a  carriage  and  wagon  shop  near  New  Col- 
umbia, and  also  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade 
until  1876.  He  then  sold  his  interests  there  and 
removed  to  Metropolis,  where  he  served  as  Dep- 
uty Sheriflf  four  years,  and  in  1890  was  elected 
Sheriff  of  the  county  for  four  years. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  1863  to  Mary  JI. 
McMichael,  who  was  born  in  Guilford  County, 
N.  C,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Thomas  A.  and  Jane 
(Lednum)  McMichael.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barbara 
have  two  children:  Josephine,  wlio  is  the  wife  of 
George  M.  Clark;  and  Lj'dia,  wife  of  George  Saw- 
yer. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barliam  arc  members  of  the 
Baptist  Cliurcli.and  he  is  a  Republican  in  politics. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  New  Columbia  Lodge  No. 
.'i.Tl!.  A.  F.  A-  A.  M.,  of  Herman  Lodge  No.  CI 7,  I. 
().  O.  1'..  and  Orestes  Lodge  No.  266,  K.  P. 


if/OIIX  S.  CRUM  was  born  in  Cambria 
County,  Pa.,  about  ten  miles  from  Johns- 
town, September  9,  1836,  and  is  now  a  resi- 
dent of  Vienna  City,  Johnson  County. 
His  fatlier,Aaron  Crum,was  born  in  the  same  county 
to  John  Crura,  who  came  from  Maryland,  and, 
from  the  best  information  obtainable,  w.as  born  of 
(Jerman  parents.  He  removed  from  Maryland  to 
Cambria  County  at  an  early  day,  and  bought  a 
tract  of  timber  land  near  the  town  of  Wilmore. 
Here  he  cleared  a  farm,  upon  which  he  lived 
until  his  death.  Aaron  Crum  was  reared  on  this 
farm,  was  himself  a  farmer,  and  resided  there  until 
1857,  when  he  removed  to  ^lissouri,  settled  in 
Perry  County,  and  died  there  in  January,  1859. 
The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Aaron  Crum  was 
S<>l)hia    Kisncr.     Slie    was    a    native    of     Bedford 


County,  Pa.,  and  her  father,  John  Kisner,  was 
born  either  in  (Germany  or  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
was  certainly  of  German  ancestry.  She  died  in 
1858,  having  reared  a  family  of  eight  children. 

John  S.  Crum  was  reared  and  educated  in  his 
native  county,  and  moved  with  his  parents  to 
Missouri  in  1857.  The  first  year  of  his  residence 
in  Missouri  he  was  engaged  in  working  in  a  stone 
quany  and  in  farming.  In  1858  he  removed  to 
Illinois,  and  was  here  engaged  in  the  same  kind 
of  work  in  different  localities  until  July,  1858, 
from  whicli  time  until  August  22,  1861,  he  was 
employed  in  a  flouring-mill.  On  the  date  last 
mentioned  he  enlisted  in  Compan}'  D,  Thirty-first 
Regiment  Illinois  Infantry,  commanded  by  Col. 
John  A.  Logan,  and  served  with  his  regiment  un- 
til July  25,  1862,  when  he  was  discharged  on 
account  of  disability  caused  by  wounds  icceived 
in  the  battle  of  Vi.  Donelson.  He  then  returned 
to  Vienna,  and  being  appointed  Postmaster  of 
tills  place,  he  served  until  November,  1864,  when 
he  was  elected  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  was 
elected  to  the  same  position  in  1868,  and  re-elected 
in  1872,  serving  in  all  twelve  years.  In  1876  lie 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of 
Equalization,  and  was  re-elected  in  1880.  In  1886 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Board  of  County 
Commissioners  and  served  until  1889.  While  he 
was  serving  as  Circuit  Court  Clerk  he  compiled  a 
complete  set  of  abstracts  of  title  for  the  countj', 
the  onl}'  set  the  county  has  ever  had.  He  has 
been  continuously^  in  the  business  ever  since. 

Our  subject  w'as  first  married  February  3,  1859, 
to  Miss  Kda  E.  Smith,  of  Bollinger  County,  Mo., 
who  died  July  31,  1868.  His  second  marriage  was 
to  Carmelia  Boyt,  November  26,  1868.  She  was 
born  in  Johnson  County  April  24,  1849,  and  died 
February  9,  1888.  His  third  marriage  took  place 
April  17,  1890,  to  Miss  Barbara  Tappas,  who  was 
born  December  17,  18(!6,  in  Johnson  Count3".  By 
the  first  marriage  he  had  two  children,  viz:  David 
W.  and  Alice  C.  By  the  second  marriage  he  also 
had  two  children,  viz:  ri3-sses  G.  and  Dollie  G., 
the  latter  of  whom  married  a  Mr.  Farris,  now  an 
attorney  at  Bloomfield.,  Mo.  David  W.  Crum  is 
a  plumber  and  carpenter  b^-  trade,  and  Ulysses  is 
a  printer. 


422 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


John  S.  Cnim  cnst  liis  first  Pi-csidcnlial  vote  for 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  but  in  the  year  1H61  he  voted 
for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  was  an  active  niemlicr 
of  the  Republican  party  for  nearly  thirty  years. 
At  the  present  time  he  is  a  member  of  the  People's 
party,  and  was  for  many  years  a  member  of 
Vienna  Lodge  No.  150,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  At  the 
present  time  lie  is  a  member  of  Vienna  Chap- 
ter No.  67,  U.  A.  M  ,  of  Vesta  Lodge  No.  340, 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  of  Vienna  Post  No.  221,  G.  A.  R. 
In  his  religious  views  he  is  liberal,  holding  it 
possible  for  any  man  to  be  wrong,  and  believing 
tliat  all  men  have  the  same  right  to  judge  for 
themselves  as  he  claims  for  himself. 


-^^ 


IMON  S.  BARGER,  one  of  the  prominent 
farmers  of  Pope  County,  111.,  who  has  re- 
sided on  his  present  two  hundred  and  nine 
acre  farm  in  section  32,  township  11, 
range  6,  east,  for  many  years,  was  born  April  7, 
1843.  His  father,  Frederic  S.  Barger,  was  a  native 
of  southern  Illinois,  and  was  born  in  1826.  He 
was  a  son  of  Simon  S.  Barger,  who  was  reared  in 
Virginia,  where  he  married  Hannah  Beanard. 
Soon  after  their  marriage  they  came  to  Illinois, 
when  it  was  still  a  Territory  and  still  a  wilderness. 
They  located  as  squatters  on  land  two  miles  south- 
east of  Eddyville,  and  lived  there  until  his  death, 
which  was  occasioned  by  an  accidental  drowning, 
he  trying  to  rescue  his  cousin,  who  had  fallen  in 
the  creek  through  the  ice  at  Golconda.  The 
cousin  was  saved.  He  and  his  wife  reared  seven 
sons  and  one  daughter,  Mary,  and  the  mother  of 
these  children  died  at  seventy-four  years  of  age. 
The  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  Es- 
seneth  Vaughn,  of  Pope  County.  He  is  the  eldest 
of  a  family  of  three  sons  and  two  daughters.  One 
son,  Hiram,  died  in  early  childhood.  A  sister,  Mrs. 
Frank  Modglin,  died  at  New  Burnside  in  1884,  in 
her  thirty-second  year,  leaving  four  children.  A 
brother,  Willis,  died  in  Eddyville  in  January, 
1892, aged  forty-four,  leaving  a  wife  and  four  chil- 


dren. The  children  now  living  are  Happy,  wife 
of  Jesse  VandergrilT,  a  farmer  of  Poi)e  County; 
and  .Simon,  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  During 
his  early  boyhood  the  latter  was  reared  to  farm 
labor,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he  left  home, 
and  worked  on  a  farm  for  from  $8  to  $10  per 
month.  In  his  eighteenth  year  he  volunteered  in 
the  Fifty-sixth  Illinois  Infantiy,  Company  K,  un- 
der Capt.  W.  R.  Floyd,  and  went  out  as  Second 
Sergeant,  serving  until  the  close  of  the  war, 
nearly  four  years.  The  First  Lieutenant  and  him- 
self were  often  in  command  of  the  company.  He 
had  some  very  narrow  escapes  from  death,  and 
particularly  on  one  occasion,  as  an  ugly  scar  un- 
der his  right  eye  testifies,  the  wound  being  re- 
ceived at  Resaca,  Ga.,  from  a  minie-ball.  He 
was  also  wounded  in  the  left  thigh  at  Corinth, 
Miss.  After  receiving  the  wound  in  the  ej-e,  he 
rejoined  his  company  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  was 
discharged  from  the  service  on  June  25,  1865. 
Our  subject  had  been  married  December  1,  1864, 
while  at  home  on  a  furlough,  and  on  his  dis- 
charge from  the  service  of  the  Government,  he 
returned  to  civil  life,  to  his  home  and  to  his  wife. 
Her  name  was  Nancy  King,  and  she  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  A.  N.  King.  He  and  his  wife  have  lived  at 
their  home  on  the  homestead  of  his  father  since 
their  marriage.  They  have  buried  two  infant 
sons,  and  have  living  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters. The  living  are:  Alexander,  now  in  the  Post- 
office  Department  at  Washington,  D.  C;  Alice, 
wife  of  Alonzo  Glass,  who  is  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment service  of  the  Government  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  and  has  one  son;  Mary,  wife  of 
D.  A.  Maynor,  a  farmer  and  teacher,  living 
near  the  old  homestead;  and  Harry,  a  boy  of  ten. 
These  children  have  all  been  well  educated,  and 
the  older  ones  are  competent  to  fill  almost  any 
important  position.  The  father  of  these  children 
had  but  little  opportunity  for  securing  an  educa- 
tion in  his  youth,  but  since  arriving  at  manhood's 
estate,  he  has  been  a  great  reader  and  has  acquired 
much  practical  knowledge,  and  is  well  informed 
upon  public  affairs.  He  h.as  served  as  Justice  of 
the  Peace  for  sixteen  years,  and  has  served  in  the 
Stale  Legislature  two  terms,  in  1885  and  in  1887. 
During  1883  he  was  Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the  State 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


423 


Senate,  and  was  one  of  the  immortal  one  hundred 
and  three  thnt  stood  by  John  A.  Logan, and  elected 
him  to  the  I'nited  States  Senate.  lie  is  an  Odd 
Fellow  and  a  stanch  Kepuhlican.  He  and  his 
wife  arc  both  members  of  tlie  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterian Church. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  the  few  true  patriots  who 
regard  the  welfare  of  their  fellow-men  and  their 
friends  as  of  paramount  importance,  and  in  all 
places  of  trust  he  has  been  true  to  this  prin- 
ciple. He  has  for  years  been  making  a  deter- 
mined effort  to  secure  the  construction  of  a  rail- 
road through  his  part  of  the  State,  which  would 
give  a  nnich-needcd  outlet  to  the  products  of  the 
country  and  also  access  to  the  markets  of  the  sur- 
rounding country.  He  has  contributed  to  this  ob- 
ject much  haril  labor  and  much  of  his  accumulated 
property,  and  though  he  might  have  often  retired 
from  this  apparently  hopeless  struggle  with  plenty 
of  wealth,  yet  he  has  persisted  in  his  efforts, 
and  it  is  now  probable  that  the^'  will  before 
long  he  crowned  with  success.  Should  this  be  the 
case,  it  will  be  to  the  farmers  of  Pope  County  the 
means  of  transportation  and  of  communication 
with  the  outside  world  that  will  be  worth  millions 
of  dollars  to  them,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
in  tiiat  case  the  name  of  Simon  S.  Harger  will  be 
honored  in  a  fitting  manner,  as  one  of  the  great 
benefactors  of  his  country;  for  it  is  men  of  this 
kind  and  work  of  this  kind  tliat  are  to-day  mak- 
ing the  substantial  improvements  and  the  com- 
mendable progress  that  are  being  made  in  this 
couiitrv . 


B^S^^== 


^f  A>n';s  1!.  M.  FAR!. AN.  who  keeps  a  meat 
market  and  livery  stable  in  Elizabethtown, 
Hardin  County,  is  a  son  of  James  McFar- 
Ian,  who  was  born  in  Kentucky.  His  fa- 
ther, whose  name  w:is  James,  was  among  the  very 
first  settlers  in  Hardiii  County-,  and  located  where 
Elizabethtown  now  stands  in  1810,  eight  years  be- 
fore Illinois  became  a  .State.     He   experienced  all 


the  hardships  and  privations  incident  to  pioneer 
life,  and  lived  in  the  same  locality  until  his  death. 
James  McEarlan  had  but  little  opportunity  to  se- 
cure an  education,  but  did  attend  for  some  time 
the  subscription  school  in  the  vicinity  of  his  fa- 
ther's home,  and  afterward  obtained  private  in- 
struction at  home.  His  principal  acquisitions, 
however,  in  the  way  of  learning  were  obtained 
through  his  own  unaided  efforts  in  later  years. 
He  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers,  and  was  the 
most  prominent  man  in  this  section  of  the  coun- 
try during  its  early  history,  and,  like  all  pioneers, 
was  deprived  of  most  of  what  now  constitutes 
civilization.  He  was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and 
served  his  county  as  County  Clerk  and  as  Circuit 
Court  Clerk  for  a  number  of  years.  He  was  one 
of  the  men  who  formed  and  fashioned  the  politics 
of  the  county'  in  its  earl}-  days. 

Mr.  McFarlan,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
married  at  Elizabethtown  to  Matilda  Hobbs,  who 
was  a  native  of  Hardin  County,  and  whose  father 
died  in  1884,  at  the  home  of  Mr.  McFarlan.  Her 
mother  is  still  living  with  her  children.  To  the 
union  of  James  i\lcl"arlan  with  Matilda  Hobbs 
there  were  born  seven  children,  viz:  John,  who  was 
drowned  in  the  Ohio  River;  William,  an  hotel- 
keeper  at  Ilarrisburgh ;  James  B.;  Abraham. who  died 
in  California;  Mattie  ?.nd  Silas,  botli  deceased;  and 
Lizzie,  wife  of  C.  W.  Poor,  of  Chicago.  James  B., 
the  third  child,  was  born  in  Elizabethtown  Jan- 
uary 21,  1853,  and  there  received  Lis  earlier  schol- 
astic training  in  the  common  schools,  and  later 
attended  ISIcKendree  College,  at  Lebanon,  111., 
graduating  from  this  institution.  He  assisted  his  fa- 
ther in  various  wa^-s  until  he  was  twenty-two  j-ears 
old,  and  then  engaged  in  general  merchandising 
with  a  brother  in  Hurricane,  Ky.  They  were  do- 
ing a  good  business  until  burned  out,  and  as  they 
carried  no  insurance  the  loss  was  complete.  Our 
subject  then  returned  to  Elizabethtown,  111.,  and 
became  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  law  with  Hon. 
Lewis  F.  Plater.  After  reading  law  nearly  two 
years,  he  engaged  in  business  in  1883,  and  in 
1890  established  himself  in  his  present  line  of  busi- 
ness, conducting  a  meat  market  and  livery  stable, 
and  has  been  thus  engaged  ever  since. 

Mr.  McFarlan  lia-*  been  married  twice,  first  to  Miss 


424 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


Nellie  Fenell,  who  dierl  in  1882,  and  in  1883  he 
married  Miss  l^aura  McCainis.  Hy  his  first  marriage 
he  had  two  children,  viz:  .lames,  deceased;  and 
Bessie,  living  at  home.  By  his  second  marriage  he 
has  one  child,  Mattie,  living  at  home.  Both  his 
wives  were  born  in  Klizabetlitown.  He  himself 
has  always  lived  in  Klizabethtown,  having  been 
born  in  this  county.  Politically,  he  is  a  Demo- 
crat, and  is  an  energetic,  industrious  man.  He  is 
one  of  the  self-made  men  of  the  county,  and  is  a 
valued  and  liighlv  esteemed  citizen. 


^>^¥r<m^- 


»^i'  LKX  AXDKR  M.  COVINGTON  is  an  oculist 
and  aurist  of  Metropolis.  Among  the  pro- 
fessions none  require  more  sagacity  than 
that  of  the  specialist  in  eye  and  ear  trou- 
bles, and  in  this  connection  the  name  of  Coving- 
ton is  one  of  the  most  influential  in  Massac 
County,  and  one  of  the  most  respected  by  the 
community.  Or.  Covington  treats  diseases  of 
the  eye  and  ear  and  seems  eminently  suited  to 
this  laborious  calling.  He  is  a  son  of  George 
W.  Covington,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee.  From 
the  State  of  his  birth  he  moved  to  Kentucky 
about  the  j-ear  1820.  He  purchased  a  heavily 
timbered  tract  of  land  in  Livingston  County,  and 
soon  after  making  his  purchase  decided  to  place 
his  timber  on  the  market,  to  which  end  he  began 
supplying  the  Mississippi  River  steamboats  with 
wood.  This  proved  to  be  a  very  profitable  busi- 
ness and  Mr.  Covington  wisely  continued  it,  his 
entire  source  of  supply  being  from  his  farm,  and 
chiefly  through  this  means  he  accumulated  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  wealth.  In  1820  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Eliza  Hughes,  a  native  of  Petersburgh, 
Va.,  and  the  following  children  were  born  to  them: 
William  D.;  George,  deceased;  Martha,  widow 
of  William  Lee,  of  I'aducah,  Ky.;  James,  Washing- 
ton, Daniel,  Peter,  Alexander  M.  (the  subject  of  this 
sketch),  Blunt  and  Linn  15. 

Alexander  M.  Covington  is  a  product  of  Liv- 
ingston County,  where  he  was  born  March  19,  18.51, 


and  being  brought  up  on  a  woodland  farm,  became 
accustomed  perforce  to  hard  work.  He  never 
enjoyed  any  familiarity  with  good  schools,  his  ed- 
ucational advantages  being  confined  to  the  old- 
time  log  schoolhouse,  heated  by  a  fireplace  and 
with  rude  slab  benches  and  dirt  floor.  At  the  age 
of  twenty,  however,  having  contrived  to  acquire 
a  good,  sound  basis  in  the  rudiments  of  education, 
he  started  out  in  life  for  himself,  and,  anticipating 
the  advice  of  Horace  Greeley,  went  West  as  far  as 
Kansas,  where  he  was  employed  to  herd  cattle  at  a 
salary  of  §2  per  day  for  one  year.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  he  returned  to  his  old  Kentucky  home,  where 
he  found  plenty  to  do  on  the  farm  and  in  the  tim- 
ber business  for  about  three  years.  At  the  end  of 
this  time  lie  went  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  where  he  began 
fitting  himself  for  the  medical  profession,  making 
a  specialty  of  diseases  of  the  eye  and  ear.  After 
graduating  in  this  branch  of  the  profession  he  went 
to  Paducah,  Ky.,  where  he  opened  an  office,  but 
after  remaining  there  until  1877  became  to  Metrop- 
olis, 111.,  and  here  has  successfulh'  pursued  his  call- 
ing up  to  the  present  time,  his  efforts  in  curing 
diseases  of  the  eye  and  ear  being  remarkably  suc- 
cessful. He  makes  his  home  in  the  Palace  Hotel 
of  Metropolis,  of  which  he  is  the  proprietor,  the 
purchase  being  made  in  1885,  and  from  this,  as  well 
as  from  his  practice,  he  derives  a  handsome  annual 
income.  The  establishment  is  well  conducted,  and 
the  very  name  of  the  place  is  a  guarantee  that  the 
patrons  will  obtain  thebestof  accommodations  in 
every  respect.  It  is  a  favorite  resort  of  traveling 
men  and  this  alone  is  a  sufficient  recommendation 
for  the  place. 

Dr.  Covington  was  married  Januarv  1,  1877,  to 
Miss  Sarah  Taylor,  a  daughter  of  Isaac  Taylor,  a 
native  of  England.  She  was  brought  to  Amer- 
ica when  a  small  child  b^'  her  parents,  the  ocean 
voyage  being  made  in  a  steamer,  and  she  well  re- 
members that  the  weather  was  very  rough  and 
tem|)estuous,  but  they  arrived  safely  at  New  York. 
She  and  the  Doctor  are  the  parents  of  the  following 
children:  Mabel,  James  R.,  Ivanhoe  and  Grover 
Cleveland.  It  is  almost  needless  to  say  that  the 
Doctor  is  an  enthusiastic  Democrat.  He  belongs  to 
the  following  secret  organizations:  the  Ancient 
Free  &  Accepted  Masons,  the   Independent  Order 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


425 


of  Odd  Fellows  and  the  Kniijlits  of  Pythias.  He 
and  his  wife  are  menihers  of  the  Christian  Church. 
They  are  highly  esteemed  citizens  of  Metropolis 
and  move  in  the  highest  circles  of  society. 


"f/OIIN  I).  YOUNG,  M.  D.  Among  the  peo- 
j  i)le  of  Massac,  as  well  as  the  surrounding 
^^  counties,  the  name  of  Dr.  Young  is  almost  a 
^^!f  household  word,  for  he  has  been  an  active 
practitioner  of  the  section  in  which  he  resides, 
and  has  shown  much  skill  and  intelligence  in  al- 
leviating the  pam  and  ailments  to  which  the 
human  body  is  heir.  He  is  a  son  of  Elijah  Young, 
who  was  born  in  the  Blue  Grass  regions  of  Ken- 
tucky about  1803.  in  which  section  he  attained 
mature  years,  being  reared  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
useful  occupation  of  farming.  He  was  given  fair 
advantages  in  his  youth,  wiscl}-  improved  them, 
and  became  looked  upon  as  a  man  of  sound  and 
pr.ictical  views;  and  as  he  was  of  a  decidedly  en- 
terprising and  public-spirited  disposition,  he  be- 
came known  far  and  near.  For  several  years  he 
was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  the  staple 
product  of  Kentuckj' — tobacco — and  was  quite 
successful  in  liandling  the  weed.  In  1855  he  made 
a  trip  to  the  State  of  Iowa  for  the  purpose  of  set- 
tling up  an  estate  there,  and  while  returning  home 
was  stricken  witii  cholera  at  Mt.  Vernon,  111.,  and 
there  died  on  the  ."ioth  of  September,  1855.  In  1826 
he  had  married  an  accomplished  and  intelligent 
lady,  and  their  union  resulted  in  the  birth  of  five 
children:  .lames  A.;  Hobert,  deceased;  Elizabeth; 
David  ('..deceased:  and  Elijah,  deceased.  In  1838 
the  wife  died,  and  in  1811  Mr.  Young  took  for  his 
second  wife  Miss  Anna  Stillic.  of  Tennessee  (the 
first  wife  having  been  Miss  Frances  Maloue,  of 
Kentucky),  to  whom  a  family  of  five  children  was 
given:  Mary  E.,  deceased;  John  D..  the  subject 
of  this  sketcii;  Caroline,  wife  of  D.  S.  Gray;  Ben- 
jamin 1'".  and  William  M. 

.Idliii  I).  Young  is  a  Tennesseean,  his  biitli  hav- 
ing occurred  in  Henry  County  of  that  State,  Oc- 


tober 18,  1844,  and  on  a  farm  in  his  native  countj- 
lie  was  reared  to  manhood,  his  advantages  for  ac- 
([uiring  an  education  being  onl^'  such  as  the  com- 
mon schools  in  the  vicinity  afforded.  He  was 
strictly  loyal  and  patriotic,  and  in  his  breast  was 
implanted  a  deep  love  for  his  native  land,  so  on  the 
15th  of  August,  1862,  he  joined  the  forces  of  the 
Union  army,  becoming  a  member  of  Company-  B, 
One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  and 
taking  part  in  the  battles  of  Greenville,  Vicksburg, 
Milliken'sBend,Guntown  and  Ripley, at  which  lat- 
ter place  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  theenem3\  June 
12, 1864,  and  sent  to  the  foul  pen  at  Anderson  ville, 
where  he  was  kept  in  captivity  until  December  13, 
1864,  when  he  w.as  paroled.  He  was  mustered  out 
of  the  service  June  2,  1865,  after  which  he  re- 
turned to  Illinois  and  soon  after  purchased  some 
land  in  Johnson  Count}',  where  he  energetically  fol- 
lowed the  calling  of  a  farmer  for  three  years.  He 
then  began  his  medical  studies,  for  which  he  seemed 
to  have  a  natural  inclination,  in  the  ollice  of  Dr. 
Grissam  and  Dr.  Norris,  and  after  thoroughly  fit- 
ting himself  under  these  experienced  and  success- 
ful medical  practitioners,  he  entered  the  Kentucky 
Medical  College,  of  Louisville,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  1874.  Immediately  thereafter  he 
came  to  Massac  County,  and  became  so  well  and 
favorably  known,  not  onl}'  as  a  skillful  practi- 
tioner of  the  healing  art,  but  also  as  a  public- 
spirited  and  intelligent  citizen,  that  in  1880  he  was 
elected  to  the  State  Legislature,  in  which  he  served 
with  distinction  for  two  terms,  winning  golden 
opinions  for  himself  as  an  intelligent  and  incor- 
ruptible legislator.  Upon  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  service  he  returned  to  his  home  and  en- 
gaged in  the  drug  trade  at  Brooklyn,  111.,  and  in 
the  conduct  of  his  business  affairs  has  been  re- 
markably successful  financially,  as  he  has  fully 
deserved  to  be.  In  his  dual  cap.acity  of  physician 
and  druggist  he  has  received  the  support  and 
patronage  he  so  richly,  and  of  his  own  intrinsic 
merit,  deserves. 

October  19,  18(i5,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Lucy, 
daughter  of  Rev.  Z.  Calhoun,  of  Illinois,  and  three 
children  have  blessed  their  union:  Laura,  wife  of 
Dr.  A.  E.  Adkins;  Fred  R.,  and  Alice,  deceased. 
The  Doctor  is  a    member  of  nearly  all   the- social 


426 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


orders,  being  a  Jlasou,  Odd  Fellow  and  a  Knight 
of  Pythias.  He  and  his  intelligent  and  amiable 
wife  are  nieinbers  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  the 
Doc^tor  is  a  stalwart  Republican,  always  found  in 
the  harness  working  for  the  good  of  his  party  and 
the  principles  promulgated  by  the  same. 


/  •!'^5*H=* 


OHN  AV.  Bl^RGESS.  Among  the  represent- 
ative, thorough-going  and  efJicient  olfleials 
of  his  section  of  Massac  County,  there  is 
probably  no  one  more  deserving  of  men- 
tion than  ,Tohn  W.  Burgess,  for  during  his  resi- 
dence within  its  borders  he  has  been  public-spirited 
and  enterprising,  law-abiding  and  energetic,  and  in 
every  way  worthy  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  is 
held.  His  father,  John  Burgess,  was  born  in  the 
State  of  North  Carolina  January  12. 1804,  and  dur- 
ing boyhood  moved  to  Rutherford  County,  Tenn. 
There  on  a  plantation  he  resided  until  he  at- 
tained manhood,  acquiring  a  practical  knowledge 
of  farming  .is  it  was  then  conducted  in  the  South. 
He  fortunately  secured  fair  educational  advan- 
tages, being,  during  his  youth  and  early  manhood, 
an  attendant  of  the  common  schools,  but  upon  at- 
taining his  majority  he  started  out  to  fight  life's 
battles  for  himself,  almost  wholly  without  means, 
his  sole  capital  being  his  determination  to  succeed, 
coupled  with  a  fair  constitution.  He  secured  a 
position  as  an  overseer  on  a  cotton  plantation  in 
Tennessee,  whither  he  in  time  drifted,  and  this 
position  he  continued  to  bold  eighteen  years,  his 
youthful  training  being  of  great  benefit  to  him. 

In  1827,  the  father  of  our  subject  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Nancy  Johnson,  a  member  of 
the  F.  F.  Vs.,  and  as  a  result  of  their  union  a  fam- 
ily of  nineteen  children  w.as  born,  ten  of  whom 
lived  to  manhood  and  womanhood:  Robert  E., 
IClizabeth,  Thomas  R.,  John  W.  (whose  name  is  at 
the  head  of  this  biographj'),  Hardina,  James  W., 
Sarah  F.,  Isabel,  Addi?oii  F.  and  Laura.  The 
noble  mother  of  these  children    was   called    from 


this  life  ill  lK(;^i,  Mild  Susan  Glover  became 
Mr.  Burge.ss'  second  wife.  He  died  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  four-score  and  four,  his  walk 
throughout  his  long  life  having  been  characterized 
by  honesty  and  strictly  upright   business  methods. 

John  \V.  Burgess  was  born  on  a  Tennessee  plan- 
tation March  26,  1843,  and  there  grew  to  man- 
hood, receiving  absolutely  no  educational  advan- 
tages until  he  was  grown,  when  he  determined  to 
change  this  state  of  affairs,  and  for  two  years  paid 
his  own  expenses  in  school,  during  which  time,  it 
is  needless  to  s.ay,  that  he  applied  himself  with 
great  diligence  to  his  studies,  and  alwsiys  thereaf- 
ter made  the  most  of  every  opportunity  that  came 
in  his  way.  After  the  firing  upon  Ft.  Sumter,  it 
was  perhaps  but  natural  that  he  should  espouse 
the  cause  of  his  section,  and  his  name  was  soon 
found  on  the  rolls  of  the  Confederate  arm}-,  with 
which  he  served  for  eleven  months,  but  during 
that  time  he  became  convinced  that  he  was  fight- 
ing on  the  wrong  side,  and  after  participating  in 
the  bloody  battle  of  Shiloh  he  deserted  his  com- 
mand and  made  his  way  to  Illinois,  where  he  tilled 
the  soil  for  one  year.  At  the  end  of  this  time  his 
patriotic  spirit  would  not  allow  him  to  remain 
longer  inactive  and  he  became  a  member  of  Com- 
panj'  B,  Forty-ninth  Illinois  Infantry,  at  Spring- 
field, 111.,  with  which  he  served  until  the  war 
closed,  proving  himself  a  brave  and  faithful  sol- 
dier. He  returned  to  Illinois  and  until  1871  was 
identified  with  the  agricultural  interests  of  his  sec- 
tion, but  in  that  year  he  was  elected  to  the  posi- 
tior!  of  Constable,  which  position  he  h.is  since  held 
and  which  has  occupied  the  greater  portion  of  his 
time.  He  is  a  man  of  undoubted  intelligence,  and 
by  his  manly  and  straightforward  course  through 
life  h.as  made  numerous  friends.  He  is  in  inde- 
pendent circumstances  and  h.as  a  sufficiency  of 
worldly  goods  to  insure  him  a  competency,  all  of 
which  is  the  result  of  his  own  good  management. 

October  29,  1865,  Mr.  Burgess  was  married  to 
Miss  Susan  Kindred,  a  native  of  Hickman,  Ky.,  who 
died  on  the  26th  of  July,  1872,  after  having  borne 
him  three  children:  Arthur  C;  Nancy  E.,  wife 
of  Levi  Russell;  and  John  B.,  deceased.  Mr.  Bur- 
gess' second  union  was  celebrated  July  6,  1873,  to 
Miss  L.  L.  Bailey,  of  Illinois,  b}-  whom  he  became 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


427 


the  father  of  tliree  children:  Edgar  (deceased), 
Mary  H.  and  Martha  W.  The  mother  of  these 
children  died  June  "2,  1878,  and  on  the  18th  of 
August,  1880,  his  third  and  last  union  was  cele- 
brated, when  Mosuria  Anderson,  nee  Ford,  of  Illi- 
nois, became  his  wife.  To  them  three  children 
were  given:  Ida  B.,  James  ().  and  William  T. 
Mr.  Burgess  unfortunately  lost  this  wife  in  No- 
vember, 1891.  Socially  he  is  a  member  of  Lodge 
No.  621,  I.  O.  ().  F.,  and  ijoliticallj'  a  Republican 
of  pronounced  views,  being  at  all  times  true  to  his 
convictions. 


<g  MLLIAM  SOMMKR  was  l)orn  in  O^theim, 
\/iiJll  ^^fi'™'*"^''  ^^^y  '^^'  1841,  and  now  resides 
Vr^^  in  township  15,  range  5,  Mass.ac  County'. 
His  father,  Valentine  Sommer,  w.is  born  in  the 
same  locality,  where  he  learned  the  trade  of  weaver, 
and  operated  a  hand  loom,  manufacturing  linen, 
and  spent  his  entire  life  in  his  native  land.  He 
married  Mina  Poppe,  of  the  same  locality,  by  whom 
he  had  the  following  children:  Sabina,  William, 
Eliza,  George,  John  and  Wilhelniina.  The  latter 
still  lives  in  her  native  land,  all  the  rest  having 
come  to  America.  William  attended  school  steadily 
from  the  time  he  w.as  six  to  the  time  he  was  four- 
teen 3'ears  old,  and  he  then  attended  the  church 
school  on  .Sunda}-.  From  the  time  he  was  four- 
teen until  1857  he  worked  on  the  farm,  and  iu 
June,  1857,  sailed  from  Bremen  on  the  sailing- 
vessel  "Republic,"  and  landed  at  New  York  forty- 
nine  days  later.  He  went  directly  to  Chicago  and 
there  commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  cabinet 
maker,  but,  not  liking  his  employer,  he  went  to  l)u 
Page  County  and  worked  on  the  farm  until  the 
coming  on  of  the  war.  He  enlisted  August  20, 
1861,  in  Company  C,  Thirteentli  Illinois  Cavalry, 
and  served  until  after  the  close  of  the  war.  His 
service  was  mostly  in  .\rkans.as  and  Missouri  fight- 
ing bushwhackers  and  guerrillas.  He  veteranized  in 
January,  1864,  had  a  furlough  of  thirty  days,  and 


rejoined  his  regiment  at  Duvall's  Bluff.  With  the 
exception  of  a  few  months  wliile  sick  he  was  with 
his  regiment  in  all  its  marches  and  battles,  and 
was  honorably  discharged  with  his  regiment  in 
October,  1865,  after  which  he  returned  to  Du  Page 
County,  and  from  there  went  to  St.  Louis,  where 
he  was  employed  at  the  upholsterer's  trade  until 
late  in  1868. 

Our  subject  removed  to  Metropolis  about  the 
year  1868,  erected  a  store  building  and  engaged  in 
the  mercantile  business  for  two  years  and  then  sold 
his  business  and  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade  as 
a  builder  twelve  yeai-s,  most  of  the  time  in  Pope 
County.  In  1883  he  sold  his  interests  in  this 
trade  and  went  to  Missouri,  remaining  there  seven 
mouths,  and  then  returned  to  Massac  Countj-, 
where  he  bought  the  farm  upon  which  he  now  re- 
sides, which  contains  one  hundred  and  twent}' 
acres,  only  ten  of  which  were  cleared  at  the  time 
of  purchase.  He  now  has  ninet}-  acres  under  cul- 
tivation and  has  erected  good  and  substantial 
farm  buildings. 

Mr.  Sommer  w.as  married  in  1884  to  Elizabeth 
Gebhart,  who  was  born  in  Germany  and  came  to 
the  United  States  when  an  infant  with  her  parents. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  .Sommer  have  one  child,  Maiy.  Mr. 
Sommer  has  three  children  living  bj-  a  former 
marriage:  William,  Henry  and  Caroline.  Mrs. 
Sommer  also  has  one  son  by  a  former  marri.ige 
named  Otto.  Our  subject  is  a  member  of  the 
United  Baptist  Church  and  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics. He  is  also  a  member  of  Tom  Smith  Post  No. 
345,  G.  A.  R. 


(TJ I.  YOST,  manager  of   the   wagon   material 

W)ii  manufactory  of  Yost,  BigelowiVr  Co.,  of  Me- 
JW^  tropolis,  Massac  County,  a  plant  which  was 
(^)  established  b3-  Horace  T.  Bigelow. and  Jona- 
than Hood,the  capital  being  furnished  by  the  Sar  ven 
Company,  of  St.  Louis,  is  a  son  of  J.  .S.  Yost,  who 
W.1S  interested  in  the  establishment  of  the  plant. 


428 


I'ORTHAIT  AM)    I'.KX  I  ItAI'IlICA  L    IfKN'IKW. 


tliouirh  not  one  of  llie  orii^inal  sloekliolfleis.  J.  S. 
Yost  was  born  in  Clermont  County,  Oliio,  and 
was  reared  on  a  farm,  hut  in  early  life  he  removed 
to  St.  Louis  and  became  employed  in  the  factory  of 
the  Sarvcn  Wheel  Compan\',  first  as  bookkeeper, 
and  had  an  interest  in  llic  business  there  for  about 
twenty  years,  going  there  in  1853.  When  he  went 
to  St.  Louis  he  was  poor,  but  by  liis  own  industry 
and  application  built  himself  up,  and  worked  by 
day  and  studied  at  night,  in  this  way  accumula- 
ting some  means  and  obtaining  a  fair  education. 
Selling  out  his  interest  in  St.  Louis,  he  removed 
to  Metropolis  and  secured  the  pi'ineipal  interest  in 
the  establishment  of  which  he  was  the  head  and 
active  manager  the  rest  of  his  life,  his  death  oc- 
curring August  15,  1881.  Me  was  a  very  suc- 
cessful business  man  and  was  well  known  as  a  man 
of  activity  and  integrity.  He  was  an  influential 
member  of  the  Methodist  Pipiscopal  Church,  l)oth 
in  St.  Louis  and  Metropolis,  was  liberal  both  in 
his  life  and  in  his  views,  and  was  greatly  mourned 
at  his  death.  He  was  married  in  Cincinnati  about 
1856  to  Anna  S.,  daughter  of  H.  G.  Bigelow,  who 
was  the  first  man  to  run  a  spoke  lathe  west  of  the 
AUeghenies,  and  who  was  one  of  the  projectors  of 
the  enterprise  in  Metropolis.  He  died  in  1867. 
To  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Yost  with  Miss  Bigelow 
there  were  born  four  children,  namely:  Horace 
I.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  AYilliam  B.,  living  in 
Metropolis  and  working  for  the  concern;  James  S. 
at  school,  and  one  that  died  iu  infancy.  The 
mother  of  these  children  is  still  livingin  IMetropolis 
and  owns  the  interest  in  the  business  formerly 
owned  by  her  husband. 

Horace  L  Yost  was  born  April  28,  1858,  at  St. 
Louis,  Mo.  His  youth  was  spent  in  that  city  at- 
tending school,  and  he  removed  to  Metropolis  with 
his  father  when  about  fourteen  years  of  age.  He 
also  attended  commercial  college  one  year,  always 
remaining  at  home,  and  began  working  for  the 
company  in  December,  1879,  as  sliii)ping  and  bill- 
ing clerk,  and  has  ever  since  remained  in  the  es- 
tablishment. He  is  now  entirely  familiar  with  the 
business  in  all  its  details,  and  is  at  present  the 
efflcient  manager  of  the  concern.  The  plant  is  in 
a  very  prosperous  condition  under  his  skillful  man- 
a'^ement.     It  is  the  largest  manufacturing  institu- 


tion in  Metropolis,  employing  about  seventy-live 
men,  and  has  a  very  large  output  of  excellent  ma- 
terial. It  is  capable  of  turning  out  the  material 
for  the  manufacture  of  one  hundred  wagons  every 
day.  Mr.  Yost  is  ably  assisted  by  the  bookkeeper, 
Mr.  E.  G.  Wli3^ers,  who  has  been  engaged  as  book- 
keeper of  the  concern  for  twenty  years.  He  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  II.  G.  Bigelow,  and  she  has  an 
interest  in  the  business.  They  were  married  in 
1872  and  have  one  child,  Elijah  G.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Whyers  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  Mr.  Whyers  is  a  Mason  and  a  Knight 
Templar.  Mr.  Yost  was  married  in  1872  to 
Maggie  Thrift,  of  Metropolis.  They  have  had 
two  children,  Mignon,  who  died  at  six  years,  and 
Horace,  living  at  home.  Politically,  Mr.  Yost  is  a 
Republican,  and  fraternally  a  Mason,  an  Odd  Fel- 
low and  a  Knight  Templar.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  is  a  man  of  much 
more  than  ordinary  business  ability,  and  is  a  gen- 
ial, pleasant  and  popular  gentleman. 


]-^-f^-[ 


'1^  ENRY  D.  FRY,  a  resident  of  township  15, 
ITjV  range  4,  Massac  County',  was  born  in  East 
^^^  Tennessee  October  31,  1841,  and  is  a  son 
(^)  of  Henry  and  Esther  Fry,  who  came  to  Ill- 
inois when  he  was  but  an  infant,  and  has  no  rec- 
ollection of  any  other  country  than  his  adopted 
home.  He  was  educated  in  the  primitive  subscrip- 
tion schools,  with  their  log  schoolhouses,  heated 
by  a  large  open  fireplace  taking  up  the  entire  end 
of  the  building,  and  with  furniture  made  of  logs 
and  puncheons.  He  made  his  home  with  his  mo- 
ther until  his  enlistment  in  the  Union  army,  which 
took  place  in  October,  1861,  when  he  became  a 
member  of  Company  A,  Forty-eighth  Illinois  In- 
fantry, and  served  nearly  two  years.  He  was  then 
taken  sick  and  was  honorably  discharged  on  account 
of  disability,  his  sickness  being  caused  by  exposure 
ill  the  field.  Returning  home  as  soon  as  able,  he  re- 
sumed work  at  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  had 
learned  before  the  war  came  on,  and  also  engaged 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


429 


some  in  farming.  In  1880  he  purchased  the  farm 
he  now  owns  and  occupies,  whicii  at  tiie  time  of 
purchase  comjjrised  one  luindred  and  twenty  acres, 
forty  of  wiiich  were  improved.  He  now  has  the 
greater  portion  of  the  farm  cleared  and  under  cul- 
tivation and  has  added  to  the  house  and  otherwise 
improved  the  place,  so  that  now  it  is  a  comforta- 
ble home. 

In  18(53  our  subject  was  married  to  Catherine 
fJregory,  wlio  was  born  in  Massac  County,  and 
was  the  daugiiler  of  Ulysses  Gregor}-.  She  died 
about  two  years  later,  and  he  was  married  the  sec- 
ond time,  to  Adeline  Allen,  who  was  born  in  this 
county,  and  was  a  daughter  of    AVilliam   Allen. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fry  had  six  cliildren:  Ida,  Phin- 
eas,  Catherine.  Maud  and  Lewis  (twins),  and  Isaac. 
Mrs.  Fry  died  in  1888,  and  our  subject  was  mar- 
ried the  third  time,  to  Sarah  (Branham)  Choat, 
the  widow  of  (Jrant  Choat.  She  was  born  in 
Massac  County,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Daniel 
P.r.nnham.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fr}'  have  one  daugh- 
ter, Lora.  They  are  members  of  the  Missionary 
Baptist  Church.  Tiie  former  is  a  member  of  Tom 
Smith  Post  Xo.  345,  G.  A.  R.,  is  a  Republican  in 
politics  and  a  stanch  supporter  of  that  party's 
principles.  He  has  served  as  a  member  of  the 
Township  Scliool  Board  and  as  Road  Commis- 
sioner. 


ilf^, OBKRT  NI'CKALLS.  Among  the  pronii- 
i^fr  nent,  wide-awake  and  honorable  business 
iAj\\l  men  of  Metropolis,  111.,  Robert  Jsuckalls 
*^p  deserves  i)rominent  mention,  for  he  has 
obtained  a  wide  reputation  for  the  superiority  of 
his  wines  and  iiipiors  of  all  kinds,  which  reputa- 
tion is  the  direct  result  of  an  intimate  acquaint- 
ance  with  the  finest  and  purest  of  foreign  and 
(liiiiiestic  products.  His  jjiemises  are  conducted 
ill  an  orderl\'  and  capable  manner.  His  father, 
John  Xuckalls,  was  born  in  the  Old  Dominion  in 
1832,  and  was  brought  up  in  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness, to  wliicii  occupation   his  lime  and  attention 


were  given  after  his  removal  from  the  State  of  his 
birth  to  Ballard  County,  K3'.,  in  1845,  he  success- 
fully conducting  a  general  store  at  Woodville  until 
1861.  The  threatening  war  clouds  then  caused 
him  to  dispose  of  his  goods,  after  which  he  re- 
moved to  Fulton  County,  Ky.,  purchased  a  tract 
of  land,  and  began  farming,  and  was  a  successful 
follower  of  the  plow  until  his  death  in  1870,  when 
just  in  the  prime  of  his  manhood.  His  untimely 
death  was  a  source  of  much  sorrow  to  all  who 
knew  him,  as  well  as  to  his  own  immediate  house- 
hold. He  was  married  in  1837  to  Miss  Nancj'^ 
Powell,  of  Kentucky,  and  to  their  union  a  family 
of  four  children  was  born:  Amy,  wife  of  G.  L. 
Thompson,  of  Paducah,  Ky.;  Fannie,  wife  of  R.  W. 
Arnold,  also  of  Paducah;  Robert,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  and  Johnnie,  widow  of  John  Barrett, 
of  Paducah.  The  father  of  these  children  was  a 
man  of  unblemished  reputation,  a  law-abiding  citi- 
zen and  a  man  of  mucli  energy  and  force  of  char- 
acter. After  his  death  his  widow  experienced 
considerable  difficult}-  m  providing  her  children 
with  tiie  necessaries  of  life,  but  in  this  arduous 
undertaking  she  was  manfully'  assisted  by  her  son 
Robert,  who  bravely  put  his  shoulder  to  the  wheel 
and  gave  his  time  and  strength  to  his  mother's 
service  until  he  was  twenty  3'ears  of  age. 

Robert,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in 
Fulton  County,  Ky.,  June  29,  1865,  but  was 
reared  iu  the  city  of  Paducah,  and  as  he  was  hut 
five  3'ears  of  age  when  his  father  died  his  educa- 
tional opportunities  were  of  a  very  meagre  de- 
scription and  were  by  no  means  calculated  to  fit 
him  for  the  stern  realities  of  life.  When  a  small 
lad  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Paducah  Furni- 
ture Manufacturing  Coinpan}',  thus  earning  con- 
siderable money,  but  at  the  age  of  twenty'  3-ears  he 
went  to  Memphis,  where  he  remained  for  one  3'ear 
in  a  like  establishment.  For  two  3'ears  succeeding 
this  he  worked  on  a  farm  in  Illinois,  after  which 
one  3'ear  was  spent  in  a  furniture  sttue  in  Metrop- 
olis. We  next  find  liiin  tending  bar  in  Obermaik's 
saloon,  but  a  year  later  he  rented  the  Palace  Hotel, 
which  he  conducted  for  another  year.  Immedi- 
ately succeeding  this  he  opened  what  was  known 
as  Oak  Hall  saloon  on  his  own  account,  at  Brook- 
lyn, III.,  and  is  now  also  the   owner   of   the   Ofjcr- 


430 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


iiijuk  saloon,  these  establishments  being  conducted 
ill  a  business-like  and  thoroughly'  respectable  way. 
Mr.  Nuekails  is  the  agent  for  the  Annlieuser-Husch 
Brewing  Association  in  his  section,  and  being  pos- 
sessed of  great  energy  and  excellent  managerial 
ability,  he  has  developed  his  connections  among 
the  most  desirable  trade  in  a  rapid  and  promising 
manner.  In  addition  to  this  business  he  owns  a 
controlling  interest  in  a  cigar  manufactory  at 
Metropolis.  He  is  honorable  in  his  business  meth- 
ods, is  kind  and  considerate  in  the  family  circle, 
and  has  many  friends  among  the  best  class  of  citi- 
zens in  his  community.  In  this  connection  it 
may  trul^'  be  said  that 

"Honor  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise, 
Act  well  your  part;  there  all  the  honor  lies." 

Mr.  Nuekails  was  married  November  26,  1885, 
to  Miss  Idora  Cummings,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
Cummings,  of  Illinois,  and  three  children  have 
blessed  their  union:  C4eorge,  Lenna  and  Flora. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows  and  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  in  his 
political  views  is  a  Democrat. 


in  either  North  Carolina  or  Tennessee,  and  his 
wife,  Agnes  Dam ron,  was  born  in  1811  in  Tenn- 
essee. Stephen  Gill's  father,  who  was  Benjamin 
Gill,  was  by  occupation  a  farmer,  and  came  to  Illi- 
nois with  his  wife,  who  was  formerly  Miss  Polly 
Boon,  and  their  three  children  at  a  very  early 
day.  They  were  poor  people,  and  came  with  the 
old-fashioned  two-wheel  cart,  and  settled  in 
Williamson  County,  where  they  fanned  on  land 
belonging  to  the  Government,  to  which  they  never 
secured  a  title.  The  old  gentleman  died  there  in 
the  '40s,  at  a  good  old  age,  and  his  widow  sur- 
vived  him   some  eight  years,  and  died  at  a  groat 


age.  He  was  of  Dutch,  and  she  of  Scotch  ances- 
try. He  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
War,  and  had  a  close  call,  being  shot  through  the 
ear  and  picked  up  for  dead.  The  children  of  this 
couple  were  as  follows:  Stephen,  James  and  Kittj% 
now  the  wife  of  Philip  Upchurch.  All  are  dead 
except  Mrs.  Upchuich,  who  is  living  at  her  daugh- 
ter's in  Saline  County,  II!.,  nearly  eighty  j-oars  of 
age.  Stephen  Gill  and  his  wife  had  nine  children, 
six  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom  John  C. 
was  the  eldest.  The  others  were  Polly,  Benjamin, 
Monroe,  Stejjhen,  Thompson  (who  died  in  infancy), 
Elizabetii,  Sarah  Ann  and  IMilton.  The  father  of 
these  children  was  a  blacksmith  and  a  farmer.  He 
died  on  his  own  farm  in  Williamson  County  early 
in  the  '70s,  aged  over  sixty  years.  His  first  wife 
died  in  1851,  aged  forty  years,  and  he  was  after- 
ward married  to  Miss  Rebecca  Jackson,  a  native  of 
Kentucky,  who  is  still  living.  She  bore  him  four 
children,  of  whom  there  are  three  living. 

John  C.  Gill  had  but  a  limited  education  in  his 
youth,  having  had  lo  go  three  miles  to  a  subscrip- 
j  tion  school,  p.aying  ^l  per  month.  He  grew  up 
on  the  farm,  .accustomed  to  farm  labor,  and  as- 
sisted his  father  somewhat  in  the  blacksmith  shop, 
which  occupation  he  followed  until  1886.  He  en- 
listed in  Company  G,  One  Hundred  and  Twen- 
tieth Illinois  Infantrj',  in  August,  1862,  under 
Capt.  Whiteaker.  He  served  in  the  ranks  over 
three  years,  was  in  the  hospital  nine  months,  and 
while  not  wounded,  yet  he  was  scarred  b3'  bullets 
twice.  He  vvas  married  September  1,  1850,  to 
Frances  Phillips,  of  Alabama,  daughter  of  Lavern 
Phillips,  who  came  to  Illinois  in  1848  or  1849. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gill  began  married  life  on  a  small 
improvement  left  him  by  his  father,  which  he  soon 
sold,  and  bought  forty  acres  of  wild  land,  on  which 
he  built  a  small,  rough,  log  house,  with  puncheon 
floor,  stick  and  dirt  chimney,  with  no  windows, 
the  door  being  thrown  open  to  let  in  the  light. 
Within  three  years  he  sold  this  place  and  went  to 
the  Mississippi  bottoms  a  few  months,  then  bought 
another  forty  acres,  which  he  sold.  He  made  other 
changes,  and  at  length  bought  eighty  acres,  of 
which  his  first  forty  were  a  part,  and  lived  on  this 
tract  some  ten  years,  when  he  sold  it,  and  bought 
seventy-six  acres,  his  present  home,  in  1870.     This 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


431 


land  cost  Iiiin  a  pair  of  rniiles,  an  old  wagon  and 
1300.  It  had  on  it  a  fair  log  liouso.  which  our 
subject  moved  up  to  the  road,  weather-hoarded  it, 
and  built  to  it  a  frame  addition,  and  this  is  his 
liome  at  the  present  da^'.  He  carries  on  a  mixed 
farming  business  and  raises  stock. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gill  have  all  their  children  living, 
viz:  Rebecca  Ann.  wife  of  William  Deaton,  a 
farmer  nearby,  who  has  three  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters; Lucinda,  wife  of  Harvey  Wise,  a  farmer,  who 
has  three  sons  and  two  daughtei-s;  and  Lizzie,  a 
young  lad\'  tc.icher  living  at  home,  who  is  well- 
educated  and  very  successful  in  her  profession. 
.Mr.  (Jill  is  a  Miister  Mason,  and  while  a  Repub- 
lican, yet  he  votes  for  the  candidate  of  his  choice, 
even  though  on  some  other  parly  ticket. 


-"T^IIOMAS  LIGGKTT,  a  prominent  resident  of 
//j>.  .Metropolis,  Massac  County,  was  born  in 
\U  .Staffordshire,  England,, lune  22, 1842.  His 
fath-'r,  William  Liggett,  was  born  in  County  Ty- 
rone, Ireland,  and  was  the  son  of  Andrew  and 
Elizabeth  (English)  Liggett.  The  former  was  born 
on  the  same  farm  upon  which  he  lived  when  his 
son  William  was  born,  and  was  descended  from 
Scotch  ancestry.  His  wife  was  also  a  native  of 
County  Tyrone  and  of  Scotch  ancestry.  Both  she 
and  lier  husband  spent  their  entire  lives  in  that 
county,  but  all  of  their  children  came  to  America. 
Their  names  were  as  follows:  America,  William, 
Samuel,  El  izaheth,  Mary,. lames,  Andrew  and  Mollic. 
William  Liggett  was  reared  in  Ireland,  and  at  eigh- 
teen years  of  age  went  to  Staffoidshire,  England, 
where  he  was  employed  in  the  coal  mines  of  John 
Bradley  &  Company  eighteen  years.  In  1857  he 
came  to  the  I'nited  Slates,  accompanied  by  his  wife 
and  twochildrcn.  He  sailed  from  Liverpool  in  Sep- 
tember in  the  "Sardinia,"'  of  New  York,  and  after 
a  voyage  of  eight  weeks  landed  in  New  Orleans. 
He  then  came  by  the  wa^'  of  the  Mississippi  and 
Ohio  Rivers  to  Metropolis,and  bought  land  twelve 
miles  from   the   latter   place,  engaged   in   farming 

23 


and  resided  there  until  his  death,  in  1886,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-seven  years.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  w.as  Maria  Parkes;  she  was  born  in  Staf- 
fordshire, England,  and  was  the  seventh  daughter 
of  William  and  Mary  Parkes.  The  family  of 
Parkes  has  been  in  existence  in  Staffordshire  for 
more  than  three  hundred  years,  the  name  being 
formerly  Paikeshouse,  but  was  shortened  by  an  act 
of  Parliament  at  the  recpiest  of  the  famil}'.  Mrs. 
Liggert  is  still  living  in  .Metropolis,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three  years.  She  and  her  husband  reared 
two  children,  Thomas  and  Elizabeth,  the  latter  the 
wife  of  .1.  .1.  Robison,  and  now  living  in  Metrop- 
olis. 

Thomas  Liggett  was  fifteen  years  old  when  he 
was  brought  to  this  country,  and  upon  landing  in 
the  United  States  the  family  was  without  money. 
The  father  took  sick  and  the  support  of  the  family 
devolved  upon  Thomas.  AVhen  his  father  bought 
the  land  above  mentioned  he  was  compelled  to  go 
in  debt,  and  afterward,  when  Thom.as  was  in  the 
army,  he  saved  money  which  I'.e  sent  home  to  pay 
the  debt.  He  enlisted  August  31,  1861,  in  Com- 
pany A,  Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry,  as  a  private  sol- 
dier, and  in  IMarch,  1863,  was  promoted  to  Regi- 
mental Ciuartermaster-Sergeant,  and  served  in  that 
capacity  until  March,  1864.  He  then  re-entered 
thesamecompany  asa  private,  and  in  August,  1864, 
was  promoted  to  bo  a  Corporal.  In  March,  1865, 
he  was  made  First  Sergeant,  and  served  in  that  ca- 
pacity unlil  November,  1865,  when  he  was  honor- 
ably discharged,  having  been  with  his  regiment 
in  all  its  marches,  battles  and  campaigns. 

In  1884  our  subject  commenced  business  as  pen- 
sion attorne3',  which  he  has  continued  until  the  pres- 
ent time.  On  his  return  from  the  army  his  father  di- 
vided his  land  with  him,  and  he  thus  had  eighty 
acres  of  timber  land  on  which  to  make  his  start  in 
life.  He  built  on  that  pl.ace  and  commenced  to 
clear  a  farm  before  his  marriage.  He  also  bought 
other  land,  until  his  farm  contained  two  hundred 
acres,  one  hundred  acres  of  it  cleared,  upon  which 
he  erected  good  farm  buildings.  He  lived  there 
until  November  2  L  1886,  when  he  removed  to  Me- 
tropolis, where  he  has  resided  ever  since.  He  was 
married  in  1872  to  ^larUia  A.  Thompson,  who  was 
burn    in    Delaware,    the    daughter    (>f   Rev.    .Jesse 


432 


I'oiMiiAir  AM)  i!I()(:rai'iiic'ai>  review. 


and  Ann  (Landrelb)  Thompson.  Jesse  Thompson 
was  a  native  of  New  Jersey',  where  he  was  a 
preacher  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for 
fifty-six  years,  and  died  at  New  Libert^',  Pope 
Count3'.  David  Landreth,  grandfather  of  Mrs. 
Liggett,  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  came  to 
this  country  during  the  Revolutionary  War.  lie 
was  taken  prisoner  hy  the  Rritish,  and  when, 
near  the  close. of  the  wai',  he  was  sent  out  of  camp 
for  water,  he  made  iiis  escape.  He  was  a  brother 
of  C'uthbert  Landreth,  who  established  the  well- 
known  Landreth  seed  house  in  Philadelphia. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Liggett  have  three  cliildren,  viz: 
Martha  A.,  Alice  JL  and  Jessie.  The  second  child 
died  in  infanc}'.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Liggett  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  great 
workers  in  the  Sunday-school,  of  which  the  former 
is  Secretary.  He  is  a  member  of  Tom  Smith  Post 
No.  345,  G.  A.  R.,  and  served  as  Sergeant  Major 
in  1886  and  1887,  and  has  been  Adjutant  since 
1888.     He  is  a  Republican  in  politics. 


JESSE  N.  COX,  who  has  been  a  resident  of 
Burnside  Township  since  1855,  and  has 
lived  on  his  present  farm  for  the  past  twen- 
ty-two years,  was  born  in  Trigg  Count3-, 
Ky.,  in  1838.  His  father,  Jeremiah  Cox,  was  a 
farmer,  and  was  born  in  Stewart  County,  Tenn., 
iu  1806,  not  far  from  where  his  son  was  born. 
Jeremiah  Cox  married  Obedience  Holland,  a  na- 
tive of  Kentucky.  They  lived  a  few  years  after 
their  union  in  Stewart  County,  Tenn.,  and  then 
moved  to  Calloway  County,  Ky.,  where  they  lived 
on  their  own  farm  until  the  fall  of  1855,  when 
they  sold  out  and  came  to  Johnson  County,  bring- 
ing with  them  their  family  of  nine  children,  seven 
sons  and  two  daughters.  The  journey  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  miles  was  accouiplished  with 
their  own  horse-team  and  covered  wagon,  and 
they  drove  before  them  their  cattle.  At  that  time 
they  had  but  $800  and  their  stock,  but  managed 
to  purchase   two  hundred  acres  of  land  with  im- 


provements, including  a  log  house,  in  Tunnel 
Hill  Township,  for  ^800.  This  they  made  their 
permanent  home,  and  tliore  the  mother  died  in 
September,  1855,  one  month  after  their  arrival, 
aged  forty-three  years.  The  father  was  married  the 
second  time,  to  Sarah  Riggers,  of  Illinois,  and 
lived  twenty-two  years  after  the  death  of  his  first 
wife,  dying  in  1878,  aged  sixty-two  years.  One 
son,  William  B.,  who  died  in  1865,  aged  twenty- 
five,  left  a  widow  and  three  children.  There  are 
now  living  four  male  members  of  the  family,  viz: 
Perry,  a  farmer  of  Burnside  Township;  Jesse  N.; 
Ricliard  S.;  and  Franklin,  a  farmer  of  Burnside 
Townshii). 

Mr.  Cox,  of  this  sketch,  had  but  little  education 
in  his  3'outh,  and  that  was  obtained  in  the  sub- 
scription schools.  He  was  when  a  boy  inured  to 
hard  labor,  and  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty  years  old,  and  then  worked  on  the  farm 
summers,  and  taught  school  some  eight  winters, 
partly  before  and  partly  after  his  marriage.  lie  was 
married  when  twenty-five  jears  old,  February'  3, 
1863,  to  Miss  Caroline  Rushing,  a  daughter  of  Na- 
than and  Maiy  (Veal)  Rushing,  who  came  from 
Kentucky  to  Illinois  before  1850.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Cox  first  bought  ninety  acres  of  land  in  Tunnel 
Hill  Township,  where  they  lived  six  years,  when 
they  sold  and  moved  to  Burnside  Township  to 
their  present  farm.  At  first  this  farm  consisted  of 
sixty-five  acres,  but  five  years  later  the3^  added  to 
it  fifteen  acres,  and  in  1881  eighty-five  acres  more 
were  added,  and  since  then  twelve  acres  more, 
making  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
acres,  which  cost  from  $8  to  ^¥16. 66  per  acre. 
The}'  at  first  lived  in  a  small  frame  house,  which 
was  built  in  1870,  in  the  forest,  and  was  a  one- 
story  structure,  14x16  feet  in  size,  containing  a 
large  fireplace  with  its  chimney  built  outside.  The 
house  stood  on  pedestals  of  stone  and  had  but  one 
room,  and  as  there  was  that  winter  a  storm  of 
sleet  which  so  loaded  the  trees  that  there  was 
danger  of  their  falling  on  this  little  house, 
Mr.  Cox  came  to  his  empt^'  cabin  and  felled  the 
trees  that  overhung  it.  The  farm  was  all  timber 
land,  and  the  one  hundred  acres  now  under  culti- 
vation represent  many  hard  days'  work  and  toil, 
most  of  which  he  has  done  himself.     He  has  been 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


433 


.1  man  of  great  strength  and  endurance,  and  is 
still  well  preserved  and  taking  a  merited  rest.  In 
1890  he  built  his  present  commodious  two-stor}- 
frame  house,  16x36  feet,  having  seven  large  rooms 
and  a  fine  double  porch  the  entire  length. 

Our  subject's  first  wife  died  Aprd  14,  1872, 
leaving  no  children.  His  second  wife  was  Miss 
Nancy  Reeves,  born  in  Texas  and  who  came  to  Illi- 
nois in  1871.  Her  father  was  Absalom  Reeves,  and 
her  mother  Eliza  C.  Blaxton.  both  of  Tennessee. 
She  has  two  brothers,  William  Reeves,  a  farmer  of 
Burnside  Township,  and  Henry  B.  Reeves,  a  mer- 
chant of  Mound  City,  111.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cox 
have  buried  two  children,  William  T.,  aged  four, 
and  Louisa  E.,  aged  one  year,  and  there  are  now 
living  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  viz:  Charles 
B.,  seventeen  3'ears  old;  Mar3-  O.,  fifteen;  Lloj'd  F., 
fourteen;  Harvej'  A.,  thirteen;  Orpha  .Ti,  ten;  and 
Henry  Lee,  nine;  all  are  at  home  and  attending 
school. 

Mr.  Cox  is  a  Master  Mason,  and  a  Democrat. 
Religiously  he  is  a  free  thinker,  and  he  has  been  a 
very  successful  man  in  his  lifetime,  which  he  at- 
tributes to  skillful  management,  economical  living 
and  hard  lahoi'. 


i>^-<m 


James  Eloyd,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  who  removed 
from  that  State  in  1828  to  Illinois  by  team  and 
wagon,  settling  in  Pope  County  nine  miles  north 
of  Golconda  on  Government  land.  This  land  was 
heavily  timbered,  and  after  building  a  log  house  in 
which  to  live  he  cleared  up  a  portion  of  the  land, 
and  made  as  good  a  home  for  his  family  as  was 
practicable  in  that  day  and  age.  Many  hardships 
and  deprivations  were  experienced  while  the  coun- 
tr3'  around  was  being  settled  up.  There  were  no 
schools,  churches  or  mills  in  the  wilderness,  which 
then  extended   for  miles  around,  but  there  was. 


however,  plenty  of  all  kinds  of  game,  and  some 
wild  beasts,  such  as  wolves,  panthers,  wild  cats 
and  black  bears.  The  first  mills  erected  in  this 
part  of  the  country'  were  worked  b3'  horse  power, 
and  the  lumber  was  sawed  at  firet  with  what  were 
called  whipsaws. 

James  Flo3"d  married  Damaris  Rains,  a  native 
of  Tennessee,  who  was  born  June  10,  1807,  and 
died  in  1858,  Mr.  Floyd  himself  dying  in  1868,and 
both  on  the  same  place  upon  which  they  settled 
on  coming  to  Illinois.  The^'  reared  four  childien, 
viz:  Williamson  R.,  deceased;  Margaret,  wife  of 
Caleb  Baldwin,  a  farmer  near  the  old  home;  Sarah, 
widow  of  .James  Belford,  of  Pope  County,  and 
James  B.,  who  was  born  September  20,  1843,  on 
the  old  homestead.  His  education  was  received 
in  a  subscription  school,  in  the  primitive  style  of 
log  school  ho  use  often  described  in  these  pages. 
He  remained  at  home  until  1861,  when  he  enlisted 
in  Company  K,  Fifty-sixth  Illinois  Infantry,  where 
he  was  a  brave  and  faithful  soldier,  but,  much  to 
his  dis.nppoiutinent,  his  health  failed  him,  and  he 
was  honorabl3'  discharged  after  one  year's  seivicc 
on  account  of  ph3sical  disabilit3-.  He,  however, 
experienced  some  hard  service  during  that  3'car, 
and  it  was  doubtless  this  that  broke  him  down. 
His  experience  was,  however,  of  great  value  to 
him,  .as  he  was  a  close  observer,  had  a  good  mem- 
ory and  w.as  able  in  after  3-eai's  to  make  applica- 
tion of  what  he  learned.  After  returning  home 
he  began  teaching  school  in  the  winter  se.ison,  and 
in  the  summer  time  engaged  in  farming  and  learn- 
ing the  trade  of  a  blacksmith,  which  he  has  fol- 
lowed more  or  less  ever  since. 

In  November,  1879,  our  subject  bought  eighty- 
two  acres  of  land  which  was  improved,  and  upon 
which  he  has  since  lived.  He  is  a  man  of  more 
than  ordinary  intelligence,  and  has  had  more  than 
the  customary  success  in  life.  His  first  wife  died 
in  1870,  leaving  three  children,  viz:  William  R., 
a  farmer  of  Pope  Count3-;  Alice,  wife  of  D.  M. 
W.osson,  a  farmer  of  Hartsville,  Pope  County;  and 
James,  al>o  a  farmer  of  Pope  County.  He  w.as 
married  the  second  time,  to  India  A.  Story,  of 
Pope  County,  bv  whom  he  has  the  following  chil- 
dien: Dosia,  a  school  teacher  of  Pope  County; 
Lillie  L.,  deceased;  Gracie,  Henry  Logan  and  Ressa 


434 


I'OlM'HAri'  AM)    lilOliUAl'lllCAL    IfKVIKW. 


Young,  all  at  home.     Mr.  Floyd  is  a  Republican 

in  politics,  and  is  Iiiglily  in  favor  of  the  best  pos- 
sil)le  educalioniil  advjintixges  for  the  young.  He 
is  giving  his  eiiilrlren  tiie  best  of  opportunities  to 
lit  tliem  for  the  struggle  in  life,  wliich  can  be  suc- 
cessfully carried  on  only  by  superior  intellectual 
power  and  knowledge.  He  is  thus,  as  in  other 
ways,  proving  himself  to  be  a  worth}'  citizen  of  a 
great  Republic,  and  is  liighly  appreciated  and  es- 
tecnU'd  l)v  all. 


ILLIAM  T.  MODGLIN  was  born  in  what 
r^ii  is  now  Grantsburg  Township,  Joiinson 
"^^Z  County,  October  3,  1833,  and  is  now  a 
resident  of  Metropolis,  Massac  Countj'.  His  fa- 
ther, Benton  Modglin,  was  born  in  Wilson  County, 
Tenn.,  and  was  there  reared  and  married.  He 
emigrated  to  Illinois  and  was  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Johnson  County,  where  he  secured  a 
tract  of  Government  land  in  what  is  now  Grants- 
burg Township,  cleared  his  farm  and  made  his 
home  there  until  his  death,  about  1851.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Martha  Haley.  She 
was  born  in  Tennessee  and  died  a  short  time  be- 
fore her  husband,  having  been  the  mother  of  seven 
children,  namely:  Pleasant  H.,  Nancy,  Martha, 
Joe,  William,  Benton  and  James  F.  William  T. 
Modglin  attended  the  pioneer  schools  of  Johnson 
County.  They  were  taught  in  the  primitive  log 
house,  with  earth  and  stick  chimney,  a  part  of  a  log 
being  taken  out  on  one  side  for  a  window,  and  the 
seats  made  of  split  logs  and  wooden  pins  inserted  for 
legs,  with  no  backs  behind  and  no  desks  in  front. 
The  country  was  then,  of  course,  but  little  im- 
proved, there  was  no  railroad  for  3'ears,  and  the 
people  lived  almost  exclusively  off  the  products 
of  tlieir  farms  and  the  wild  game  that  was  abund- 
ant in  the  woods. 

The  motlier  of  William  T.  was  accustomed  to 
carding,  siMnnmg  and  weaving,  in  that  way  dress- 
ing her  children  in  homespun  cloth  and  in  clothes 
which   were  made   by   her  own  hand.     After  the 


death  of  bis  parents,  William  T.  Modglin  went  to 
live  with  an  elder  brotiier  in  Pope  County  and  re- 
mained tliere  one  year,  lie  then  engaged  in  farm- 
ing with  his  brother-in-law  one  year,  and  in  his 
twentieth  year  married,  after  which  he  bought  a 
land  warrant  of  a  Mexican  soldier  for  eighty  acres 
and  secured  the  land  in  Grantshui-g  Township. 
There  was  a  log  cabin  on  the  i)lace,  to  which  he 
took  his  bride  and  in  which  they  began  house- 
keeping. Tiie  land  was  heavily  timbered  and  lie 
commenced  at  once  to  clear  up  his  farm,  on  which 
he  lived  one  and  a-lialf  years,  and  then  traded  his 
eighty-acre  farm  for  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  in  the  same  precinct,  and  lived  upon  this 
latter  farm  until  1879.  In  the  meantime  he  bought 
other  land,  and  at  one  time  owned  eight  hundred 
acres  all  in  one  body.  About  1879,  his  health 
being  very  poor,  he  removed  to  Allen's  Spring, 
Pope  County,  and  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-nine  acres,  remained  there  until  Oc- 
tober, 1891,  and  then  removed  to  Metropolis,  where 
he  has  since  lived  retired  from  active  business. 

Our  subject  was  married  April  16,  1853,  t(i 
Rachael  E.  Simmons,  who  was  born  at  Cape  Girar- 
deau, Mo.,  February  8, 1834,and  who  was  the  daugli- 
ter  of  Lewis  Simmons,  of  Wayne  County,  Tenn., 
his  father,  Thomas  Simmons,  being  one  of  the  pio- 
neer settlers  in  Pope  County,  having  removed 
from  Tennessee.  He  lived  the  rest  of  his  life  in 
that  county  and  died  there.  The  father  of  Mrs. 
Modglin  went  to  Missouri  when  a  young  man, 
married  in  that  State,  and  came  from  there  to  Illi- 
nois about  1836.  He  was  a  pioneer  in  Johnson 
County,  secured  Government  land  in  what  is  now 
Simpson  Township,  improved  a  farm  and  resided 
tliere  some  jeais.  He  then  removed  to  Grants- 
burg Township  and  here  resided  until  his  deatli. 
The  parents  of  Mrs.  Modglin  reared  four  children, 
namely:  Sarah,  Irving,  Hezekiah  and  Rachel. 

Our  subject  and  his  worthy  wife  have  four  chil- 
dren, namely:  Nancy  J.,  wife  of  W.  J.  ^Miller,  who 
has  seven  children;  Sarah  C,  wife  of  A.  D.  Howell; 
Fann}'  B.,  wife  of  AVilliam  B.  Bivens,  who  has  one 
child;  and  Ida  ]\I.,  wife  of  Leonard  Whitesidcs, 
who  has  one  child.  The  parents  of  these  children 
are  members  of  the  United  Baptist  Church,  and 
Mr.  Modglin  is  a  Republican  in  politics.  He  served 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


435 


three  years  in  tlic  late  war,  in  Coirn)any  A,  One 
Hundred  and  Twcntietii  Illinois  Infantr}',  and  was 
captured  and  confined  in  Andersonville,  where  he 
remained  ten  months,  and  was  so  starved  that  he 
was  not  able  to  stand  alone  when  liberated.  But 
these  privations  did  not  (pieneh  tiie  patriotic  fire 
that  burned  in  his  bosom,  and  we  feel  safe  in  say- 
ing that  he  would  fight  for  his  countr}'  again  if 
necessar}'. 


Iff  OHN  S.  GULLETT,  a  farmer  living  on  sec- 
tion 32,  township  12,  range  7,  east,  Pope 
^  ,  County,  is  a  son  of  Jolin  GuUott,  a  native 
1^/'  of  Tennessee.  The  father  of  John  Gullett 
came  to  Illinois  from  Tennessee  for  the  purpose  of 
bettering  his  condition,  and  first  located  in  Hardin 
C'ount\'.  Like  most  of  the  early  settlers  in  this 
part  of  the  State,  he  came  here  poor,  bringing  with 
him  in  a  wagon  his  household  goods,  and  driving 
some  cattle  before  him  on  the  road.  He  secured 
some  land,  put  in  a  crop,  where  he  had  himself 
made  a  clearing,  and  in  that  w.ay  made  a  living  for 
himself  and  familj-.  John  Gullett  came  through 
with  his  parents  from  Tennessee,  and  was  brought 
up  on  the  farm.  His  educational  opportunities 
were  very  meagre  and  poor,  schools  being  then  few 
and  far  between;  consecjuently  his  education  was 
re.ally  obtained  by  his  own  individual  application 
and  private  studv  and  observation.  When  .about 
twent^'-one  years  of  age  he  left  the  parental  home 
and  began  to  clear  up  a  farm  about  five  milesaway, 
having  one  yoke  of  oxen  and  borrowing  another 
yoke  from  his  father,  with  vvliicli  he  hauled  to- 
gether the  logs  which  he  cut,  camping  out  mean- 
while, and  while  doing  this  work  had  a  very  un- 
comfortable time  generally.  Few  young  men  of 
the  present  day,  perhai)s,  would  undertake  a  work 
of  this  kind,  without  a  house  to  shelter  them  from 
the  cold,  which  was  at  times  so  great  as  to  freeze 
his  ears. 

Thus  our  subjecfs  father  began  life  in  the   wild 


and  heavily  timbered  country,  and  at  length  got 
such  a  start  as  to  be  able  to  build  a  log  house  from 
the  logs  he  was  cutting  in  the  woods,  a  rude,  prim- 
itive cabin,  making  in  it  a  loft,  in  which  he  slept 
to  keep  away  from  the  wolves.  On  account  of  the 
abundance  of  deer  and  wild  turkeys  there  w.as  no 
diflieulty  in  securing  plenty  of  meat  in  Pope 
County.  He  lived  there  alone  for  some  time,  the 
nearest  mill  being  fifteen  miles  away,  except  some 
mills  run  by  horse  power,  which  were  a  poor  ex- 
cuse, but  as  a  general  thing  the  best  the  country 
then  afforded.  The  mill  mentioned  as  being  fif- 
teen miles  away  was  run  by  water  power,  and  was 
much  superior  to  the  horse  power  mills;  these  were 
very  slow  and  it  was  not  uncommon  for  the  patrons 
thereof  to  be  compelled  to  wait  some  days  for  their 
turn  to  come.  He  thus  lived  a  lonesome,  dreary  life 
for  some  time,  but  February  19,  1842,  was  married 
to  Isabel  Thompson,  a  native  of  Virginia,  who  shared 
life  with  him  in  his  cabin  in  the  wilderness,  amid 
trials,  hardships  and  deprivations  that  the  j'ouno 
of  the  present  day  can  hardl3'  imagine  to  have  ex- 
isted. Churches,  schools  and  society,  all  were  un- 
known as  they  exist  to-day.  He  remained  there 
improving  his  farm  and  making  a  good  home  for 
himself  and  family  until  he  died,  October  13,  1882, 
his  wife  having  died  April  25,   1863. 

November  29,  1866,  John  Gullett,  Sr.,  was  mar- 
ried the  second  time,  to  Amanda  Me3-ers,  who  is 
still  living  in  Pope  Count3%  and  h.as  lived  most  of 
the  time  on  the  old  place,  which  is  now  occupied 
by  one  of  her  sons.  She  lives  with  her  children, 
who  are  taking  care  of  her  in  her  later  days.  By 
the  first  marriage  there  were  eight  children,  seven 
of  whom  are  now  living,  viz:  Xancy  Jane,  wife  of 
August  Cluge,  of  Golconda,  111.;  James,  a  farmer 
near  the  old  home;  Flizabeth,  wife  of  John  Clymer, 
a  farmer  near  the  old  home;  Margaret,  wife  of  E. 
Weekl}';  John  S.;  Samuel  Green,  a  farmer  of  Pope 
County;  and  Thom!is,a  farmer  also  of  this  county. 
By  the  second  marriage  there  was  a  pair  of  twins, 
Albert  and  Henry,  one  living  near  the  old  place, 
and  one  living  on  it. 

Our  subject  was  the  fifth  child  by  the  first  mar- 
riage and  was  born  on  the  old  homestead  December 
24,  1H.")3.  He  was  brought  up  f)n  the  farm,  and 
had  to  work  hard  when  a  bo  v.  tli(Hi<'h  he   had   ex- 


i;5G 


Polv'TKAir  AM)   I'.KXIKAI'llICAL  ItEVIEW. 


cellent  opportunities  for  llic  limes  in  wliicli  ho 
lived  to  attend  scliooi.  Ilu  did  not,  liowever. 
fully  appreciate  his  privileges,  find  ol)tained  only 
a  limited  education.  When  he  was  twenty  years 
old  he  married  Kate  .Sutherland.  When  he  went 
for  his  license  to  get  married  he  had,  all  told,  only 
llO  in  money,  and  when  the  expenses  of  the  mar- 
riage ceremony'  had  been  paid  he  had  only  ^C).  Af- 
ter raising  one  crop  on  the  old  farm  he  rented 
a  farm  for  one  year,  and  then  bought  a  farm  in 
Pope  County  near  Glendale,  promising  to  pay 
$1,000  for  the  farm.  He  sold  the  farm  three  years 
afterward  and  returned  to  the  old  farm,  and  rented 
land  in  the  vicinity  for  a  number  of  years.  After 
the  death  of  his  father,  forty-seven  acres  fell  to 
him  from  the  estate,  for  which  he  bad  to  pay  $50. 
On  this  land  he  lived  until  1891,  when  he  sold  it 
and  bought  the  farm  where  he  now  lives,  which 
consists  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  cost 
him  $1,050,  the  forty-seven  acres  selling  for 
$750.  During  the  short  time  our  subject  has 
lived  on  this  place  he  has  cleared  up  a  por- 
tion, repaired  the  fences  and  otherwise  improved 
the  farm  and  has  had  good  success  as  a  farmer.  He 
and  his  wife  have  five  children,  viz:  Minnie,  Otis, 
Peter,  Bertie  and  Janey.  To  these  children  he  is 
determined  to  give  a  good  education,  seeing  now 
more  clearly  than  he  was  able  to  when  young  the 
value  of  intellectual  training.  Politically,  Mr. 
Gullett  is  a  Democrat,  and  a  member  of  Golconda 
Lodge  of  the  Knights  of  Honor.  He  is  a  very 
pleasant  gentleman,  courteous  and  genial,  and  is 
highly  respected  by  the  entire  community  for  the 
character  he  possesses  and  the  success  he  has  at- 
tained in  life. 


'  AMES  M.  DOWNEY.  Among  Die  farming 
community  of  Pope  County,  III.,  there  is 
perhaps  no  man  who  deserves  more  honor- 
able mention  than  Mr.  Downey,  for  it  is 
to  his  own  excellent   qualities    that    he    is 


possessed  of  his  present  fine  property.  He  is  a 
native  of  the  Prairie  State,  having  been  born  in 
(iallatin  County  in  1841.  His  father,  however, 
who  also  bore  the  name  of  James  M.  Downey, 
was  born  in  Jackson  County,  Ala.,  in  1820.  The 
paternal  grandfather  was  also  James  M.  Downey,  a 
North  Carolinian  by  birth  and  a  farmer  by  occujja- 
tion,  which  calling  has  descended  from  father  to 
son  down  to  the  present  generation.  The  grand- 
father reared  seven  children,  of  whom  James  M., 
tlie  father  of  our  subject,  was  the  fifth.  He,  the 
grandfather,  was  a  farmer  and  a  minister  of  the 
Regular  Baptist  Church,  and  lived  to  a  ripe  old 
age,  dying  in  Arkansas.  The  father  was  also  a 
Regular  Baptist  minister,  and  was  married  to  Lavina 
Gattes,  a  daughter  of  William  Gattes,  who  was  born 
on  the  Isle  of  Erin,  but  came  to  America  when 
a  young  man  of  eighteen  years,  and  first  resided  in 
Alabama,  and  then  in  Mississippi,  where  he  died  at 
an  advanced  age,  in  comfortable  circumstances. 
He  and  his  wife  became  the  parents  of  eight 
children. 

In  the  fall  of  1840  the  parents  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  became  residents  of  Gallatin  County, 
111.,  the  long  journey  thither  being  made  with  ox- 
teams,  they  camping  out  on  the  waj'.  The3'  came 
without  means,  and  after  residing  here  a  few  years 
went  to  Randolph  County,  Ark.,  later  returning 
to  Illinois  and  settling  on  new  laud  near  Vi- 
enna, Johnson  County,  about  1847.  After  improv- 
ing this  land  they  sold  it  and  settled  on  a  tract 
of  school  land  near  Goreville,  where  the  father 
owned  at  one  time  two.  hundred  and  ninety  acres. 
He  disposed  of  this  propert3'  also  and  went  to 
Middle  Tennessee  in  1868,  where  he  died  within 
two  years,  at  about  the  age  of  fifty,  leaving 
a  widow  and  seven  children.  The  mother  was 
called  from  life  in  Mississippi  about  1878,  aged 
sixty  years.  Their  children  who  are  living  are: 
James  M.;  Martha,  wife  of  Columbus  Humphrey,  a 
farmer  of  Johnson  County,  111.;  Louisa,  widow  of 
Riley  Ilutchens,  who  resides  in  the  same  county; 
Delilah,  the  wife  of  Calvin  Green,  a  farmer  of 
Arkansas;  and  Samuel  II.,  of  AV^est  Tennessee. 

James  M.  Downey  was  reared  a  farmer's  boy.  but 
owing  to  the  many  changes  of  residence  made  b\^  his 
parents,  and  to  the  fact  that   the  schools  of  those 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


437 


ila^'S  were  poor  and  conducted  on  the  subscription 
pLan,  lie  had  little  chance  to  obtain  an  education, 
but  managed  to  become  fairlj-  well  versed  in  the 
"three  R's."  In  the  fall  of  1861  be  volunteered 
in  Batterv  K,  First  Illinois  Light  Artillery,  as 
a  private,  and  m  the  spring  of  the  following  year 
was  sent  to  the  front.  He  was  in  but  two  skir- 
mishes, and  was  mustered  out,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  his  right  hand  was  badl3'  crippled  b}'  the  ex- 
plosion of  a  cartridge.  He  receives  a  pension  of 
$24  per  month.  He  also  had  a  severe  attack  of 
lung  fever  and  the  measles  while  in  the  service, 
which  left  his  health  so  shattered  that  he  has  since 
been  unable  to  work  to  any  extent.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  Jolinson  County  .July  31,  1864,  to  Miss 
Rebecca  E.  .Jones,  a  daughter  of  .Jackson  and  Eliza- 
beth (Ivey)  .Jones,  of  Tennessee,  in  which  State 
Mrs.  Downey  was  born  and  reared.  She  came  to 
Illinois  in  1863,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  with 
her  parents,  who  were  Union  s>'mpathizers,  and 
left  Tennessee  on  that  account.  Her  father  was 
at  one  time  a  well-to-do  farmer  of  Kentucky.  He 
served  in  the  Rebel  army  for  eighteen  months,  but 
with  others  changed  his  views  at  the  end  of  that 
time,  and  after  hearing  a  speech  by  a  Confederate 
general,  deserted  the  Confederate  standard,  stole 
away  to  his  old  Iveutucky  home,  and  came  thence  to 
Illinois  with  his  family.  After  the  war  he  returned 
to  Kentucky,  where  he  died  .Ala^-  7,  1873,  at  the  age 
of  forty-eight  years.  His  first  wife,  the  mother  of 
Mrs.  Downe}',  died  in  Kentucky  in  1857,  when 
thirty-three  years  of  age.  She  became  the  mother 
of  four  sons  and  four  daughters:  AV.  \V.  and  .1.  F. 
Jones,  of  Pope  County,  111.;  Mary  F.,  wife  of  T. 
A.  Hughes;  Rebecca  E.;  Martha  A.,  who  lives  in 
Middle  Tennessee;  two  that  die(i  in  early  child- 
hood; and  Lucinda  L..  who  died  about  the  time 
she  was  grown. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Downey  resided  in. Johnson  County 
for  three  years,  and  then  moved  to  Kentucky  with 
Mr.  .Jones,  but  became  resident*-  of  Mississippi  in 
18711,  and  there  lived  for  eighteen  months.  They 
then  returned  to  Kentucky,  but  in  1880  took  up 
their  residence  in  southwest  Missouri.  Four  years 
later  they  went  to  McCracken  County,  Ky.,  but 
three  years  later  found  them  in  Metropolis,  III.,  and 
in  May.  18111,  they  settled  on  land  on  wiiicli  a  son 


is  residing  about  one  mile  from  their  present  place. 
On  the  latter  place  they  settled  in  Se|)teinbcr,  1891. 
He  is  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  land,  eighty  of  which  are  under  cultivation, 
and  this,  with  tiie  farm  on  which  his  son  resides, 
amounts  to  two  hundred  and  fourteen  acres.  He  and 
his  wife  have  two  sons.  William  .J.,  who  w.is  born  in 
Kentucky  August  24,  1867,  and  is  now  farming  on 
the  above-mentioned  place,  is  married  and  has  three 
daughters;  and  Luther  L.,  who  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky, March  26,  1877,  is  at  home  with  his  parents. 
Tlie\-  also  lost  a  son  and  daughter  in  infancy. 
Mr.  Downey  has  been  a  M.ason  since  1857,  and 
politically,  is  a  Republican. 


,^^o> 


J  I  AMES  M.  KENNEDY,  a  prosperous  farmer 
I  living  on  section  14,  township  15,  range  4, 
!  east,  in  Massac  County,  is  a  son  of  Levi 
.^^1  Kennedy,  who  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  where 
he  w.as  a  farmer.  He  removed  from  his  native 
State  in  1847  and  came  to  Illinois,  settling  in 
Massac  County.  He  w.as  a  poor  young  man  at  the 
time  of  removal,  and  settled  on  a  farm,  which  he 
immediately  began  to  clear,  making  a  home  for 
himself  and  his  future  family.  He  was  married  in 
Massac  Countj'  in  1852,  to  Maiy  Tosser,  who  is  still 
living  on  the  homestead.  Levi  Kennedy  died  in 
1888,  having  been  the  father  of  twelve  children, 
eight  of  whom  arc  now  living,  viz:  IMary,  wife  of 
Samuel  Dailey,  of  Metropolis;  Hannah,  wife  of 
Solomon  Grace,  a  farmer;  .lames  M.;  Agnes,  liv- 
ing with  her  mother;  Fannie,  wife  of  J.  Grace,  a 
farmer;  Levi,  .John  and  Aurora,  all  at  home.  The 
names  of  the  four  that  have  died  were  Charles, 
Victoria,  Rachel  and  Robert  I). 

James  M.  Kennedy  was  born  in  Mass.ic  County , 
August  30,  1858,  and  was  brought  up  to  hard 
work  on  a  farm,  attending  common  school  suHi- 
eiently  to  secure  a  fair  English  education.  He  re- 
mained at  home  until  his  marriage  in  April,  1891, 
to  Emma  Weseinan,  who  was  from  Cincinnati,  her 


438 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


parents  now  botli  living  in  M.issac  County.  After 
liis  marriage  Mr.  Kennedy  bought  a  farm  of  forty 
improved  acres,  upon  wliich  lie  has  since  lived. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kennedy  have  one  child,  IJlanclie. 
Politically,  our  subject  is  a  Republican,  and  is 
an  Odd  Fellow,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  are  well- 
known  and  highly  appreciated  members  of  society, 
and  are  industrious  and  honest  people.  Mr.  Ken- 
nedy is  a  genial  gentleman,  whom  it  is  a  pleasure  to 
meet,  and  has  a  fine  little  farm,  a  comfortable 
home,  and  commands  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
the  communit3'  in  which  he  lives. 


]^^-^l 


Wl  AMES  M.  GRIFFITH  is  a  son  of  Owen  R. 
Griffith,  who  was  born  in  Virginia  and  re- 
^,^1  moved  to  Campbell  County,  Ky.,  at  an  early 
({^//  day.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812 
and  took  an  active  part  in  the  battle  of  New 
Orleans.  After  the  war  closed  he  settled  in  Spen- 
cer County,  Ind.,  and  engaged  in  farming.  He 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Elizabeth  Stark,  of 
Kentucky.  His  father,  Abraham  Griffith,  came 
from  Wales  and  settled  in  Virginia.  Owen  R.  Griff- 
ith was  the  father  of  ten  children,  only  three  of 
whom  are  now  living,  viz:  Vicenna,  wife  of  Will- 
iam Gassoway,  of  Spencer  Couut3\  Ind.;  John  L., 
living  in  the  same  county;  and  James  M.,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch. 

Our  subject  was  born  January  27,  1823,  in 
Spencer  County,  Ind.,  and  while  a  boy  assisted 
his  father  on  the  farm  ,  working  during  the  sum- 
mer months  and  attending  the  countr}-  schools  in 
the  winter,  in  this  way  obtaining  a  good  practical 
education.  He  was  married  March  8,  1849,  to 
Catherine  G.Bryant,  daughter  of  Lewis  Bryant,  of 
Kentucky.  At  twenty-five  years  of  age  he  became 
a  soldier  in  the  Mexican  War,  in  which  he  served 
fifteen  months,  and  was  honorably  discharged  at 
Newport,  Ky.  He  then  returned  to  Spencer  County, 
Ind.,  and  engaged  in  farming,  and  later  became 
engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  In  186(i  he  re- 
moved  to  Carrsville,  Ky.,  engaged    in  mercantile 


pursuits,  and  was  a  successful  merchant  there  for 
nine  years.  He  afterward  engaged  in  farming 
from  1876  to  IHHO.  He  was  elected  Justice  of  the 
Peace  in  1883  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  he 
removed  to  Elizabeth  town,  February  22, 1886.  He 
was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  Elizabethtown 
and  this  olfice  he  still  holds.  He  has  been  the  father 
of  seven  children,  three  of  whom  still  survive,  viz: 
Alamandor  S.,  living  in  Illinois;  Mary  E.,  wife  of 
H.  Robert  Fowler  and  living  in  Elizabethtown, 
and  Tula  E.,  wife  of  A.  M.  Baldwin,  living  in 
Kentucky. 

Politically,  Mr.  Griffith  is  a  Democrat.  He  is 
a  member  of  Lodge  No.  387,  A.  F.  A:  A.  M., 
at  Carrsville,  Ky.  While  he  is  not  a  member  of 
an }•  church,  he  is  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Primitive  Baptist  denomination,  to 
which  his  wife  belongs. 


W 


ILLIAM  F.  ROSS.  This  successful  farmer 
of  Pope  Count}'  resides  on  section  36, 
township  13,  range  6,  east.  He  is  a  son  of 
Robert  Ross,  who  was  born  in  Giles  County,  Tenn., 
and  was  reared  on  a  farm,  receiving  such  an  edu- 
cation as  was  customary  in  those  days  in  that 
State,  and  which  was  very  limited.  Robert  was  a 
son  of  Adam  Ross,  who  came  to  the  United  States 
from  Ireland,  and  settled  in  Tennessee.  After 
some  time  he  removed  to  Arkansas,  where  he  died. 
Robert  Ross  went  with  his  father  to  Arkansas, 
about  1830,  and  remained  there  until  1864.  He 
was  married  in  Arkansas  to  Caroline  Leonard,  who 
was  born  in  South  Carolina.  After  bis  marriage 
he  followed  farming  in  Arkansas  and  also  worked 
at  the  carpenter's  trade  for  some  time. 

Selling  his  farm,  Mr.  Ross  came  to  Illinois  and 
settled  in  Pope  County.  He  was  a  Union  man, 
and  when  the  war  came  it  was  not  long  before  Ar- 
kansas became  too  hot  for  him.  He  came  to  Illi- 
nois in  1864,  a  poor  man,  reduced  in  circumstances 
by  the  progress  of  the  war.  After  a  great  deal  of 
dilHculty   he   secured   transportation    for    himself 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


439 


and  family  at  Little  Rock,  and  being  compelled  to 
go  sonu'wheiv  lie  came  to  Illinois.  For  a  time  he 
farmed  on  rented  land,  but  at  length  moved  to 
the  farm  now  owned  by  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
He  spent  the  rest  of  his  days  on  that  farm,  dyingin 
1880.     His  wife  died  the  same  year. 

To  the  marriage  of  Robert  Ross  with  Miss  Leon- 
ard there  were  born  ten  children,  as  follows: 
Washington,  who  died  in  tlie  rebel  army;  a  child 
tliat  died  in  infancy;  Missouri,  who  died  in  Pope 
County;  William  F.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Mary,  who  died  in  Pope  County;  Louisa,  wife  of 
George  Hancock,  living  near  Charleston,  Missis- 
sippi Countv,  Mo.;  Rebecca,  Samuel,  Susan  and 
Sallie,  all  four  of  whom  died  in  Pope  Counlj'. 
William  F.  Ross  was  born  in  Arkansas,  September 
30,  1847.  He  was  reared  on  the  farm  and  edu- 
cated in  private  schools.  From  Iho  necessity  of 
laboring  when  a  boy,  he  formed  habits  of  industry 
which  have  been  immensely  valuable  to  him  in 
life.  He  remained  at  home  with  liis  parents  until 
1863,  when  he  enlisted,  I)eceml)er  25,  in  Company 
II,  Second  Arkansas  Infantry,  and  was  in  the  ser- 
vice nineteen  months.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he 
was  discharged.  He  served  in  man}'  battles  and 
skirmishes,  among  tliem  Prairie  d'  Anne,  Camden, 
Jenkins'  Ferry  and  Ozark.  He  was  wounded  at 
.Jenkins'  Ferry,  and  suffered  man}' hardships  dur- 
ing his  term  of  service.  He  was  sick  three  months 
with  malarial  fever,  and  his  siglit  and  hearing 
were  permanently  injured  by  the  too  close  explos- 
ion of  a  uhell. 

His  parents  having  removed  to  Pope  County, 
(jur  subject  came  to  them  after  the  war  was  at  an 
end.  He  at  first  worked  at  tlie  carpenter's  trade 
and  has  followed  it  more  or  less  ever  since.  His 
health  being  permanently  im|)aired,  he  has  been 
unable  to  do  much  manual  labor  since  his  armj- 
service.  He  continued  to  take  care  of  Ills  father 
until  1872,  when  he  married  Serepta  Holmes,  a 
native  of  Pope  County.  His  father  died  on  the 
farm  and  his  mother  departed  this  life  in  Kentucky. 
The  old  place  was  then  sold  and  he  moved  to  his 
present  location  in  18U2,  having  secured  the  farm 
of  sixty  acres  upon  which  he  now  lives.  He  and 
uis  wife  have  had  five  children:  Alfred,  deceased; 
.luliii.  I  (hi.  Carrie  and  \Villi:un,  wIkj  are  at    home. 


Mr.  Ross  is  a  firm  believer  in  the  education  of 
youth,  and  is  giving  his  children  the  best  advan- 
tages possible.  He  is  a  member  of  (Jolconda  Post, 
G.  A.  R.,  and  of  Temple  Hill  Lodge  No.  701,  A.  F. 
&  A.  M.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ross  are  members  of  the 
Baptist  Church,  and  are  zealous  and  efficient 
workers  in  the  Sunda3'-scho<)l.  He  is  an  enter- 
prising and  useful  citizen,  who  exerts  his  influence 
for  good,  and  enjoys  the  high  respect  of  his  fel- 
low-citizens. 


If_^  IRAM  C.  FISHKR,  M.  D.,  a  practicing  phy- 
y  sician  of  Metropolis,  was  born  in  A'ander- 
burgh  County,  Ind.,  to  John  T.  Fisher,  M- 
D.,  a  native  of  Virginia,  who  was  born 
near  Richmond,  and  his  father,  William  Fisher,  was, 
so  far  as  is  known,  also  a  native  of  Virginia,  who 
emigrated  to  Tennessee  and  was  an  early  settler  of 
that  State,  following  farming  there  while  he  lived. 
John  T.  Fisher  was  J'oung  when  his  parents  re- 
moved to  Tennessee,  but  being  of  a  studious  turn 
of  mind  he  made  the  best  of  his  opportunities  and 
early  began  the  study  of  medicine.  He  first  en- 
gaged in  practice  in  Henderson  County,  Iv}-.,  and 
about  1834  removed  from  Kentuck}-  to  Indiana, 
where  he  bought  land  in  Vanderburgh  County  and 
engaged  in  farming  as  well  as  in  the  practice  of 
medicine.  He  resided  there  until  his  death,  in 
1866.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Emeline 
Cloud,  who  was  born  in  Hardin  County,  Ind.,  and 
was  the  daughter  of  Ilirain  W.  and  Nanc}-  (Girard) 
Cloud,  natives  of  Hardin  County.  She  died  on 
the  home  farm  in  Vanderburgh  County  in  1859. 
Hiram  C.  Fisher,  being  the  only  child  of  his  par- 
ents, was  given  all  the  advantages  of  an  edu- 
cation that  were  to  be  had  in  the  pioneer  schools 
of  N'anderburgh  County,  Ind.  The  schools  were 
of  course  much  the  same  and  kept  in  the  same 
kind  of  schoolhouses,  similarly  furnished,  as  those 
in  southern  Illinois  of  the  same  day  and  age. 
There  were  then  but  three  months  of  school  in 
the    year,   so  that   with    poor  schools,  and    those 


440 


POKTHAir  AM)    liKKJRAIMIICAL    I{K\' I  KW. 


kept  only  n  iiuartcr  <if  the  liiiiL',  il  could  not  be 
expected  l.li:it:in>  child's  loaniing  obtuiiied  therein 
would  be  very  extensive.  He  later  attended  Evans- 
ville  Commercial  College,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1857.  He  afterward  turned  his  at- 
tention to  the  study  of  medicine  and  was  gradu- 
ated from  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio  in  1868. 
He  almost  immediatel3'  began  practice  in  Vander- 
burgh County,  and  remained  there  thus  engaged 
until  1871,  when  he  removed  to  New  Liberty,  Pope 
County,  111.,  where  he  remained  until  1882.  In 
that  year  he  removed  to  Metropolis  and  lias  been 
there  actively  engaged  in  Die  imictico  of  his  pro- 
fession ever  since. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  1859  to  Adelaide 
Morse,  who  was  born  in  Vanderburgh  County,  Ind., 
and  who  died  in  the  same  county  in  1866.  By  his 
first  marriage  Mr.  Fisher  had  one  child,  Emma, wife 
of  .lames  E.  Slicarer.  B3'  the  second  wife,  to  whom 
he  was  married  in  Cincinn.iti,  Ohio,  Marcli  4, 1868, 
and  who  was  Miss  Amanda  McElevey,  he  bad 
two  children,  Grace  C.  and  Hodge  T.  June  30, 
1886,  the  Doctor  was  married  to  Grace  Slater.  Hy 
this  union  there  is  no  issue.  Dr.  Fisher  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Southern  Illinois  Medical  Association 
and  is  also  connected  with  Metropolis  Lodge 
No.  91,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  The  Doctor  ranks  high 
among  his  brethren  in  the  medical  profession  and 
success  had  attended  him  in  his  practice.  His  ser- 
vices are  deen.ed  invaluable  by  his  fellow-citizens, 
and  he  is  a  gentleman  of  marked  culture  and  refine- 
ment. 


YLVESTER  WHITEHEAD  was  born  in 
Arkansas  November  15,  1849,  and  was 
brought  to  Illinois  by  his  parents  when 
three  years  of  age,  and  in  this  State  he  has 
since  resided,  being  located  in  Tunnel  Hill  Town- 
ship, Johnson  County.  His  father,  James  Whitehead, 
was  born  in  Mississi|)pi  in  1820,  and  was  a  son  of 
Matthew  AVIiitehead.  a  farmer,  and  a  native  of 
South   Carolina,  who  was  born  about  1795.     The 


father  of  Mattiiew  Whitehead  was  James  White- 
iiead,  a  wealthy  farmer,  who  operated  a  number  of 
mills  on  his  farm,  and  was  born  in  eitlicr  Maryland 
or  South  Carolina.  His  wife  was  a  Miss  Melton,  who 
bore  him  four  cliildren,  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, Mattiiew  being  their  first  born.  James  was  a 
local  Metiiodist  preacher,  and  both  he  and  his  wife 
died  when  about  sixty  years  of  age.  Their  chil- 
dren were  Matthew,  Mary,  John  and  Sophia.  Tlie 
first-named  son  married  Anna  Walker,  a  native  of 
Maryland  and  a  daughter  of  Ilezekiah  Walker,  who 
was  a  wealthy  planter  and  slaveholder  in  Missis- 
sippi. His  son  Ilezekiah  owned  many  slaves  until 
they  were  set  free  b}'  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 
Matthew  Whitehead  and  his  wife  went  to  Missis- 
sippi soon  after  their  marriage,  about  1815,  and 
bought  large  farms,  and  were  engaged  for  the 
most  part  in  growing  corn  and  cotton.  They  sub- 
sequently removed  to  the  northeastern  part  of 
Arkansas,  where  they  resided  until  their  death. 
He  died  in  1860  and  his  widow,  who  was  in  frail 
health  at  that  time,  died  very  soon  afterward. 
They  had  a  family  of  six  sons  and  five  daughters, 
all  of  whom  have  died  except  James  and  Ids 
brother  Alfred,  who  is  now  a  farmer  in  the  same 
township. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  ou  a  farm, 
and  when  seventeen  years  old  married  Minerva 
Pa^-ne,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee.  They  settled 
on  a  farm  of  eighty  acres  on  the  line  between 
Mississippi  and  Alabama,  and  about  seven  years 
later  removed  to  Arkansas,  where  they  bought  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  wild  land  worth  then 
about  $4  per  acre.  After  living  on  this  farm  un- 
til the  fall  of  1851,  he  came  to  southern  Illinois,  in 
companj'  with  two  other  families,  making  the 
journey  in  a  large  covered  wagon,  drawn  by  two 
yoke  of  oxen,  and  camping  out  on  the  way.  Mr. 
Whitehead  first  stopped  in  Franklin  County,  111., 
but  the  face  of  the  country  there  was  too  low  and 
flat  for  him,  as  he  was  seeking  a  more  healthful 
climate  than  he  had  left  in  the  South.  He  there- 
fore removed  to  Johnson  Count}'  and  bought  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  with  a  small 
log  hut  upon  it,  into  which  he  moved,  and  in  which 
he  lived  two  years.  He  then  built  a  good  hewed- 
log  one,  which    was  one  and  one-half  stories  higii. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


441 


npw  a  part  of  liis  present  abode.  He  has  since  then 
owned  as  imicli  as  six  liundred  anres  of  land,  much 
of  whicli  cost  him  but  twelve  and  a-half  cents  per 
acre  under  tlie  Bitt  Act.  He  has  sold  off  and 
deeded  to  his  sons  portions  of  the  six  hundred 
acres,  until  now  he  has  left  but  two  hundred  and 
twenty  acres.  His  sons,  however,  own  here  in  a 
body  over  one  thousand  acres.  His  first  wife  died 
April  8,  1891,  about  seventy-five  years  old,  leav- 
ing three  sons:  John,  a  farmer  on  an  adjoining 
farm;  Finus,  a  retired  farmer  living  at  Creal 
.Springs;  and  Sylvester,  a  merchant  at  Tunnel 
Hill. 

Our  sul)jecf.s  father  was  again  married,  August 
7,  1891,  this  time  to  Mrs.  William  Penfield,  nee 
Martha  Phillips,  daughter  of  John  and  Marj- 
(Holly)  Phillips,  from  Tennes.see,  where  she  was 
born  in  1849.  When  Mrs.  Wiiitehead  was  a  child 
her  mother  died  in  Illinois,  and  her  father,  who 
resides  in  Kentucky,  is  about  sixty-seven  years 
old.  She  has  three  children  living,  viz:  .John 
Johnson,  a  farmer  at  Norris  City,  White  County; 
Theodore,  aged  fifteen;  and  Robert,  aged  thirteen 
years,  both  at  home  and  in  school.  Mr.  White- 
head is  a  Master  Mason. 

Sylvester  Whitehead  was  roared  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  attended  the  district  school  winters  un- 
til he  was  twenty-one,  and  spent  two  summers  in 
school  in  Vienna.  He  was  married  May  29,  1873, 
to  ^Miss  Mary  E.  Brooks,  of  Tennessee,  who  came 
to  Johnson  C'l  unt^'  in  1860.  Her  father,  Samuel 
Brooks,  died  about  1849,  before  she  was  born, 
and  her  niotiier  died  in  1884,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight  years,  leaving  her  and  a  brother,  Joseph,  who 
is  a  farmer.  She  has  lost  one  brother  and  three 
sisters.  Mr.  Whitehead  and  his  wife  began  life  in 
their  present  homo,  and  he  bought  the  store  build- 
ing of  J.  K.  Graham;  the}-  were  in  partnership  for 
about  eighteen  months,  when  the  firm  was  dis- 
solved, -Mr.  Whitehead  continuing  the  business 
alone.  He  was  burned  out  in  February',  1881,  los- 
ing «!7,000,  and  had  no  insurance.  In  1882,  he 
built  his  present  large  two-story  brick  store,  6r)x26 
feet  in  dimensions,  in  which  he  carries  a  large 
stock  of  general  merchandise,  and  is  doing  a  busi- 
ness of  about  *r2.(l()U  i)cr  year.  He  has  been 
N()tnr\-  I'nlilic  twelve  years,  and    Postmaster  nine 


years,  since  1881,  and  was  again  elected  to  the 
same  position  in  1890.  He  has  always  been  a  Re- 
publican in  politics,  is  a  Royal  Arch  M.-ison,  and 
has  been  an  Odd  Fellow  for  twenty  years.  He 
owns  five  hundred  acres  of  well-improved  land. 
He  has  been  the  father  of  five  children,  three  sons 
and  one  daughter,  infants,  deceased,  and  one  son 
living,  Noel,  born  March  7,  1874,  who  is  at  col- 
lege in  Quinc3',  III.,  taking  a  business  course.  Mr. 
Whitehead  is  one  of  the  prosperous  fanners  and 
successful  business  men  of  this  section  of  the 
Slate. 


m^ 


1 1^  * ». . 


OBERT  MILLER.  Piuminent  among  the 
able,  energetic  and  honest  farmers  of  Johu- 
tiiWl  son  County-  is  the  gentleman  whose  name 
^  heads  this  biographical  sketch,  and  of 
whom  we  take  pride  in  recording  the  fact  that  he 
early  began  in  life  for  himself,  and  b}'  his  push, 
pluck  and  perseverance  has  won  the  reputation  of 
being  a  ver^'  successful  agriculturist  of  Simpson 
Township. 

Mr.  Miller  was  born  December  11,  1842,  to  Mar- 
cus and  Susan  (Shelton)  Miller,  who  were  both 
natives  of  Tennessee.  The  father  of  -Susan  Shel- 
ton, who  bore  the  given  name  of  Spencer,  was 
also  born  in  Tennessee,  but  came  to  Illinois  in  an 
carl 3"  day,  where  he  settled  on  Government  land 
in  Johnson  County.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
he  had  attained  the  great  age  of  one  hundred 
years. 

The  father  of  our  subject  came  to  lllir.ois  with 
Spencer  Shelton,  his  father-in-law,  and  bought 
land  near  (irantsburg,  Johnson  County,  upon 
which  he  resided  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  the  year  1867.  After  the  death  of  his  father, 
our  subject,  who  was  then  twenty-five  years  of 
age,  was  married  and  began  life  on  his  own  ac- 
count. The  wedding  was  celebrated  May  1,  1867, 
Miss  Susan  Trigg,  a  native  of  Illinois,  becoming 
his  wife.  Mrs.  Miller  is  the  daughter  of  William 
and  Ruth  (Sharp)  Trigg,  both  of  Illinois. 

<  )ur  subjoi't  has  a  well-improved  farm  on  section 


142 


I'OlM'lJArr  AM)   I'.IOC.RArillCAL   I{K\IK\V. 


17,  upon  whicli  lie  now  resides  with  his  amiable 
wife  and  four  children,  naniel3-:  (Jllie,  Minnie, 
Henry  and  Sarah.  The  family  are  members  of 
the  Cumberland  I'resbyterian  Church,  and  Mr. 
Miller  is  a  member  of  tlic  Democratic  party.  He 
is  a  iienlloman  possessing  a  genial  dis()osition,  and 
has  nianv  warm  friends  in  tliis  vicinity 


^>^^<m 


'  LO^^ZO  L.  IJRADSHAAV  was  born  in  Stod- 
dard County,  Mo.,  in  July,  1854.     His  fa- 
ther died  when  he  was  two  years  old,  and 
1^  his  mother   when    he   was  six  j-ears  old. 

He  was  then  bound  out  to  Nathan  Foster.  Mr. 
Foster  and  his  wife  were  kind  foster-parents  to 
him,  but  they  soon  died,  leaving  him  alone  in  the 
world  at  the  age  of  twelve  years.  He  was  one  of 
six  children,  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  of 
whom  fourstiil  survive,  three  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter, the  daughter  now  living  in  Texas  and  the 
sons  in  Illinois.  From  the  age  of  twelve  the  sub- 
ject of  tills  sketch  took  care  of  himself,  working 
on  different  farms,  earning  a  bare  living  for  the 
first  few  years.  He  was  married  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one  in  Illinois,  in  October,  1876,  to  Miss 
Martha  Lawrence,  who  was  born  in  Pope  County, 
and  was  a  daughter  of  Newton  and  Mary  (Feezor) 
Lawrence,  both  of  whom  were  born  in  Kentucky, 
and  who  came  to  southern  Illinois  in  1850,  settling 
in  Pope  County,  where  Mr.  Lawrence  is  still  living. 
Mrs.  Lawrence  died  in  1875  at  the  age  of  forty- 
four,  leaving  ten  children,  five  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters, all  of  whom  are  living  except  one  son  and 
one  daughter.  Mr.  Lawrence  is  still  a  farmer  in 
Union  Township,  and  has  his  second  wife. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bradshaw  began  their  domestic 
life  in  lUirnside  Township,  .lohnson  County,  on  an 
eighty-acre  farm,  partly  improved,  the  purchase 
price  of  which  was  $500,  and  he  went  in  debt  for 
half  of  it.  He  remained  on  that  farm  two  years 
and  then  traded  for  a  farm  of  forty  acres  where 
McCormick  postoHice  now  is.  This  farm  ho  sold  in 
1882  and  bought  his  present  farm  of  one  hundred 


and  fifty  acres,  on  whieli  he  erected  his  present 
good  and  cozy  farm  ojttage,  38x32  feet  in  size 
and  one  story  high,  on  section  28,  township  11, 
range  5,  Pope  Count3-.  He  also  erected  a  good 
frame  barn  38x38,  and  in  the  fall  of  1892  he 
erected  his  potato  house  and  cellar  for  the  storage 
of  sweet  potatoes.  He  has  always  been  engaged 
in  general  farming  but  is  now  prepared  to  give 
special  attention  to  the  raising  of  sweet  potatoes. 
He  has  a  fine  young  orchard  of  twent}'  acres,  con- 
taining apple,  peach,  pear  and  cherrj-  trees,  and 
they  are  just  beginning  to  bear  nicely.  He  is  one 
of  the  few  farmers  in  this  section  of  the  country 
who  take  pains  with  their  orchards  in  the  growth 
and  preservation  of  the  trees.  He  always  buys  his 
3'Oung  trees  of  good  and  reliable  nurserymen  with 
whom  he  is  acquainted.  He  grows  wheat,  oats, 
corn  and  hay,  and  keeps  enough  horses,  cattle  and 
hogs  for  his  own  use.  He  takes  great  interest  in 
educational  affairs  and  is  a  School  Trustee. 

Mr.  Bradshaw  was  formerly  a  Republican  but  is 
now  a  member  of  the  People's  party  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bradshaw  have  buried  two  sons,  one  of  nine 
months  and  one  of  two  years  of  age,  William  P. 
and  Henr^-  II.  The  living  children  are  as  follows: 
Mary  Ethel,  fourteen  3^ears  old;  George  K.,  ten; 
Thomas  E.,  eight;  Herman  E.  six;  Margaret  B.,  four; 
Marvin  E.,  two;  and  an  infant  nine  months  old 
named  Roy.  All  are  in  school  but  the  three 
youngest.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bradshaw  are  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  Mr. 
Bradshaw  is  an  oHicial  of  his  church. 


^AMES  W.  H EATON,  Sk.,  is  a  prominent 
citizen  of  New  Burnside,  Johnson  Count}-, 
and  was  born  in  Henry  Count}',  Ky.,  in  July, 
V*^//  1832,  to  John  Ileaton,  who  was  born  in 
Pennsylvania  and  was  brought  up  a  farmer,  partly 
in  his  native  State  and  partly  in  Kentucky,  by  his 
father,  William  Heaton.  This  last-named  gentle- 
man was  a  man  of   propert}',   who   reared  a  largo 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW, 


443 


family  of  cliildren,  two  sons  and  six  daugliters, 
and  died  on  his  farm  in  Kentuckj'  at  a  lipe  old 
age.  His  son,  John  Ileaton,  the  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  a  farmer  and  liotel-keei)er  in  Henry  County 
Ky.,  and  died  in  the  small  village  at  about  sixty- 
five  jcars  of  age.  He  was  the  father  of  nine  chil- 
dren, five  sons  and  four  daughters,  all  of  whom 
are  now  living  and  heads  of  families,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Catherine,  wife  of  G.  B.  Hemley,  who 
died  in  Clay  County  in  middle  life,  leaving  eight 
children. 

The  mother  of  our  subject  was  Saiali  Malin,  of 
Henry  County-,  Ky.,  a  daugiiter  of  Rev.  Mr.  Malin, 
a  Baptist  clergyman.  She  died  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
five  years,  leaving  James  W.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  without  a  mother's  care.  He  was  brought 
up  to  farm  life,  with  but  limited  education,  but 
was  a  great  reader  and  student  and  became  unus- 
u;illy  well  informed,  and  is  one  of  the  self-made 
men  of  Johnson  County.  He  was  married  in  Henry 
County,  Ky.,  December  12,  18r)l,  to  Miss  Larinda 
J.  Lindsay,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  and  Mary 
(Clubb)  Lindsay,  the  former  of  Kentucky,  and  the 
latter  of  Pennsylvania.  Mrs.  Heaton  is  one  of 
eleven  children,  five  sons  and  six  daughters,  born 
to  her  parents,  and  is  the  fourth  child  and  first 
daughter  in  order  of  birth.  The  father  of  these 
children  died  in  Henry  County,  Ky.,  at  the  age 
of  nearlv  seventj- years.  His  widow  still  survives 
at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-nine  years,  and  re- 
sides on  the  old  homestead. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  began  married  life  on 
a  farm  in  Henry  County,  K\-.,  and  two  years  later 
removed  to  Graves  Count}',  where  the}-  settled  on 
one  hundred  acres  of  land,  upon  which  the}- 
lived  some  ten  }ears,  when  they  sold  out  and  came 
to  Illinois  in  the  fall  of  1864.  Tliey  moved  by 
tea«is  and  drove  their  cattle,  horses  and  sheep  be- 
fore them.  At  first  they  bought  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land,  an  improved  farm,  a  short  dis- 
tance northwest  of  New  Burnside,  to  which  they 
subsequently  added  another  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  making  a  fine  farm  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  upon  which  they  resided  until  1889, 
when  they  sold  one  hundred  acres  to  W.  J.  Casper, 
with  the  fine  iini)rovements.  In  lH7(i  they  erected 
the  (iiie  Uwisv    fraiiic  hou^c,   now  Ihc    residence   of 


Mr.  Casper,  having  built  a  good  barn  in  1874. 
The  fine  large  lake,  well  stocked  wilh  carp,  was  be- 
gun by  Mr.  Heaton  in  a  small  way. 

While  for  these  many  years  our  subject  has  car- 
ried on  a  mixed  industry,  yet  he  has  been  a  spec- 
ialist, too.  to  a  considerable  degree,  and  in  the  '60s 
was  a  successful  tobacco-grower,  carrying  on  that 
line  of  business  quite  extensively.  He  was  the 
first  farmer  in  this  section  to  introduce  the  famous 
Saddler  stock  of  horses  from  the  Blue  Grass  region, 
and  purchased  the  celebrated  Saddler  stallion, 
"Davy  Crockett,"  the  result  being  the  production 
of  much  fine  stock  in  this  part  of  Illinois.  This 
horse  has  taken  many  blue  ribbons  at  the  county 
fairs  in  Illinois,  and  one  at  the  State  fair. 

Mr.  Heaton  has  also  been  an  extensive  breeder 
of  Jersey  cattle.  Southdown  sheep  and  Berkshire 
hogs,  all  the  best  and  purest-blooded  stock.  He 
now  has  on  his  farm  about  one  hundred  pure- 
blooded  Southdown  ewes,  twenty-two  head  of  which 
he  brought  from  Kentucky,  and  which  cost  him 
from  no  to  ^12  per  head.  He  bought  his  pleasant 
home  in  the  village  of  New  Burnside  in  1887,  and 
has  resided  there  since  that  time,  and  was  actively 
engaged  in  farming  until  1892.  He  now  rents 
his  farm,  and  is  engaged  in  speculating  in  com- 
pany with  J.  M.  Buckner,  of  Paducah,  Ky. 
Mr.  Heaton  left  his  Kentucky  home  in  order  to 
live  in  a  more  free  and  loyal  community  in  the 
North, and  though  he  preferred  the  county  of  Will- 
iamson on  account  of  its  good  farming  lands,  yet, 
the  same  conditions  existing  there  that  he  left  in 
Kentucky,  he  on  the  whole  preferred  to  settle  in 
the  hilly  and  broken  region  of  Johnson  County, 
because  here  he  considered  the  ])eople  truly  loyal 
to  the  Government  and  liberal  in  their  views.  In 
fact,  Johnson  County  is  well  known  as  one^of  the 
most  liberal  and  loyal  in  the  entire  State  of  Illi- 
nois. 

Mr.  and  Mis.  Heaton  have  buried  three  children, 
L.  J.,  a  lovely  little  daughter  of  four  years;  Frank, 
a  precocious  and  bright  boy  of  twelve;  and  Laiig- 
horne,  who  was  frail  from  his  childhood,  and  died 
at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  They  have  three  sons 
and  three  daughters  living,  namely:  Mary,  wife 
of  James  Arnold,  a  farmer  of  Williamson  County, 
who  has  two  sons  and  one  dauiihter;  J.  C.  15..  an 


444 


POIM'RAI'r  AM)    ISIOCIJAI'IIKAI.    KKNIKW. 


agriculturist  and  liorticultuiist  of  Burnside  Town- 
ship, whose  wife  was  Alice  Jlathis,  and  who  has 
two  sons;  Elmaretta,  wife  of  Benjamin  Kenned}', 
of  California,  who  has  one  son;  J.  W.,  who  is  in 
business  with  his  brother,  J.  C.  B.,  vviic)se  wife  was 
Ella  Whitnell,  and  who  has  one  son;  Nathaniel, 
a  jonns;  man  in  California;  and  Etfie  May,  a  young 
woman  of  sixteen  years,  living  at  home  and  at- 
tending school.  All  of  this  family  hut  two  are 
members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  the  male 
members  thereof  are  advocates  of  temperance  re- 
form, and  vote  the  Prohibition  ticket.  Mr.  Ileaton 
has  a  well-balanced  intellect,  is  firm  and  resolute 
when  sure  he  is  in  the  right,  and  his  many  friends 
and  acquaintances  always  find  him  truthful  and 
upright. 


r' 


'\Tr^  ANDOLPII  IIOWERTON  was  born  in.Tolin- 

liiir      son   County  on  his  father's  farm  in   1857. 
ff\ll  -' 

/*-\  \\\       His   father,  John  W.  Howerton.  was  born 

*^^  in  Tennessee  in  1821.  He  is  a  son  of 
Benjamin  F.  Howerton,  a  Virginian  by  birth,  whose 
father  was  a  Colonel  in  the  Revolutionary  army. 
Benjamin  Howerton  married  a  Miss  Barnard. 
Randolph  Howerton  is  the  sixth  child  and  the 
third  son.  He  was  reared  at  home  on  the  old  farm 
on  which  his  parents  still  live.  He  received  but 
little  education  in  his  younger  days,  beginning 
hard  work  and  following  the  plow  at  ten  years  of 
age.  Xt  eighteen  he  left  homo  and  went  to  Kan- 
sas, where  he  worked  on  farms  in  different 
parts  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  State.  Later  he 
traveled  through  Indian  Territory.  Returning 
home  at  the  end  of  one  3'ear's  experience  in  the 
West,  he  began  in  earnest  to  secure  an  education. 
He  attended  the  district  school  one  winter,  and 
one  summer  he  attended  a  select  sclioo{at  Sulphur 
Springs,  Williamson  Clounty,  111.,  where  his  ma- 
ternal grandmother,  Mrs.  Randol[)h  Casey,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Graves,  lived  about  seventy-five 


years  ago.  Randolph  Casey  was  a  son  of  Levi 
Case}-,  who  was  born  in  Ireland.  He  was  a  brother 
of  Gov.  Zadoc  Casey,  who  died  at  Mount  Vernon, 
111.,  at  a  ripe  old  age.  Randolph  Casey  died  at 
the  age  of  seventy-seven  years. 

Randolph  Howerton  engaged  in  teaching  his 
first  school  during  the  winter  of  1878-79,  and 
has  since  then  taught  ten  winter  terms  of  school. 
He  was  at  the  State  Normal  School  at  Carbon- 
dale  one  term  in  his  twenty-eighth  year.  He 
was  married  at  twenty  years,  his  wife  being 
then  eighteen.  She  was  Eliza  McCuan,  a  native 
of  Johnson  County,  and  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and 
Sallie  (Boozer)  McCuan,  the  former  of  whom  came 
from  Alabama,  and  the  latter  from  South  Carolina. 
They  emigrated  from  Kentucky  to  Illinois  during 
the  war  of  the  Rebellion.  Her  mother  died  when 
she  was  seven  years  old,  but  her  father  is  still  liv- 
ing at  Tunnel  Hill.  He  was  a  sol 'Her  four  years 
during  the  war.  Mi',  and  Mrs.  Howerton  have 
lived  in  the  rural  districts  of  Johnson  County 
most  of  their  married  lives,  but  they  lived  in 
Vienna  about  one  year,  where  he  pursued  the  study 
of  the  law,  and  while  living  there  he  was  elected 
police  magistrate.  They  have  lived  in  this  town- 
ship for  a  period  of  three  years,  and  one  year 
on  their  present  little  farm  of  forty-seven  acres, 
but  this  is  only  their  temporary  home.  They  have 
two  sons  and  one  daughter,  namely:  Thaddeus 
Stevens,  thirteen  years  old;  Lucius  Poe,  born 
January  1,  1888;  and  IMaude  S.,  a  young  miss  of 
nine  years.  They  are  healthy  and  bright  children 
and  are  making  satisfactory  progress  in  their 
studies. 

Mr.  Howerton  is  a  Master  JNIason  and  is  a 
stanch  Republican.  Mrs.  Howerton  is  a  member 
of  the  Christian  Church.  Capt.  Levi  B.  Casey,  a 
brother  of  the  mother  of  Mr.  Howerton,  was 
Captain  of  Company  B,  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infan- 
try, Gen.  John  A.  Logan's  regiment.  He  was  a 
remarkable  specimen  of  a  man  and  soldier,  stand- 
ing six  feet  two  inches  and  weighing  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  pounds.  He  was  a  fine  looking 
man  and  a  most  genial  comrade.  He  fell  in  bat- 
tle at  the  siege  of  Vicksburg.  Levi  Casey,  the 
grandfather  of  Capt.  Casey,  was  one  of  the  very 
earliest  pioneers  of  this  part  of  Illinois,  settling  in 


'^ 

I 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


445 


the  wilderness  where  what  is  now  Casey  Spring: 
is  located  about  1800.  He  was  a  great  hunter 
and  settled  there  on  that  account.  This  sprint  is 
one  of  the  finest  and  best  in  this  part  of  the  State. 


'OIIX  T.  CUMMINS,  a  reputable  dentist  of 
Metropolis,  was  born  in  Johnson  County, 
^^,  111.,  August  30,  1851.  His  father,  Lewis 
^^f  Cummins,  was  born  in  Trimble  Country,  Ky., 
December  27,  1824,  to  Thomas  Cummins,^  who  was 
a  native  of  Virginia.  Zachariah  Cummins,  fa- 
ther of  Thomas,  was,  from  the  best  information 
obtainable,  born  in  F^ngland.  Upon  coming  to 
.\merica  he  at  first  settled  in  Virginia  close  to 
Richmond,  and  after  residing  there  some  years  he 
removed  to  Kentucky  with  Daniel  Boone  and  was 
one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Trimble  County,  Ky. 
He  secured  there  a  large  body  of  land,  which 
he  at  once  improved,  and  lived  upon  it  until  1836, 
when  he  sold  all  his  possessions,  came  to  Illinois 
and  settled  in  Pope  County.  After  living  a  few 
years  in  Pope  County  he  removed  to  Johnson 
County  and  made  his  home  there  among  his  chil- 
dren until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  sevent^'-ninc 
years.  He  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812. 
The  maiden  name  of  liis  wife  was  Lydia  Arnett. 
She  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina  and  was  a 
practicing  physician,  riding  horseback  on  her  visits 
to  her  patients.  She  diec^in  Johnson  County,  111. 
having  reared  nine  of  her  thirteen  children. 

Thomas  Cummins,  the  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  reared  in  Virginia  and  remained  there 
one  year  after  his  parents  had  removed  to  Ken- 
tucky, for  the  purpose  of  .settling  his  father's  busi- 
ness. He  then  joined  the  family  in  Kentucky, 
where  lie  followed  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  and 
also  practiced  medicine,  remaining  in  Kentucky- 
until  1830.  At  that  time,  in  company  with  his 
parents,  his  wife  and  three  sons,  he  made  the  re- 
moval to  Illinois  on  a  ttatboat.  bringing  along  the 
household   godds  ;ind    live  stock.     He  landed   at 


Metropolis  when  there  were  but  six  houses  in  the 
l)Iacc,and  when  the  surrounding  country  was  very 
sparsely  settled  and  much  of  the  Land  was  in  the 
possession  of  the  Government.  He  settled  in  what 
is  now  Grantsburgh  Township,  Johnson  County, 
bought  forty  acres  of  land  and  entered  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  Government  land  adjoin- 
ing. There  was  a  hewed-log  house  on  the  forty 
acres  purchased,  into  which  the  famil3'  moved, 
sharing  it  for  a  time  with  another  family.  Mr. 
Cummins  cleared  up  the  farm  and  resided  there 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  when  he  was  nearly 
eight\'  3-ears  of  age.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  .Sarah  Gabbert.  She  was  born  in  Mercer  County, 
Ky.,  was  of  German  ancestry  and  died  in  Triinblo 
County,  Ky. 

Lewis  Cummins,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
but  eighteen  months  old  when  his  mother  died,  at 
which  time  he  went  to  live  with  his  maternal 
grandparents.  His  grandfather  owned  a  large 
tract  of  land  which  he  cultivated  and  operated  bv 
slave  labor,  and  at  sixteen  years  of  age  Lewis  was 
made  an  overseer  on  this  immense  plantation, 
remaining  with  his  grandparents  until  he  was 
twenty-one  years  old.  He  then  went  to  Trimble 
Count3-,  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco 
for  a  short  time  and  then  came  to  Illinois,  settling 
in  Johnson  County-.  At  that  time  there  were  no 
railroads,  and  Sinithland,  K3'.,  was  the  principal 
market  and  depot  of  supiilies.  At  the  time  of  his 
marriage  he  purchased  fortj'  acres  of  laud  covered 
with  timber  in  what  is  now  Grantsburg  Town- 
ship, and  there  he  built  the  log  house  in  which  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  born.  He  was  more 
than  ordinarilj^  successful  in  his  farming  opera- 
tions and  bouglit  other  land  at  different  times. 
He  remained  on  the  farm  until  18()5,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Metropolis,  where  he  had  previously  pur- 
chased a  home,  and  much  of  the  time  since  he  has 
been  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  He  married  in 
.September,  1811),  Mary  J.  Comer,  who  was  born  in 
Halifax  County,  Va.,  and  is  the  daughter  of  John 
E.  and  Martha  (HiJps)  Coiner,  both  natives  of  Vir- 
ginia. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cummins  have  reared  four 
cliildrcn:  .bilm  T..  Zachariah;  America  Belle,  wife 
i>(  .I.e.  Ilciwcll.  .-iiul  Lewis  fi.  The  mother  of 
.lolin  T.  Cumniins  is  a   member  <if  the   Methodist 


Ufi 


I'Oiri'KAI  r   AM)    lUOORAI'IIICAL    HKVIEW. 


Episcopal  Cliiirfli  aiui  his  fattier  is  a  Democrat  in 
politics.  Our  subject  received  iiis  early  education 
in  the  pioneer  schools  of  the  day.  The  little  log 
sehoolhouse  in  which  he  was  instructed  was  only 
16x18  feet  in  size,  but  the  second  one  was  a  more 
pretentious  structure,  being  20x22  feet  on  the 
ground,  otherwise  it  was  similar  to  iho  liisi  one. 
lie  began  early  to  assist  his  father  on  the  farm, 
and  attended  the  public  school  at  Metropolis  for  a 
while.  He  then  took  two  terras  at  the  seminary 
for  higher  branches,  and  finally  located  at  Me- 
tropolis, where  lie  assisted  as  clerk  in  the  mercan- 
tile store  of  his  father.  He  at  length  turned  his 
attention  to  dentistry  and  in  1875  began  the 
practice  of  this  profession,  which  he  has  continued 
up  to  the  present  time. 

Mr.  Cummins  maintains  an  otlice  in  Metropolis, 
and  also  at  (Jolconda.  He  was  married  in  1875  to 
Miss  Liiella  Rankin,  a  native  of  Massac  County, 
111.,  a  daughter  of  Capt.  Benjamin  and  Mary  Ran- 
kin. The  Doctor  and  his  wife  have  had  two 
children  born  to  them,  both  of  whom  died  in  in- 
fancy. Our  subject  is  a  member  of  Chosen  Friends 
Lodge  No.  86, 1.  O.  O.  F.,  and  of  Orestes  Lodge 
No.  1,864,  K.  of  H.,of  Golconda,Ill.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Orestes  Lodge  No.  268,  K.  of  P.,  and  is 
connected  with  the  Illinois  State  Dental  Society, 
the  Southern  Illinois  Dental  Society,  and  with  the 
United  States  Post-Graduate  Society.  Politically, 
l\Ir.  Cummins  is  a  Democrat. 


<|7  AWRKNCK  W.  FERN,  a  farmer  living  on 
I  (Jg;  a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres  on  section  5, 
jlia^  township  12,  range  4,  Johnson  County,  was 
born  in  Derb3-shire,  England,  in  1814.  and  was 
broughtto  the  United  States  in  the  springof  1820, 
when  he  was  six  years  old.  His  father,  .lames  Fern, 
wasa  farmer,  as  was  his  father  before  him.  (irand- 
father  Fern  married  Sarah  Boulden,  wiio  was, 
like  her  husband,  rpiite  well-to-do.  They  reared  a 
large  family  and  died  in  Knglaiid. 


Lawrence  W.  Fern  is  one  of  six  children,  four 
sons  and  two  daughters,  and  the  youngest  of  the 
family-.  His  father  and  family  sailed  from  Liver- 
pool for  New  York  with  Capt.  Collins,  and  were 
sixty-nine  days  on  the  way,  on  account  of  becoming 
lost  in  a  dense  fog.  It  cleared  up,  however, and  the 
voyagers  found  themselves  on  the  coast  of  Nova 
Scotia.  They  had  a  very  stormy  and  dark  pass- 
age, and  frequently  did  not  expect  to  escape  ocean 
graves,  and  though  but  six  years  old,  Lawrence  W. 
remembers  the  ocean  voyage.  He  w.as  mature  for 
his  years,  and  one  Sunday'  morning,  while  he  was 
on  deck  reading  the  Scripture  to  his  father,  there 
came  up  suddenly  from  a  dear  sky  a  terrible  storm, 
which,  though  of  short  duration,  lashed  the  ocean 
into  a  terrible  fury,  and  nearly  engulfed  their  ship 
in  the  mountainous  waves  and  chopping  seas. 

Mr.  Fern  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  in  Ot- 
sego County,  N.  Y.,  where  his  parents,  who  were 
in  comfortable  circumstances  and  gave  their  chil- 
dren a  good  education,  both  died.  Lawrence  "W. 
relates  that  when  he  was  young  he  caught  musk- 
rats  and  sold  the  skins  in  order  to  get  money  with 
which  to  buy  books,  which  his  parents  refused  to 
purchase  for  him,  they  thinking  he  was  reading  too 
much.  He  had  a  natural  taste  for  law,  and  though 
he  never  graduated  from  any  law  school,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar  when  twenty-one  years  of  age,  af- 
ter which  he  practiced  his  profession  somewhat  in 
New  Y'ork,  j^et  his  vocation  throughout  life  has  been 
that  of  a  farmer.  He  has  also  practiced  law  to 
some  extent  since  he  came  to  Illinois.  He  was  a 
Major  in  the  New  Y'ork  militia,  his  commission 
being  dated  August  28,  1834,  and  signed  by  Gov. 
AVilliam  L.  Marcy,  and  his  Adjutant-General,  Levi 
Hubbell.  Mr.  Fern  left  New  York  State  in  1840, 
passing  through  Pennsylvania,  and  going  down  the 
Ohio  River  after  shoppinga  short  time  at  Pittsburg. 
He  then  went  on  south  to  Texas  by  way  of  New 
Orleans  in  pursuit  of  health,  being  threatened 
with  consumption.  In  the  springof  1843  he  re- 
moved from  \'ienna  to  the  neighborhood  of  his 
present  home,  having  just  previously  come  up  the 
Mississippi  River  from  New  Orleans  to  Vienna, 
and  James  Laskey  had  selected  him  as  the  teacher 
for  the  subscription  school  of  this  place.  During 
the  three  years  of  his  sojourn  in  tiic  South  he   was 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


447 


engaged  in  teaching  sciiools  of  the  same  kind.  He 
was  married  .January  2,  1845,  to  his  |)resent  wife, 
Kilen  Lasi<ey,  daughter  of  James  and  Rebecca 
(Dobbs)  Laske3-,  botii  of  whom  came  from  Ken- 
tucky, where  Mrs.  Fern  was  born  in  lM21,in  Wayne 
County.  Her  parents  came  to  Illinois  in  the  spring 
of  1832,  starting  with  their  teams  from  Kentucky 
late  in  the  fall  of  1831,  and  reaching  Johnson 
County  in  March,  1832.  On  the  way  the3'  re- 
mained some  time  in  Saline  with  two  sick  brothers, 
one  of  whom  died  there.  Coming  to  Illinois  with 
ample  means,  they  settled  in  the  woods  as  squatters, 
camping  in  the  woods  until  their  log  house  was 
built.  The}-  purchased  and  had  deeded  to  them 
when  the  land  came  into  market  two  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  of  land,  paying  therefor  ^1.25  per 
acre. 

When  our  subject  was  married  ho  purchased  an 
improved  forty  acres,  which  had  upon  it  a  log 
cabin  such  as  were  common  in  those  days,  in  which 
they  lived  one  year,  and  then  moved  two  miles  to 
the  southwest,  where  their  son  now  lives.  Law- 
rence W.  was  a  surveyor  by  profession,  and  was 
elected  County  Surveyor,  and  in  time  purchased 
by  deed  one  thousand  acres  in  this  section  of  the 
State,  for  which  he  was  laughed  at  by  his  neighbors 
for  being  land  poor.  His  taxes,  which  were  but  til 
in  1846,  rose  not  manj-  years  afterward  to  ^225, 
which  in  those  days  was  considered  an  enormous 
amount  to  pay,  especially  when  money  was  so  scarce. 
He  has  deeded  to  each  of  his  seven  children  a 
good  farm,  and  for  forty-five  years  previous  to 
1890  he  paid  on  the  aver.igc  an  annual  sum  in 
taxes  of  *4.').  Mr.  Fern  had  not  much  means  to 
start  with,  so  he  taught  school  winters,  and  his 
wife  fed  the  stock  and  cared  for  the  children,  also 
driving  off  the  wolve;-.  w!iich  were  numerous  and 
fierce. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fern  have  buried  two  children  of 
their  own  and  two  by  Mrs.  Fern's  first  husband, 
Simeon  Ford,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-three 
years,  leaving  her  with  these  two  children  to  sup- 
port. The  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fern  h.is 
been  blessed  by  nine  children,  four  sons  and  five 
daughters,  of  whom  the  following  are  still  liv- 
ing, namely:  William  .1.,  who  is  a  physician 
at  Tunnel  Hill,  and    lias  a  wife,    three  sons   and 

24 


one  daughter;  Andrew  J.,  a  farnier  on  a  large 
scale,  who  has  a  wife,  five  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters; Sarah  Ellen,  wife  of  E.  H.  Lemons,  a  farmer 
of  the  vicinity,  who  h.is  three  sons  and  six 
daughters;  Missouri  Lucretia,  wife  of  J.  J.  White- 
side, a  merchant  of  Tunnel  Hill,  who  has  two  sons 
and  two  daughters;  Indiana  Luvina,  wife  of  Will- 
iam Simpson,  who  has  five  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters; and  I^sther  Frances,  wife  of  Alfred  AVillis,  who 
has  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fern  have  forty  grandchildren,  and  twenty  great- 
grandchildren. Our  subject  has  always  been  in 
frail  health,  and  while  he  has  never  been  able  to 
do  hard  work,  yet  he  has  been  a  very  active 
and  industrious  man.  He  has  been  a  Mason  over 
forty  years,  and  has  been  a  representative  to  the 
Grand  Lodge.  He  is  in  politics  a  Hepublican,  and 
in  religion  a  Missionary  I5ai)tist. 


\^-^[ 


OL.  EAGLETON  CAH.MICHAEL,  formerly 
of  Metropolis,  Massac  County,  was  a  son  of 
John  Carmichael,  who  was  from  Tennessee, 
and  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  removed  to  Mas- 
sac County  about  the  time  of  the  election  of  Van 
Buren  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States, and 
was  engaged  in  farming  in  the  same  county  until 
his  death.  He  lived  on  what  is  now  known  as 
the  Amaziah  Davis  farm,  and  reared  quite  a  large 
family.  His  children  were  as  follows:  Hugh,  a 
Presbyterian  minister,  now  deceased;  John  of  Me- 
tropolis, 111.;  William,  who  was  a  farnier,  and  a  Col- 
onel in  the  rebel  arm}-;  Eagleton;  Lee,  who  died  in 
the  rebel  army;  Margaret,  who  married  James 
Wilcox,  both  she  and  her  husband  now  deceased; 
Hetsey,  Jlrs.  Martin,  she  and  her  husband  also  de- 
ceased; and  Nancy,  who  died  in  Memphis.  Tenn. 

Eagleton  was  the  fourtli  child  and  son  and  w.is 
born  August  27,  1827,  near  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  where 
he  was  brought  up  on  the  home  f:irm  and  lived 
with  his  mother  after  his  father's  deatii  until  he  w;is 
fifteen  years  old.  He  then  worked  on  a  boat  for 
two  or  three  years  for  a  Air.  Ho[)er,  of  (jt>lcouda.  He 


448 


I^ORTRAIT  AND    BIOCRArHlCAL  REVIEW. 


worked  luud  and  assisted  in  llic  oarc  of  iiis  mother 
!ind  early  goL  some  ediicalioii,  later  attending 
school  in  Metropolis,  where  he  reocived  a  tolerabl}' 
fair  education.  He  clerked  in  a  store  for  some  time, 
and  then  again  went  on  the  river,  having  a  posi- 
tion on  a  boat.  He  remained  thus  engaged  twoor 
three  j'ears,  making  two  trips  a  year  from  Cincin- 
nati to  New  Orleans,  and  then  stopped  off  at  Me- 
tropolis. While  he  was  thus  waiting,  Capt.  .Smith 
arrived  in  the  city,  recruiting  for  the  Mexican  War, 
and  young  Carmichael  enlisted  with  him,  going 
as  a  teamster;  be  served  one  year  and  had  consid- 
erable army  experience.  He  was  in  the  battles 
of  Vera  Cruz,  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  and  other 
battles.  At  one  time  his  team  ran  away  and  crip- 
pled him  somewhat,  but  he  started  home  and  was 
detained  ou  the  way  in  the  hospital  at  New  Orleans 
several  weeks.  He  reached  home  finally  in  August, 
1818,  and  went  to  work  at  the  carpenter's  trade,  at 
which  he  continued  until  1851.  In  1849  he  was 
married  to  Jane  E.  Rose,  a  daughter  of  Col.  Zach- 
ariah  Rose,  of  Alabama,  who  removed  to  Massac 
County-  and  lived  there  until  his  death  in  1852, 
his  wife  dying  in  1864.  Col.  Rose  was  a  farmer 
in  Alabama,  and  quite  a  prominent  man,  having 
held  several  positions  of  honor  and  trust  in  his 
native  State,  among  them  those  of  Siieriff  and  Tax 
Collector. 

After  his  marriage  Col.  Carmichael  worked  on 
at  the  carpenter  trade  about  two  years,  and  then 
removed  to  Memphis,  and  went  into  the  car  factory 
there,  and  helped  to  build  the  first  cars  used  on  the 
Memphis  A-  Charleston  Railroad.  He  remained 
there  two  years,  and  was  then  for  a  time  on  the  po- 
lice force  and  was  later  appointed  Jailer.  In  1860  he 
returned  to  Metropolis  and  engaged  in  the  gro- 
cerv  and  drv-goods  business,  which,  however,  was 
tooconfining  for  his  nature,  and  he  builta  flouring 
mill,  which  he  operated  until  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion came  on,  when  he  put  a  stock  of  goods  on 
a  boat,  and  went  down  to  Island  No.  10,  leaving 
the  mill  in  charge  of  his  brother.  He  was  there 
when  Ft.  Sumter  was  fired  upon  and  the  excite- 
ment became  very  great.  He  Mien  moved  the 
goods  out  of  the  boat  and  sold  it,  and  as  the  ex- 
citement grew  he  was  glad  to  return  to  Metropolis 
with  a  vcrv  few  things,  the   remnant  of  his  shii)- 


ment  Soutii.  In  the  fall  of  1861,  he  raised  Com- 
I)any  1!,  Kifteenth  Illinois  Cavalry,  and  went  into 
the  army  as  Captain,  and  in  1862  was  again  in  Me- 
tropolis, recruiting  for  his  company.  He  was  soon 
promoted  to  be  Major  and  then  to  be  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  and  when  the  Tenth  and  Fifteenth  Regi- 
ments were  consolidated,  lie  was  made  Colonel  of 
the  regiment,  which  went  by  the  name  of  the  Tenth. 
He  was  in  the  service  of  his  country  nearly  five 
years,  had  experience  of  all  kinds,  was  in  many 
battles  and  skirmishes  and  vvas  frequently  com- 
mended for  acts  of  bravery  and  heroism. 

After  the  war  our  subject  returned  to  Metropolis 
and  engaged  in  farming  for  two  years.  He  then 
moved  into  town  and  engaged  in  the  milling  busi- 
ness. Later  he  went  to  New  Grand  Chain  and 
0])erated  the  same  mill,  which  he  had  moved,  for  a 
time  and  then  went  to  Memphis  and  had  charge  of 
a  soda  factory  two  years.  Returning  to  Metropolis 
he  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  being  no  longer 
able  to  do  hard  work, on  account  of  impaired  health 
caused  by  his  army  service.  He  remained  in  Metro- 
polis until  his  death,  February  14,  1881.  Col.  Car- 
michael was  an  Odd  Fellow  and  a  Mason,  and  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He 
and  his  wife,  who  too  has  passed  away,  were  the 
parents  of  three  children,  viz:  Jesse  L.,  Kate  and 
Richard  B.,  all  of  whom  are  dead.  Col.  Carmichael 
was  a  brave  and  patriotic  soldier,  a  prominent  man 
in  army  circles  after  the  war  and  left  a  name  which 
will  ever  endure  for  both  soldierly  and  civic  vir- 
tues, and  which  will  always  be  an  inspiration  to 
patriotism  and  duty. 


^^li-^-i^i^^l 


C4l  Ife  HIVING  FOOTE,  a  farmer  living  on  sec- 
\/\j/l  tion  36,  township  13,  range  6,  Pope  County, 
\^^  is  a  son  of  John  Foote,  a  native  of  Tomp- 
kins County,  N.  Y.,  and  he  was  a  son  of  Philip 
Foote,  who  lived  and  died  in  New  York  State. 
John  Foote  was  reared  on  the  farm,  and  received 
a  good  common-school  education  in  the  schools  of 
his  native  State.     He  remained   at   home   working 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


449 


on  the  farm  and  attending  school  until  he  was 
twenty-two  joars  of  age,  when  he  started  out  in 
life  for  himself.  He  had  ae(iuired  some  knowl- 
edge of  mecluuiics,  and  was  a  brickla_yer,  a  stone- 
mason and  a  stonecutter,  and  had  worked  at  these 
different  trades  for  some  time  before  he  went  to 
Xew  Orleans.  Being  a  good  workman  he  readil3^ 
found  something  to  do  in  New  Orleans,  and  re- 
mained there  until  1838,  earning  and  saving 
some  money.  He  then  moved  his  family  to  New 
Orleans  and  remained  there  with  them  until  1843. 
During  this  year  he  came  to  Illinois,  arriving  at 
Metropolis  on  the  8th  of  November,  1843,  having 
come  up  the  Mississippi  River.  At  this  time, 
though  he  was  not  rich,  he  was  able  to  purchase  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  .icres,  of  which 
forty-five  acres  were  cleared.  There  was  a  little 
log  cabin  on  the  cleared  portion,  and  into  this  he 
moved  his  famil}-.  and  here  they  lived  until  1853. 
He  at  this  time  sold  his  farm,  which  was  [jartiallj' 
improved,  and  bought  another  in  the  same  part  of 
the  State,  upon  which  tliere  were  no  improvements. 
Upon  this  new  farm  he  erected  a  log  house,  moved 
into  it  and  began  to  make  a  new  home.  Here  he  re- 
sided until  his  death  in  1883,  his  wife  having  died 
some  sixteen  3eai-s  before,  in  1867.  These  parents 
had  four  children:  Washington  Irving;  Mar^-, 
wife  of  .Tolni  Settle,  a  farmer  of  I\)(ie  County; 
.Tohn,  ,'i  mechanic  of  Mount  \'ernon,  Mo.;  and 
I'hilip.  who  died  in  infancy. 

Washington  Irving  Foote  was  born  in  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  February  IS),  1833,  where  he  was  reared  and 
received  a  good  education  up  to  the  time  when 
the  family  went  to  New  Orleans.  He  was  ten 
years  old  when  they  reached  Illinois,  and  from 
that  time  on  what  he  learned  in  sciiool  was  in  the 
primitive  .schools  of  this  part  of  the  State.  With 
the  exception  of  the  summer  of  18.");')  and  oneycar 
spent  in  Minnesota  (18.')!»),  he  remained  at  home 
until  his  father's  death.  He  was  married  April 
13,  1865,  to  Mary  C.  'Conner,  from  .Jefferson 
Count3-,  whose  parents  now  live  in  Pope  County, 
and  follow  farming.  By  this  marriage  I\Ir.  Foote 
has  had  the  following  children:  Florence  and  An- 
nie, deceased;  .Vrthur,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County; 
Hal,  living  in  Pope  County;  Nellie,  wife  of  George 
Johns,  of  Golconda.  III.;  Sidney,  deceased;  Nora. 


at  home;  John,  deceased;  George,  Nelson,  Myrtle, 
Ivie,  Rollie  and  Frederick,  all  at  home.  Mr. 
Foote  is  a  strong  believer  in  the  education  of  the 
3'oung,  and  is  giving  his  own  children  every  op- 
portunity for  becoming  educated  that  lies  within 
his  reach.  Politically,  he  is  a  Populist,  believing 
the  old  parties  are  corrupt  and  that  the3'  have 
passed  their  d.ays  of  usefulness.  He  is  an  honest  and 
intelligent  man,  a  good  farmer,  and  is  liighlv  ap- 
preciated and  esteemed  by  his  fellow-citizens. 


m 


^  OHN  C.  BARNWKLL,  a  resident  of  Simpson 
Township,  Johnson  County,  was  born  in 
Orange  County,  N.  C,  February  21,  1829. 
lie  isason  of  William  and  Nancy  (Martin) 
Barnwell,  who  were  natives  of  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia  respectively.  AVilliam  Barnwell,  af- 
ter his  marriage  in  North  Carolina,  and  after  far- 
ming for  some  time,  removed  to  Tennessee  and 
followed  farming  there  five  years.  He  then  sold 
out  and  came  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Johnson 
County,  where  he  has  since  resided.  The  trip 
from  Tennessee  here  occupied  a  week's  time.  He 
crossed  the  Ohio  River  at  Metropolis  on  a  flatboat 
just  large  enough  to  carry  one  wagon  at  a  time, 
and  purchased  land  in  Simpson  Township,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Oc- 
tober, 1866.  He  filled  the  olfice  of  Associate  Jus- 
tice and  Countv  Commissioner  some  time,  dis- 
charging his  duties  faithfully  and  satisfactorilv  in 
that  line. 

John  C.  Barnwell  remained  at  home  until  he 
was  twenty-one  years  of  .age,  when  he  was  married, 
February  21,  1850,  the  twenty-first  anniversary  of 
his  birth,  to  Nant\v  J.  Roberts,  whose  parents  were 
natives  of  Kentucky,  the  father  dying  in  his  native 
State  and  the  mother  p.assing  away  in  Illinois, 
.lolin  C.  Ilarnwell  first  took  up  Government  land, 
and  afterward  purchased  land  in  Simpson  Town- 
ship, where  he  now  resides.  He  atone  time  owned 
two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land,  but  has 
sold  off  portions  of  it  until  now  ho  onlv  owns  one 


450 


PORTRAIT  AND    lilOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


•liundi-ed  and  fourteen  acres.  He  lias  been  a  mem- 
ber of  tlie  School  Board  for  a  number  of  years, 
and  has  boen  instrumental  in  advancing  education. 
He  enlisted  in  Company  K,  One  Hundred  and 
Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  August  12,  18G2,  and 
was  discharged  September  10,  1865,  having  partic- 
ipated in  the  battle  of  Milliken's  Hend,  La.,  in  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg  and  at  lludsonville.  Miss.  He 
has  eleven  children  living:  William  Henry,  .losiah 
W.,  Francis  M.,  John  W.,  Eliza  A.,  George  W., 
Thomas  C,  Rebecca,  Charlie  G.,  Xanc\'  J.  and 
Adolphus.  Our  subject  is  a  member  of  the  Cum- 
berland I'resbyterian  Church,  and  in  politics  has 
always  been  a  warm  sui)porter  of  the  Republican 
princit)les  and  platform.  He  is  well  known  in  this 
community  and  has  done  much  to  assist  in  the  up- 
ward progress  of  .Simpson  Township. 


^^  I-:ORGE  .1.  CALHOON  was  born  in  Maishall 
'|[  (^— .  County,  Tenn.,  in  1833,  and  now  resides  in 
^^^41  Tunnel  Hill  Township,  Johnson  County. 
His  father,  Jacob  J.  Caihoon,  was  born  in  the  same 
Stale  in  1802  and  was  a  son  of  George  Caihoon,  who 
■was  a  native  of  Korth  Carolina  but  was  reared  in 
Tennessee.  The  paternal  progenitors  of  this  fam- 
ily were  of  Irish  stock,  and  those  on  the  mother's 
side  of  English  ancestry-.  George  Callioon  mar- 
ried Martha  Julian,  a  native  of  Georgia.  Tlie3^ 
were  married  in  Tennessee  and  lived  there  on  their 
farm  all  their  lives.  Mr.  Caihoon  was  an  exten- 
sive farmer  and  reared  five  sons  and  one  daughter. 
His  widow  died  in  Johnson  Count3'  in  1858, 
nearly  ninety'  years  old.  Zaccheus  Caihoon,  uncle 
of  George  J.,  came  to  Illinois  in  1850,  and  George 
Caihoon,  father  of  .lacob  .I.,caine  in  1852,  bringing 
his  twelve  children.  When  he  came  to  Illinois  he 
had  some  capital  and  obtained  eight  hundred 
acres  of  land  in  .Johnson  Count}',  on  which  he  lived 
but  a  few  years,  dying  in  1855,  aged  flfty-three 
years.  Ilis  wife  was  Rebecca  McCall,  of  Tennes- 
see, daughter  of  Thora.as  McCall  and  his  wife,  who 
was  a  Miss  Gilmcirc,  and   who  died   in    Felniiary, 


1867,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  j'ears.  Their  family  of 
six  sons  and  seven  daughters  all  grew  to  adult  age 
but  one,  Samuel,  who  died  in  Tennessee  at  the  age 
of  fourteen.  Five  sons  and  three  daughters  arc 
now  living,  of  whom  George  .1.  is  the  fifth  child  in 
order  of  birth. 

Our  subject  was  reared  to  rural  life  in  Tennessee, 
receiving  but  a  meagre  education,  and  none  what- 
ever in  Illinois,  for  he  was  obliged  to  help  his  fa- 
ther gain  a  livelihood  for  the  large  family.  He 
lived  with  his  parents  until  his  father's  death  and 
was  married  in  his  twenty-eighth  year  to  Miss 
Martha  J.  Diiiin,  daughter  of  Priulia  and  Edna 
(l)raughon)  Dunn,  who  came  to  Illinois  in  1838, 
after  being  reared  and  married  in  Tennessee.  Mrs. 
Caihoon  was  the  third  child  and  first  daughter  in 
a  famil}'  of  nine  children,  and  after  her  marriage 
with  our  subject  she  began  life  in  a  neat  hewed- 
log  cabin  on  an  eighty-acre  farm  bought  of  Mr. 
Caihoon 's  father,  who  built  the  house  himself  and 
also  added  to  it  a  good  stone  chimney.  He  cleared 
up  this  farm  and  added  forty  acres  to  it,  which  he 
bought  from  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany at  $7  per  acre,  and  after  living  twelve  years 
there  he  sold  out  and  bought  their  present  home, 
w^bere  he  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres. 

Mr.  Caihoon  and  his  wife  lost  of  their  children 
twin  inf.ant  daughters  seven  months  old  in  1867 
and  one  infant  son  in  1880.  A  daughter,  Mary 
Jane,  died  in  1877,  at  five3-earsof  age;  Samuel  C, 
who  was  a  bright  and  intelligent  young  man,  just 
preparing  to  teach  school,  died  in  1881  at  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  of  measles;  Martha  E.  died  in 
1882  in  her  fifth  3'ear;  Flora,  a  young  lad}- of 
twenty  years,  died  August  4,  1890.  The  latter  was 
preparing  to  teach,  and  had  overtaxed  her  strength 
in  stud}',  and  died  of  nervous  troubles.  The  liv- 
ing children  are:  George  P.,  a  farmer  near  New 
Burnside,  who  has  two  sons;  R.  E.,a  single  man  of 
twenty-eight;  Zaccheus  T.,  M.  1).,  of  Eddyville, 
Pope  County;  Sarah  E.,  a  J'oung  lady;  John  H.,:i 
youth  of  seventeen;  Benjamin  F.,  fifteen  year? 
old;  William  A.,  eleven  years;  and  James  AV., 
eight  years  old.  The  last  five  are  all  at  home. 
Mr.  and.  Mrs.  Caihoon  are  still  working  on  the 
farm  and  are  doing  a  general  farming  business, 
raising  an    abundance  of  wheat,  corn,   hay,   oats 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


451 


;iii(l  si(](U-.  My.  C'allioon  was  formerly  a  Demo- 
unil,  but  has  luci'iitly  become  a  Prohibitionist  and 
now  exerts  his  influence  in  that  direction.  Al- 
thougii  he  never  aspired  to  otlice  of  anj-  kind, 
yet  lie  is  firm  in  liis  belief  and  is  always  ready  to 
help  |)romote  the  general  welfare  of  this  locality'. 


y SALTER  J.  CASl'ER,  a  successful  farmer 
f  and  stock-raiser  of  Burnside  Township, 
^^  Johnson  County,  was  born  near  Anna, 
Union  County,  111.,  on  the  23d  of  September, 
18.50,  to  Peter  II.  Casper,  who  was  born  on  the 
same  farm  about  the  year  1831,  and  was  a  son 
of  Peter  Casper,  a  farmer  of  North  Carolina,  who 
removed  from  that  State  to  Union  County  at  a 
ver^-  early  day.  Peter  Casper  came  with  his  own 
team  and  wagon,  bringing  his  family'  with  him, 
consisting  of  his  wife,  four  sons  and  four  daugh- 
ters. Like  most  of  the  early  pioneers,  they  were  npt 
wealthy  people,  but  yet  had  some  means,  and  soon 
owned  considerable  land,  much  of  which  had  been 
entered  from  the  (iovernment.  He  built  a  double 
hewed-log  house,  the  remains  of  which  still  stand 
where  built,  a  portion  of  the  farm  still  remaining 
the  property  of  the  family,  the  old  hewed-log  house 
having  long  been  superseded  by  a  comfortable 
frame  structure,  in  which  the  family  now  resides. 
Grandfather  Casper  owned  many  farms  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1856,  his  wife 
having  died  some  time  before.  Peter  H.  was  reared 
on  the  farm  and  was  a  life-long  farmer,  living  dur- 
ing his  entire  life  on  the  old  homestead  upon 
which  he  was  born.  He  married  Elizabeth  A.  Hen- 
derson, of  Johnson  County,  a  native  of  Tennessee, 
who  was  brought  to  Illinois  when  a  child  b}'  her 
father,  who  was  the  Rev.  Rollins  Henderson,  cousin 
of  Hon.  Tom  Henderson.  Peter  l\.  Casper  and 
his  wife  buried  two  infant  children,  one  son  and 
a  daughter,  and  one  son  aged  about  three  years, 
Columbus  Bonaparte.  Peter  H.  Casper  himself 
died  in  1878.  aged  fifty-seven  years,  and  his  widow, 
who  siill  >urvives.  is  living  witii  iier  cliihlren.    She 


is  a  vigorous  woiiwn  to-ilay.is  tifty-niiu'  years  old, 
and  the  mother  of  seven  children  living,  of  whom 
AValter  J.  is  the  eldest;  America  J.,  wife  of  .loliii 
T.  l^sserv,  residing  in  Anna,  111.;  Stephen  Douglas, 
of  Nevada,  Mo.;  Lincoln  L.;  Addie  L.,  wife  of  J. 
II.  Appell,  a  farmer  of  I'nion  County,  who  was 
for  many  years  a  surgeon  in  the  army:  John  U.,  of 
Anna,  this  State;  and  Oscar  II. 

AValter  J.  Casper  attended  the  district  school  un- 
til eleven  years  of  age.  Upon  attaining  his  raa- 
jorit3'  he  went  to  tlie  village  of  Anna  and  opened 
a  store  near  the  depot,  which  he  conducted  for 
three  years  and  then  returned  to  the  farm.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-eight  he  was  married  to  Marie 
C.  Miles,  a  native  of  St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y., 
and  a  daughter  of  William  T.  and  Lyla  F.  (Mar- 
shall) Miles,  both  of  the  same  county,  who  came 
to  Union  County  in  18{)7.  Mr.  Miles  had  been  a 
farmer  in  New  York,  and  came  AVesl  partly  for  the 
benefit  of  his  health.  lie  died  January  15,  1881, 
aged  fifty-two  years, and  his  widow  is  now  tlu'  wife 
of  Rev.  James  Lafferty,  of  l']dw.irdsville.  III.  Mr. 
Casper  has  one  brother,  Arthur  ().  Miles,  a  resident 
of  Burnside.  She  bore  her  husband  three  chil- 
dren: one  infant  son  and  one  little  boy,  Norman 
AValter,  five  years  of  age,  both  deceased,  and  a 
daughter  Iva,  born  January-  4,  1893.  Our  subject 
sold  his  farm  in  Union  Count}'  in  the  fall  of  1888, 
and  came  to  his  present  home,  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres.  For  this  farm  he  paid 
$4,000,  the  present  fine  house  and  barn  having 
been  erected  before  he  made  the  purchase.  It  is  a 
fine,  rich  farm  on  the  table-lands  near  New  Burn- 
side, and  Mr.  Casper  has  been  engaged  in  general 
farming  for  the  most  part,  but  is  now  working  in- 
to horticulture.  He  is  a  fancier  of  sheep  and  has  a 
fine  flock  of  pure  blood  Southdowns  and  is  selling 
them  at  about  $10  per  head  for  breeding  purposes. 
He  also  keeps  some  good  draught  horses,  as  well  .as 
cattle  and  hogs.  The  father  of  Mr.  Casper  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Mexican  AVar,  but  not  being  able  to 
go  into  the  AVar  of  the  Rebellion  he  raised  many 
volunteers  for  the  army.  He  was  a  Douglas  Dem- 
ocrat in  1860,  but  since  that  time  has  been  a  true 
and  loyal  Republican.  His  son,  AValter  J.,  was  also 
a  Republican  up  to  1888,  when  the  People's  part}' 
was  fornu'd,  and  since  that  lime  he  has  lieen  a  mem- 


452 


I'DRTUAir  AND    15lO(;UAl'lll('AL    KKNIKW. 


ber  of  this  new  party.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  this  party,  but  sent  his  alter- 
nate. Mrs.  Casper  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  lias  been  an  elllcient  aid  to  that  de- 
nomination for  a  number  of  3'ear.'<. 


i->-^^<i 


_,,..  LBERT  H.  NOBLE,  who  is  now  living  on 
(@Oi  section  35,  township  15,  range  4,  near 
Metropolis,  removed  to  Massac  County 
April  5,  1875.  He  is  a  son  of  Thomas 
Nohle,who  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  and  was  brought 
up  there  on  a  farm.  He  removed  to  Indiana  in 
1817,  and  thence  to  Cincinnati  in  1821,  where 
he  died  June  22,  1827.  He  had  a  limited  edu- 
cation but  a  fairl}'  good  one  for  his  day  and  age 
of  the  world,  and  was  married  at  Bridge  ton,  N.  J., 
to  Lydia  (Mills)  Harris,  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  De- 
cember 10,  1816.  She  died  November  27,  1871. 
To  this  marriage  there  were  born  six  children,  viz: 
William,  who  died  in  1877;  Ruth,  who  died  on  the 
way  from  New  Jersey  to  Indiana;  Lydia,  Albert 
and  Thomas,  all  three  dead;  and  Albert  H.  Mrs. 
Noble  had  one  child,  Lydia,  by  a  former  husband. 

Albert  H.  Noble  was  born  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
April  10,  1826,  and  was  brought  up  to  hard  work 
on  the  farm  from  the  time  he  was  old  enough  to 
work.  His  only  education  consisted  of  four  months' 
schooling  under  a  man  named  Martin,  in  a  wild 
section  in  Clark  Count}',  Ind.,  in  1832.  The 
certificate  he  received  from  his  instructor  at  that 
time  has  always  been  very  valuable  to  Mr.  Noble, 
and  reads  as  follows: 

"This  is  to  certify  that  Albert  II.  Noble  was  a 
good  little  boy  as  long  as  he  came  to  m}'  school, 
which  was  about  four  months  and  a-half.  He  is  a 
boy  of  good  genius  and  possesses  an  excellent 
principle,  and  I  think  should  be  applauded  by  all 
who  know  him.  Jac.  Mautix. 

"Received  of  Mr.  Farrow  $2.65,  the  full  amount 
due  me  on  Albert's  schooling  up  to  date,  1  say  re- 
ceived in  full,  October  25th,  1832. 

"Ja(  .  Maktin." 


When  twenty-two  j'ears  old  he  entered  the  Mexi- 
can War  and  served  one  j-ear,  took  the  measles, 
had  a  hard  time  of  it  generally,  and  returned  to 
Indiana,  where  he  worked  on  a  farm  until  1856. 
lie  then  removed  to  Paducah,  Ky.,  and  worked  in  a 
shipyard  there  until  1861, after  which  hecameover 
the  river  to  Illinois  and  enlisted  in  the  Forty-eighth 
Illinois  Infantiy,  but  on  .account  of  defective  eye- 
sight, the  result  of  the  measles  taken  while  in  the 
service  before,  he  was  rejected.  He  went  back  to 
Kentucky  and  enlisted  in  the  Fifteenth  Kentuckj- 
Regiment,  but  was  again  rejected.  He  next  enlisted 
in  the  Sixteenth  Kentucky,  and  was  rejected  the 
third  time,  and  for  the  same  reason.  On  May  18, 
1864,  he  was  drafted,  answered  the  call  on  the  24th, 
and  was  again  rejected.  He,  however,  saw  a  little 
fighting,  as  he  volunteered  among  the  citizens  when 
the  fight  at  Paducah  came  off.  There  he  did  some 
good  fighting,  and  with  others  was  taken  prisoner. 
An  opportunity  offering,  he  made  his  escape,  run- 
ning away  like  a  deer,  bullets  meanwhile  pass- 
ing through  his  clothes,  and  between  his  legs,  but 
he  was  not  hit  and  got  away.  His  family  crossed 
the  Ohio  River  while  the  fight  was  going  on,  and 
entered  Pope  County  December  20,  1864,  where  he 
bought  a  farm  with  but  little  improvement  on  it, 
and  lived  there  ten  years. 

Our  subject  then  moved  to  Metropolis,  April  5, 
1875,  and  has  remained  there  and  in  the  vicinity 
ever  since.  He  worked  in  the  shipyard  at  Metropolis 
which  was  there  at  the  time,  has  farmed  a  little, 
and  is  now  sexton  for  two  cemeteries.  He  was 
married  December  17,  1853,  to  Catherine  E.  Camp, 
a  native  of  Tennessee,  who  was  killed  by  a  well 
windlass  .September  27,  1860,  and  buried  in  Mc- 
Crackcn  County,  Ky.  He  was  married  the  second 
time,  January  10,  1862,  to  Mary  Ann  Roberts,  in 
Pope  County,  she  being  a  native  of  that  county. 
She  died  January  24,  1868,  and  was  buried  at 
Hamletsburgh,  Pope  Countj\  and  he  was  married 
the  third  time  December  22,  1868,  to  Eliza  Ellen 
King,  of  Pope  County,  who  is  still  living.  Bv  his 
first  wife  he  had  four  children,  viz:  Sarah  Frances, 
wife  of  AVilliam  Ridge,  of  Dongola,  111.;  Mary  El- 
len, deceased;  Charles  Abbott,  who  died  in  Metro- 
polis, June  27,  1877,  and  Catherine  Elizabeth,  de- 
ceased, wife  of  W.  N.  Reese,  who  still  lives.    By  his 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


453 


second  wife  he  has  two  children:  Henry  Silas,  of 
Pellonia,  111.,  and  Claretty  M.,  wife  of  John  Gage, 
of  Reevesville,  111.  By  his  third  wife  he  has  had 
seven  children,  viz:  Eliza  A.,  living  in  ^Massac 
County;  Mary  Jane,  at  home;  James  Thomas, 
Albert  Pleasant  Angelo  and  Lillie  Gay,  at  home, 
and  two  that  died  in  infancy.  Politically,  Mr. 
Noble  was  a  Democrat  until  the  war,  then  he 
was  a  Republican  until  recently,  and  now  is  a  Pro- 
hibitionist, lie  has  been  a  member  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  since  1844. 


<|  IfelLLIAM  I.  IIUGHEY  was  born  in  what  is 
V  .  /  now  Metropolis  Precinct,  Massac  County, 
VfY  September  3,  1824,  and  now  makes  his 
home  in  township  15,  range  4,  of  the  same  county. 
His  father,  U.  P.  Hughey,  was  born  in  Henrj' 
County,  Tenn.,  June  18,  1818.  He  was  there 
reared  and  married,  and  came  to  Illinois  accom- 
panied by  his  wife  and  one  child,  locating  in  what 
is  now  Massac  County.  He  secured  a  tract  of 
Government  land  about  five  miles  from  Metropolis, 
and  resided  there  a  short  time,  when  he  sold  out 
and  bought  another  place  near  Joppa,  where  he 
resided  until  his  death,  about  the  j-ear  1857.  He 
was  married  in  1839  to  Lovina  Carson,  who  was 
born  in  Tennessee  Ma^^  14,  1819,  and  died  Januarj- 
10,  1853.  after  which,  in  1854,  he  married  Mary  L. 
Choate.  Three  of  his  children  by  his  first  man  iage 
reached  mature  years  and  one  by  the  second  mar- 
riage. 

William  1.  Hughey  was  quite  3'ouiig  when  his 
parents  died,  at  which  time  he  went  to  live  with 
an  uncle,  remaining  with  him  for  two  years.  From 
that  time  he  cared  for  himself,  and  .secured  his 
education  in  the  primitive  log  schoolhouses  of  the 
day.  When  he  began  life  for  himself  he  was  fifteen 
3-ears  old.  and  the  first  winter  he  worked  for  his 
board  and  schooling.  The  following  summer  he 
received  ^8  ()er  month  and  board,  and  continued 
to  work  on  the  farm  by  the  month  until  he  was 
twenty  vears  of  age.     In  September,  18(i2.  ho  en- 


listed in  Company  IJ,  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth 
Illinois  Infantry,  in  which  he  served  until  the 
close  of  the  war,  most  of  the  time  being  on  detached 
service  as  teamster,  but  was  with  the  army  in 
all  its  marches  and  campaigns.  He  was  honorably 
discharged  with  his  regiment  in  September,  1865, 
after  which  he  returned  to  Massac  County  and 
commenced  his  career  as  an  independent  farmer. 
He  farmed  on  rented  land  until  1877,  when  he 
bought  where  he  now  resides,  and  now  has  one 
hundred  and  twent}-  acres  of  land,  the  greater 
part  of  which  is  well  improved  and  contains  gcod 
buildings.  He  follows  general  farming  and  stock- 
raising,  of  which  he  has  made  and  is  making  a  good 
success. 

Our  subject  was  married  July  15,  1866,  to 
Semiramis  Morse,  who  was  born  in  Massac  County 
September  3,  1848,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Drur^'  C. 
and  Fanny  (Murrie)  Morse,  pioneer  settlers  of 
this  county-.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hughey  have  two 
children,  William  and  Fannie,  and  are  both  mem- 
bers of  the  Regular  Baptist  Church,  in  which  he  has 
served  as  Deacon  for  eight  years.  He  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Tom 
Smith  Post  No.  345,  G.  A.  R. 


•i-^H'^Sv  y 


\|/OIIN  F.  CASl'KK.  ,1  farmer  of  fifty-four 
years'  residence  in  Johnson  County,  and 
who  has  lived  nineteen  years  on  his  present 
farm  of  seventy-seven  and  a-half  acres,  was- 
born  in  Union  County,  this  State,  March  20,  1838. 
His  father,  Caleb  Casper,  w.is  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  and  a  farmer,  who  removed  from  that 
State  to  what  is  now  Union  County  in  the  fall  of 
1815.  He  was  born  November  6,  1812,  and  was  a 
son  of  Peter  Casper  and  wife,  who  before  her  mar- 
riage was  Jliss  Fullenwider.  When  the  latter  came 
to  Illinois,  thev  brought  with  them  a  famil}'  of 
four  children,  of  whom  Caleb  was  the  second  child 
and  second  son  in  order  of  birth.  They  brought 
with  them  their  cows  and  sheep,  driving  them  on 
before,  and  squatted  on  a  large  tract  of  land  near 


454 


I'OlMli.Ml'  AND    r.IOCUArillCAL    KKVIEW. 


wlicic  Anna  and  .lonesborough  now  an-.  After- 
ward Mr.  Caspor  added  to  liis  first  claim  bv  pur- 
chase until  he  had  about  one  thousand  acres  of 
land,  which  was  at  that  time  very  heavily  timbered, 
some  of  which  is  still  unimproved,  and  is  covered 
with  oak  and  black  wahiut  trees.  This  land  is 
now  very  valuable. 

The  grandparents  of  our  suljjcct  lived  to  a  ripe 
old  age,  and  reared  a  family  of  nine  children,  four 
sons  and  five  daughters,  who  all  grew  to  adult  age, 
and  some  of  them  are  still  living.  The  mother  of 
these  children  died  in  1842,  at  the  age  of  sixty,  of 
typhoid  fever,  which  is  believed  to  have  been  the 
first  case  of  the  kind  in  southern  Illinois.  The 
disease  became  epidemic,  and  three  of  the  family 
died  of  it  within  a  few  days.  Grandfather  Casper 
lived  until  1860,  and  died  at  seventy-nine  j^ears, 
leaving  to  each  of  his  sons  good  tracts  of  wild 
lands,  upon  which  they  made  good  homes.  He 
was  a  great  hunter,  and  every  year  went  on  a 
hunting  expedition,  and,  it  is  thought,  lengthened 
his  life  in  this  wa3\  lie  was  a  thoroughlj'  enter- 
prising and  progressive  farmer,  and  for  the  period 
a  well-informed  man.  His  son  Stephen  was  one  of 
the  finest  mathematicians  in  the  countrj'. 

Caleb  Casper,  the  father  of  our  subject,  married 
Elizabeth  Rich,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Esther 
(Noah)  Rich,  who  was  born  in  Alabama,  and  came 
to  Illinois  with  her  parents  about  1825.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Casper  first  settled  on  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  now  owned  by  the  Southern  Illinois 
Insane  Asylum,  but  in  1842  sold  out  and  removed 
to  Western  Saratoga,  Union  County,  where  they 
remained  two  years,  later  removing  to  Elvira 
Township,  Johnson  Count3'.  Here  the  former  died 
March  22,  1852,  leaving  his  widow  with  two  sons 
and  four  daughters,  viz:  John  F.,  Mary  Jane,  Alice 
Ann,  i^sther,  Francis  Marion,  and  Elizalieth,  de- 
ceased, the  rest  all  being  still  alive. 

Our  subject  received  only  a  common-school  edu- 
cation, but  taught  school  two  winters,  and  was 
reared  to  hard  labor  on  tiie  farm.  He  has  been 
married  twice;  first  at  twent3^-two  years  of  age,  to 
Mary  Ann  Roberts,  of  Wayne  County,  Tenn.,  who 
bore  him  two  daughters:  Ella,  who  died  at  seven- 
teen years;  and  Flora  Ann,  wife  of  A.  J.  Gourley, 
a  farmer    and    physician    living    at    Lake    Creek, 


Union  County;  they  have  one  daughter,  Mertie  A., 
a  promising  young  girl  of  seven  years.  Mr.  Cas- 
per was  married  the  second  time,  to  Annie  C. 
Plater,  of  Jefi'erson  County,  111.,  daughter  of  James 
A.  and  Catherine  (StuU)  Plater,  both  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  and  who  were  educated  and  cultured 
people,  who  mingled  in  the  best  of  Wasliington  so- 
ciety. The  former  was  a  wealthy  planter  on  Sugar 
Creek  bottom  lands  in  Maryland,  and  with  his  wife 
and  family  removed  to  Kaskaskia,  111.,  about  1825, 
where  they  became  warm  and  intimate  friends  of 
the  first  Governor  of  the  State,  Shadrach  Bond. 
They  settled  on  the  land  upon  which  the  widow 
now  resides  in  Union  County,  and  reared  ten 
children,  all   of  whom  grew  to  maturity  but  one. 

Mrs.  Casper  was  the  only  daughter  of  this  fam- 
ily, and  now  has  seven  brothers,  of  whom  James 
and  William  were  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion, 
serving  about  one  year.  L.  F.  Plater  is  a  lawj-er 
of  Elizabethtown,  Hardin  County,  and  James  is  a 
druggist  in  Missouri,  where  his  brother  Thomas 
is  a  merciiant.  William  and  Joseph  are  farmers 
in  southern  Illinois.  John  is  in  Arkansas,  and 
Charles  W.  is  a  master  mechanic  living  at  Mur- 
physborough.  111.;  he  has  been  superintendent  of 
bridge  building  on  the  Mobile  &  Ohio  Railroad, 
and  is  now  in  charge  of  that  company's  yards  at 
Murphysborough.  William  W.  Plater  has  an  ele- 
gant farm  adjoining  the  city  of  Carbondale,  111. 
The  father  of  these  children  died  at  the  old  farm 
home  in  1867,  aged  sixtj'-four  5'ears.  John  F. 
Casper  was  a  farmer  in  Elvira  Township  from 
1858  to  1873,  when  he  sold  his  farm  there  and  re- 
moved to  his  present  farm,  after  which  he  bought 
seventj'-scven  and  a-half  acres  with  inconsiderable 
improvements,  and  moved  into  a  small  log  house, 
in  which  he  lived  a  few  years,  when  he  erected  his 
present  large  and  commodious  dwelling.  He  h,as 
carried  on  general  farming  for  the  most  part,  but 
has  also  done  something  in  the  way  of  growing 
and  shipping  small  fruits.  He  has  a  fine  ap]ile 
orchard  of  eighteen  acres,  and  raises  for  his  own 
use  an  abundance  of  apples,  peaches,  pears,  grapes, 
etc.,  and  was  the  first  man  in  this  section  to  ship 
small  fruits  and  to  utilize  the  fertilizers. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Casper  have  buried  one  little 
daughter,  Elizabeth,  who  died  at  the  age  of   eigli- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


4Jo 


leen  months,  and  their  living  children  are:  Lilly 
D.,  wife  of  M.  C.  Lawrence,  re,<irling  at  Simpson, 
111.,  who  liad  one  child,  Clyde,  wiio  died  at  the 
age  of  nineteen  months;  and  Luella  B.,  wife  of 
I'\  M.  ('ha|)man,  who  is  living  with  Mr.  C:isperand 
conducting  the  farm,  and  has  one  little  son,  Earl 
Clifton,  the  joy  and  pride  of  the  household.  Our 
subject  was  a  volunteer  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry  under  Capt.  J.  T. 
Mozley,  in  which  lie  enlisted  as  a  private,  on  the 
14th  of  August,  1862,  and  was  discharged  in 
the  following  December,  on  account  of  disability-. 
He  was  School  Trustee  nine  jears  in  Elvira  Town- 
ship, and  Count\'  Commissioner  of  Johnson  County 
from  1879  to  1881,  during  which  time  the  county 
was  relieved  from  a  large  debt  of  long  standing  ex- 
cept the  railroad  bonds.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fralernit3',  has  been  a  Republican  for 
thirty  years,  and  with  his  wife  is  an  inlliiential 
member  of  the  Christian  Church. 


().\II  S.  HAHGEH,  a  prominent  fanner  who 
has  resided  on  his  present  farm  of  two 
\'^  hundred  and  ninety-three  acres  on  section 
•'52,  Eddyville  Precinct,  Pope  Count}-,  for  the  past 
forty-five  years,  was  born  in  this  count}',  within 
three  miles  of  his  present  home,  in  1832.  His  fa- 
ther, Siinou  .Shuffelbarger,  was  born  in  Virginia. 
He  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  in  this  part  of  the 
county,  bringing  with  him  his  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren. Mrs.  Shuffelbarger  was  a  Miss  Binyard,  and 
at  the  time  of  her  marriage  to  Mr.  Shuffelbarger 
was  Mrs.  Woolwine,  a  widow.  They  removed  first 
to  Indiana,  but  soon  afterward  removed  to  Pope 
County.  The}'  soon  settled  on  poor  land,  with 
good  sjiring  water, however,  but  did  little  farming, 
preferring  to  follow  hunting  and  trapping  instead. 
The  father  of  our  subject  and  his  two  cousins, 
.lacob  and  Isaac  SliutTelbargcr,  were  great  hunters 
and  typical  frontiersmen.  Deer,  turkeys,  and,  in 
fact,  all  kinds  of  game,  were   very  iilcntiful    then. 


and  there  were  a  good  many  black  bears,  panthers, 
]    wolves  and  wildcats.     The  subject  of   this  sketch 
1    lias  Seen  as  many  as  fifteen  deer  in  one  drove,  and 
j   .as  many  as  one  hundred  wild  turkeys   in   a   flock. 
The  father  was  accidentiill}  drowned  at  Golconda 
in  the  creek,  in  trying  to  rescue  his  cousin  Jacob, 
who  had  broken  through  the  ice,  but  who  escaped. 
The  drowned  man  left  eight  children,  one  daugh- 
ter and  seven  sons,  four  of  whom  are  now  living. 
The  mother  died  on  the  farm  in   1877,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-five  years. 

Noah  S.  Bargcr  had  but  little  education  in  his 
youth,  but  was  reared  to  toil  and  hardship,  and 
since  he  reached  maturity  has  acquired  consider- 
able practical  knowledge.  He  was  married  when 
twenty-one  years  old,  in  September,  18.5.5,  to  Miss 
Esther  King,  daughter  of  Anderson  and  Happy 
(Vaughn)  King.  The  lady  of  his  choice  was  born 
in  Po|je  County,  and  upon  their  marriage  she  and 
her  husband  began  life  on  twenty  acres  of  land, 
one-half  of  a  forty-acre  tract  upon  which  he  and 
his  brother  John  had  laid  a  land  warrant,  which 
the  (Government  gave  their  father  for  services  in 
the  Black  Hank  War.  Our  subject  bought  his 
brother's  half,  and  afterward  bought  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  more,  and  from  time  to  time 
added  to  this  amount,  until  at  the  present  time  he 
has  two  hundred  and  ninety-three  broad  acres,  be- 
sides giving  each  of  his  six  sons  eighty  acres.  He 
and  his  wife  have  had  nine  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters, two  of  the  former  and  one  of  the  latter  dying 
when  young.  Those  who  lived  to  mature  years 
are  as  follows:  Frederick,  Burton,  Anderson,  Silas, 
Ira  and  Sherman,  all  farmers  of  Pope  County,  and 
having  families  of  their  own;  Margaret,  who  died 
in  the  bloom  of  youth;  Minerva,  wife  of  William 
Iludnell,  who  died  in  1884  at  the  age  of  twenty. 
Leroy  died  at  about  six  or  seven  months;  and  Lu- 
enna  died  at  about  throe  years  of  age. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  S.  Bargcr  have  twenty-three  grand- 
children living.  The  youngest  son,  Sherman,  who 
is  living  at  home  and  running  the  farm,  married 
Alice  Duncan,  and  they  have  one  bright  little 
daughter,  Narry.  Mr.  S.  I5arger  has  always  carried 
on  general  farming,  and  for  four  years  was  a  mer- 
chant in  Eddyville.  Of  late  years  he  is  making  a 
specialty  of  stock,  breeding  horses,  mules  and  asses; 


456 


I'OU  TRAIT  AND    151()(  IHAl'llK'AL    REVIEW. 


be  also  buys  young  mules,  wbicb  he  raises  for 
the  market.  He  is  a  Master  Mason,  and  in  poli- 
tics he  is  11  Republican.  In  religion,  he  is  a  Pres- 
byterian, while  iiis  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Church 
of  the  Social  Hrelhren.  His  children  are  all  well 
educated,  and  are  settled  near  him.  One  son, 
Frederick,  was  a  teacher  for  some  j'ears,  and  his 
uncle,  Hiram,  was  one  of  the  defenders  of  the 
Old  Flag-  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  in  which  he  served  as  a  private 
soldier  for  nearly  the  entire  four  3'ears,  and  is  now 
a  farmer  in  Oklahoma. 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  a 
farmer  who  came  from  (Termany,  and  the  father 
of  our  subject  was  the  only  one  of  the  family  who 
came  from  Virginia.  The  maternal  grandfather  of 
our  subject  was  Frederic  Binj-ard,  who  came  from 
Germany,  and  who,  though  a  good  German  scholar, 
could  not  read  a  word  of  English.  The  father  of 
Mrs.  Barger  served  in  the  Black  Hawk  War, 
was  a  native  of  Virginia  and  a  farmer  and  mechanic 
by  occupation.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  and  was  the  father  of 
fourteen  children. 


,,.^  XIL  N.  STARKES,  a  prominent  citizen  of 
Hi  Metropolis  City,  Massac  County,  of  the 
firm  of  A.  N.  Starkes  k  Co.,  proprietors 
of  the  Massac  Journal-Ilepublican^  was 
born  in  Grantsburg  Precinct,  Johnson  County, 
January  7,  1865.  His  father,  Reuben  P.  Starkes, 
was  born  in' Calloway  Count3',  Ky.,  and  his  fa- 
ther, Josiah  Starkes,  was,  so  far  as  is  known,  born 
in  the  same  count}'.  The  great-grandfather  of  our 
subject  was  born  either  in  Germany  or  in  Amer- 
ica, of  German  parents.  He  was  a  preacher  in  the 
Christian  Church,  and  spent  his  last  days  in  Cal- 
loway Count}',  Ky.  The  grandfather  of  Axil  N. 
was  a  farmer  and  spent  his  entire  life  in  Kentucky, 
except  that  short  portion  of  it  spent  in  the  Fif- 
teenth Kentucky  Cavalry'  during  the   late  war,  in 


which  he  died.  He  married  Perlina  Pace,  and 
they  were  members  of  the  Christian  Church.  In 
politics,  he  was  formerly  a  Whig,  but  in  the  later 
years  of  his  life  was  a  Republican. 

Reuben  P.  Starkes  was  reared  in  Kentucky  on 
the  farm,  and  followed  farming  until  the  3ear 
1862,  when  he  enlisted  in  the  Fifteenth  Ken- 
tucky Cavalr}',  and  served  until  the  expiration  of 
his  term  of  enlistment.  He  was  discharged  with 
his  regiment  in  1864,  and  then  located  in  Johnson 
County,  living  there  until  1869,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Massac  County,  engaged  in  farming, 
operated  a  sawmill,  and  a  portion  of  his  time 
worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade.  In  1880  he  re- 
moved to  Metropolis,  where  he  has  since  followed 
his  trade.  He  married  Sophronia  Mozley,  who 
was  born  in  Johnson  County,  and  is  the  daughter 
of  Thornton  T.  and  Adeline  E.  (Carlton)  Mozley, 
of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  They  reared  two  chil- 
dren. Axil  N.  and  J.  Lewis.  Axil  K.  attended 
school  in  his  j'outh  about  five  months  each  year, 
and  the  rest  of  the  time  he  worked  upon  the  farm 
until  he  was  fifteen  years  old.  He  then  entered 
Metropolis  High  School,  and  was  graduated  with 
the  Class  of  '84.  He  was  then  engaged  in  the  sale 
of  books  one  year,  taught  school  one  term  in  Pu- 
laski County,  and  in  the  year  1886  commenced  the 
study  of  law.  He  remained  thus  engaged  in  the 
office  of  Courtney  &  Helm  one  year,  and  in  June, 
1887,  he  bought  a  one-half  interest  in  the  lease  for 
one  year  of  the  Massac  Journal.  January  1,  1888, 
in  company  with  W.  H.  Hines,  he  bought  the  Jour- 
nal, and  was  associated  with  Mr.  Hlnes  until  Ma}-, 
1892,  at  which  time  he  bought  the  interest  of  Mr. 
Hines,  and  on  August  8  of  the  same  year  the  office 
of  the  Journal  and  that  of  the  Republican  were 
consolidated  under  the  name  of  the  Massac  Juur- 
nal-Iiepitblican,  P.  H.  Norris  becoming  his  partner. 
Mr.  Starkes  is  the  editor  of  the  paper,  and  Mr. 
Morris  business  manager. 

Our  subject  was  married  September  1 1,  1887,  to 
Jennie  L.  Stone,  who  was  born  in  Metropolis,  and 
is  the  daughter  of  T.  S.  and  Luella  (Culley)  Stone. 
By  this  marriage  Mr.  Starkes  has  one  child,  Carl- 
ton C.  With  his  wife  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  he  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics.    In  August,  1890,  he  was  appointed  Clerk  in 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


457 


the  Census  Dcpaitrneiit  at  Wasliingloii,  wbicli  posi- 
tion he  resigned  December  1  following,  to  accept 
a  position  in  the  Pension  Department,  where  he 
remained  until  June  3,  1892.  He  then  resigned 
tliis  position  and  has  since  devoted  liis  entire  time 
to  journalism.  He  is  a  member  of  Phil  Kearney 
Camp,  Sons  of  Veterans,  Washington,  1).  C,  and 
of  Massac  Lodge  No.  442,  I.  O.  O.  F.  TIk'  father 
of  Mr.  Starkes  is  a  Republican,  and  a  inonil>(>r  of 
Tom  Smith  Post  No.  345,  G.  A.  K. 


i^+^i 


AMUEL  AV.  HESTER.  A  very  neat  and 
well-kept  establishment  is  that  of  Samuel 
W.  Hester,  who  is  a  successful  merchant 
of  Metropolis,  111.,  his  stock  of  goods  be- 
ing large  and  complete  in  the  most  select  and  latest 
styles  and  designs.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  Mr. 
Hester  thoroughly  understands  every  branch  of 
the  business  and  is  able  to  give  his  patrons  the 
benefit  of  the  very  best  experience.  He  is  a  son 
of  .lohn  .1.  Hester,  who  was  born  in  Virginia  in 
1817,  was  there  reared  on  a  farm,  and  obtained  a 
thorough  common-school  education  in  the  rural 
districts.  Upon  becoming  legally  responsible  for 
his  actions  he  started  out  in  life  for  himself,  and, 
as  was  but  natuial,  chose  the  occupation  of  farm- 
ing, for  with  that  he  was  the  most  familiar.  He 
became  a  resident  of  the  State  of  Illinois  in  1853, 
and  settled  in  Randolph  County,  where  he  made 
his  home  until  185C,  when  he  entered  a  tract  of 
land  in  Johnson  County,  which  he  continued  to 
work  and  improve  until  1862.  He  then  accepted 
the  positi(.>n  of  Deputy  Sheriff,  the  duties  of  which 
he  discharged  in  an  able  and  praiseworthy  manner 
for  several  years,  and  was  then  chosen  Sheriff,  his 
ollicial  career  meeting  with  such  general  satisfaction 
that  he  was  retained  in  the  position  for  twelve 
years.  He  is  now  living  at  New  Burnside,  in 
Johnson  County,  111.  He  was  married  in  1838, 
to  Miss  Elizabeth  Matthews  of  Kentucky,  and  to 
them  thirteen  children  were  born,  of  whom  the 
following  named  are  living:  Samuel  W.;  Mary  .M., 


widow  of  D.  Sherer;  Newton  J.;  and  Adaline, 
widow  of  David  Renfro.  John.  William  E.  and 
Josiah  are  dead,  and  the  remaining  members  of 
the  family  died  in  early  childhood. 

Samuel  W.  Hester  was  born  in  Trigg  County, 
Ky.,  December  23,  1841,  and  his  youth  and  early 
manhood  were  spent  on  a  farm.  On  the  22d  of 
August,  1861,  he  could  no  longer  repress  his 
patriotic  feeling  and  accordingly  enlisted  in 
Companj'  D,  Thirtj--first  Illinois  Infantry-,  un- 
der John  A.  Logan,  and  with  his  command  was 
sent  to  the  scene  of  action.  He  was  after- 
ward in  the  engagements  at  Belmont,  Ft.  Henry, 
Ft.  Donelson,  Shiloh,  Corinth,  Ft.  Gibson,  Ray- 
mond, Jackson,  Champion  Hills,  Vicksburg,  Lost 
Mountain  and  Atlanta.  He  was  with  Sherman 
in  his  notable  march  to  the  sea,  and  closed 
his  military  career  with  the  Grand  Iveview  at 
AVashington,  1).  C.  He  received  his  discharge  at 
Springfield,  HI.,  and  returned  to  his  home  with  the 
consciousness  of  having  performed  every  dutj'  as- 
signed him  to  the  best  of  his  ability  and  to 
tlu^  satisfaction  of  his  commanding  officers.  He 
was  faithful,  courageous  and  zealous,  and  it  is  to 
such  men  as  Mr.  Hester  that  the  country  owes  its 
salvation.  His  health  was  much  impaired  b}'  the 
hardships  in  the  field  and  on  the  march  and  he 
was  almost  blind  with  sore  e3'es,  with  which  he  had 
been  troubled  for  three  ^ears. 

For  several  3-ears  Mr.  Hester  worked  as  a  laboier 
in  a  gristmill  and  also  at  carpentering,  then 
clerked  in  a  dry-goods  store  for  one  year.  He 
then  gave  up  his  clerical  position  to  turn  his  at- 
tention to  tilling  the  soil,  and  after  farming  on 
rented  land  for  two  years,  he  purchased  a  place  of 
his  own  and  spent  three  3'ears  in  bringing  it  to  a 
good  state  of  cultivation  and  improvement.  He 
then  sold  his  property  and  took  up  his  residence 
in  Metropolis,  where  he  founded  his  present  mer- 
cantile establishment,  which  has  been  a  financial 
success  from  the  start.  Mr.  Hester  has  alwaj's 
been  a  live,  energetic  business  man  and  he  has  ever 
retiiined  the  confidence  of  the  community  at  large, 
and  brings  to  bear  the  (pialitications  essential  to 
maintain  a  leading  place  in  his  line  of  trade. 

iMr.  Hester  has  been  married  three  times,  first  in 
September,  1H65,  to  Amanda  Depoyster,  of  Vienna, 


158 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


111.,  wLo  bore  him  four  children:  Clara  Bell  (de- 
ceased), Kdgar  A.,  Fr.anklin  J.  and  Cora  May. 
The  mother  died  in  Decemlier,  1871,  and  in  .luly, 
1876,  he  wedded  Alice  Johnson,  of  New  Burnside, 
111.,  and  to  them  four  children  were  also  given: 
one  who  died  in  infanc}';  William,  deceased; 
Arthur  and  Kirk.  In  October,  1885,  Mr.  Hester 
■was  again  left  a  widower,  and  in  June,  1886,  he 
espoused  Miss  Sarah  A.  Baker,  of  Illinois.  They 
have  three  children:  Robert  C.  (deceased),  Gracie 
and  Bessie.  Mr.  Hester  is  a  member  of  Post  No. 
36;"),  G.  A.  R.  and  politically  is  a  Republican. 
He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church. 


(^^IIOMAS  A.  EDMONDSON,  a  merchant  of 
//|^^  New  Burnside,  was  born  in  Maury  County, 
^^^'  Tenn.,  September  26,  1844.  His  father  was 
born  in  the  same  county  July  28,  1813,  and  was  a 
son  of  William  Edmondson,  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  and  born  in  1768.  Tliough  quite  young, 
he  was  a  participant  in  the  Revolutionary  War, 
and  was  twice  married,  the  father  of  Thomas  A. 
being  the  only  child  bj'  his  second  wife.  This 
son  was  reared  a  farmer  boy,  and  had  but  limited 
opportunities  for  securing  an  education,  but  he 
was  in  early  youth  converted  to  the  Methodist 
faith  and  began  preaching  when  he  was  about 
twenty-one  years  old.  He  was  married  in  early 
manhood  to  Elizabeth  Ciendening.  a  daughter  of 
Tliomas  Ciendening  and  his  wife,  who  was  a  Miss 
Woody,  and  was  like  her  husband,  a  North  Caro- 
linian. They  lived  in  that  State  some  years  after 
their  marriage,  but  removed  to  Tennessee  and 
settled  on  their  own  farm,  living  there  until  the 
fall  of  1851,  when  they  sold  out  and  moved  to 
Johnson  County. 

Thomas  A.  Edmondson  was  seven  years  old 
when  his  parents  came  to  Illinois,  at  that  time  be- 
ing one  of  a  family  of  five  children,  whom  they 
brought  to  Illinois  in  their  own  wagon  drawn 
by  a  team  of  horses.  Upon  arriving  in  Illinois 
they  made  their  home  first  near  Reynoldsburgh, 


where  they  lived  until  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war.  They  came  to  Illinois  with  but  little  money, 
and  young  Thom.as  A.  was  early  put  to  hard  work. 
He  assisted  in  clearing  up  his  father's  farm,  which 
was  Government  land,  and  upon  it  they  built  a 
rough  log  house,  and  occupied  it  several  years, 
when  they  built  a  better  one  of  hewed  logs.  On 
August  20,  1862,  Thomas  A.  Edmondson  enlisted 
in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-eighth 
Illinois  Infantry,  under  Capt.  Fry,  and  about 
orre  year  afterward  was  ti'ansf erred  to  Company  F, 
Ninth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  still  later  to  Companj- 
E,  same  regiment.  He  was  but  seventeen  years 
old  when  he  entered  the  army,  and  when  he  was 
mustered  out  he  was  Second  .Sei-geant  of  his  com- 
pany. He  was  sick  a  few  weeks  and  in  the  hospital 
a  few  days,  but  with  these  exceptions  was  on  duty 
in  the  ranks  all  the  time  of  his  enlistment.  He 
was  in  ninety-six  engagements  during  this  time, 
but  was  neither  wounded  nor  taken  prisoner.  He 
was  mustered  out  July  9,  1865,  at  Louisville,  K3'., 
and  returned  to  his  father's  home  immediately 
afterward,  where  he  attended  school  two  years. 
When  about  twenty- one  years  old  he  taught  school 
for  eight  years,  teaching  sirccessfuUy  two  terms  in 
Texas. 

On  .September  8,  1870,  our  subject  married 
Mary  E.  Hall,  daughter  of  David  T.  and  L_vdia 
Ann  (Houselj')  Hall,  both  whom  were  natives  of 
East  Tennessee.  Her  father  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Mexican  War  and  now  resides  in  Texas.  Mr.  Ed- 
mondson and  his  wife  lived  in  Williamson  County 
two  years,  when  they  removed  to  Texas,  where 
Mrs.  Edmondson  died,  leaving  one  son,  William 
M.,  who  is  now  with  his  grandparents  in  Texas. 
Mr.  Edmondson  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  A. 
Buekner,  of  Johnson  County,  who  was  reared  in 
this  county,  and  is  a  daughter  of  David  M.  Buek- 
ner, a  farmer  of  the  same  township  in  which  Mr. 
Edmondson  now  lives.  By  this  l.ast  marriage  our 
subject  has  live  children  living:  David  E.,  fifteen 
years  old;  .leph  G.,  ten;  Charles  T.,  eight;  Harry 
M.,  six;  and  Marion  B.,  four  years  of  age.  They 
have   buried  two  daughters   who  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  Edmonson  began  business  as  a  merchant  in 
New  Burnside  in  1882,  with  small  capital,  in  corn- 
pan}'  with  his  brother,  James  M.,  whose  interest  he 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


459 


liouglit  that  same  j-ear,  antl  has  since  changed  his 
business  to  tliat  of  a  general  merchant.  He  has 
built  up  a  trade  of  about  •^12,0(10  per  year  and  has 
served  tiie  people  as  Village  Trustee,  President  of 
the  village  and  as  Town  Clerk.  He  is  a  Master 
Mason,  and  votes  with  the  Republicans,  though 
he  is  the  only  one  of  the  fainilv  that  does  so. 


•^  IIAHLES  S.  DECK,  a  prominent  citizen  of 
'-,  Xcw  Burnside,  Johnson  County,  was  born 
at  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  1846,  to  .lohn  Deck,  a 
Pennsylvanian,  and  a  carriage  and  wagon  maker 
by  trade,  who  came  to  Illinois,  locating  at  OIney, 
Richland  County,  when  Charles  S.  was  eleven 
years  old.  He  died  away  from  home,  having  gone 
away  with  a  drove  of  horses,  and  his  widow  mar- 
ried again  and  is  now  the  wife  of  A.  E.  Banks, 
living  near  Olney.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  Charles 
S.  Deck  enlisted  in  the  Twentj-uinth  Illinois  In- 
fantry, and  was  in  Gen.  Logan's  command  for  a 
time,  serving  through  the  war  and  being  wounded 


Mo.,  who  has  a  wife  and  five  children;  E.  D.,  a 
young  man  living  at  Tupelo,  Miss.,  where  he  is 
foreman  in  a  large  spoke  factory;  A.  J.,  unmarried 
and  living  at  Meridian,  Miss.,  Yardmaster  of  a  rail- 
road; L.  N.,  living  at  Thornton,  Calhoun  County, 
Ark.,  who  is  married,  and  is  a  master  mechanic  in  a 
large  sawmill;  George  B.,  a  traveling  agent  for  the 
Camden  (Ark.)  Stave  Factor\-,  a  single  man;  and 
Joseph  E.,  in  a  wholesale  hardware  store  in  Cairo, 
with  J.  B.  Reed.  While  these  men  in  their  youth 
received  but  a  limited  education,  yet  they  are 
bright,  active  and  successful  business  men.  Mrs. 
Deck  came  to  Xew  Burnside  from  Cairo  in  Fet> 
ruary,  1891. 

Our  subject  has  been  greatly  prospered  and  has 
bought  the  fine  large  house  in  which  he  lives,  to- 
gether with  thirty-five  acres  of  land  under  culti- 
vation. He  has  been  in  business  in  the  South  not 
far  from  Natchez,  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
lumber  and  shingles,  and  in  merchandising.  He 
is  a  Mason  and  an  Odd  Fellow,  and  a  Kepublican 
of  the  straightest  sort. 

Our  subject's  home  has  been  recently  visited  by 
the  Grim  Messenger  Death,  the  faithful  and  devoted 
wife  departing  this  life  January  6,  1893.  She  was 
a  zealous  worker  with  her  husband  in  the  Mission- 
ary Baptist  Church,  and  her  death  is  mourned  by 


twice,  though  not  seriously. 

Our  subject  was  married  to  Mrs.  B.  R.  Byrne,  ]  a  host  of  friends  and  relatives,  who  deeply  sym 
formerly  j\liss  Jlaggie  Ellsworth,  a  cousin  of  Col.  pathize  with  Mr.  Deck  in  his  bereavement. 
Ellsworth,  who  was  shot  down  at  Alexandria,  Va., 
early  in  the  war.  Mrs.  Deck  was  born  in  Indiana 
and  was  left  an  orphan  at  five  years  of  age,  but 
was  reared  by  Thomas  DuPoyster  in  Illinois  and 
Tennessee  and  was  first  married  in  Dyersburgh, 
Dyer  County,  Tenn.,  in  1852,  when  she  was  (iftecn 
years  old.  to  B.  R.  Byrne,  to  whom  she  bore  ten 
children,  nine  sons  and  one  daughter.  They  lived 
in  Tennessee,  Missouri  and  KenMicky,  and  lie  died 
in  the  latter  State,  in  Blandville,  Ballard  County, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-four  3-ears,  leaving  her  in  com- 
fortable circumstances.  She  was  married  to  her 
present  husband,  Mr.  Deck,  in  1875,  at  I'Uin,  Pu- 
laski County,  this  State,  and  as  a  result  of  this 
union  there  was  born  one  sijn,  Chailes  H.,  who 
died  at  two  years  of  age.  Si;;  of  Mrs.  Deck's  sons 
are  still  living:  .lohn  P.,  assii'.ant  sui)erintendent 
of  the   Oxley  Stave   Compan-,    of    Poplar   Grove, 


TEl'llKN  F.  KKl.TNKH,  a  prominent  resi- 
dent    of     Simpson     Township,     Johnson 
County,  was  born  in  Giles  County,  Tenn. 
December  22,  1848,  to  Lewis  B.  and  Mary 
(Farris)  Keltner,  both  natives  of  the  same  county 
as  himself.      Manuel  Keltner  was  his  grandfather. 
Lewis  B.  was  a   farmer  and  married  in  Tennessee, 
where  he   remained   a   number  of  years. and  then 
sold  out  and  came  to  Illinois  in    1835.     He  lived 
in  Union  County  one  year  .ind    then    removed  to 
Johnson  County,  jjurchasing  land  in  Vienna  Town- 
ship, where   he  lived    four  years  and    then    went 


•ICO 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


back  to  Tennessee.  Returning  to  Illinois,  lie  pur- 
chased land  in  Simpson  Township,  where  he  resided 
until  his  deatii,  Decemlier  SI,  1883.  His  widow 
still  lives  on  the  old  pl.acc. 

Stephen  F.  Keltner  remained  .it  iioiiie  until  he 
w'as  twenty-five  years  old,  when  he  rented  laud 
one  year,  and  then  bought  land  in  Simpson  Town- 
ship, his  first  purchase  comprising  eighty  acres,  to 
which  he  h.as  added  from  time  to  time,  until  now 
he  owns  two  hundred  and  thirty-three  acres  in  one 
body.  He  has  built  one  of  the  best  houses  in  the 
township  in  which  he  lives,  and  is  enjoying  the 
good  things  of  life.  The  schoolhouse  he  attended 
in  his  boyhood  was  of  the  most  primitive  descrip- 
tion, heated  by  a  large  open  firepLace,  as  were  all 
the  schoolhouses  in  the  country'  at  that  day.  Mr. 
Keltner  was  married  April  1,  1873,  to  Sarah  C. 
Whiteside,  who  was  born  January  14, 18.56,  in  John- 
son County,  and  is  a  daughter  of  William  R.  and 
Sine}'  (Waters)  Whiteside,  both  of  whom  were  born 
in  Illinois.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Keltner  have  had  three 
children:  William  Lewis,  Mary  Elnora,  and  Audie 
L.,  now  deceased.  Our  subject  is  liberal  in  his 
religious  views,  and  is  a  Democrat  in  politics.  He 
is  highly  respected  and  is  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing and  enterprising  citizens  in  the  county,  hav- 
ing won  his  reputation  as  such  by  steadf.ast  \n\v- 
pose,  unwavering  energy  and  perseverance. 


•^^^l:^^@IE 


^^EORGE  A.  STEAVART,  M.  I 
III  f—,  ph3-sician  of  Metropolis,  M.a; 
^^jjl    is  a  son   of   Wakeman   Stewarl 


^^^EORGE  A.   STEAVART,   M.    D.,   a  leading 

I.assac  Count}', 
rt,  whose  par- 
ents died  when  he  was  but  a  child,  leaving  him  an 
orphan  boy  without  their  care,  advice  and  protec- 
tion. He  made  his  home  with  and  was  brought  up 
by  Martin  Gillett.  He  spent  his  boyhood  days  on 
the  farm,  and  was  obliged  to  work  very  hard,  too 
hard  for  a  boy,  and  had  but  little  opportunity  for 
anything  but  work.  Hoping  to  better  his  condi- 
tion he  was  married  at  nineteen  with  the  view  of 
making  a  home  for  himself.  After  his  marriage  he 
bought  under  the  Bitt  Act  eighty  acres  of  unim- 


proved Government  laud,  which  was  heavily  tim- 
bered and  located  in  Saline  Count}',  this  State.  The 
first  thing  he  did  was  to  build  a  log  cabin,  small, 
but  large  enough  to  begin  with,  and  his  mother's 
father  gave  him  a  mule,  for  which  he  purchased  a 
niate  on  credit,  and  was  then  the  possessor  of  a 
team.  Then  the  work  of  clearing  up  the  timber 
and  improving  the  farm  began  in  downright  ear- 
nest. The  laige  trees  of  varous  kinds — oak,  walnut_ 
and  other  valuable  varieties — were  cut  down  and 
burned  in  order  to  get  them  out  of  the  wa}-  for 
the  cultivation  of  the  land.  As  time  passed  he 
added  to  his  farm  and  at  length  made  a  good  and 
comfortable  home  for  himself  and  family.  But 
when  the  hard  work  was  mostlj-  done,  he  had 
so  broken  himself  down  by  hard  work  and  ex- 
posure that  he  did  not  live  much  longer  to  enjoy 
the  results  of  his  labor,  dying  in  1875,  at  the  early 
age  of  thirty-six.  The  companion  of  his  sorrows 
and  his  joj's,  who  had  faithfully  stood  by  him 
during  his  years  of  trial,  still  survives,  and  is  liv- 
ing on  the  old  place.  To  the  marriage  of  these 
pioneers  there  were  born  eight  children,  viz:  Isa- 
bel, wife  of  N.  E.  Gourley,  a  farmer;  Willis  M., 
who  died  in  infancy,  George  A.;  Oscar  S.,  a  farmer 
of  Saline  County;  Fannie  E.,  deceased;  Henry  I.,  a 
farmer  of  Saline  County;  Cuma  Ellen,  deceased; 
and  Viola,  living  with  her  mother  on  the  old  farm. 
George  A.  Stewart  was  the  third  child  of  this 
family,  and  was  born  in  Saline  County  March  21, 
1863.  He  was  brought  up  on  the  farm  until  he  was 
sixteen  years  of  age  and  was  used  to  hard  work  in 
the  summer  time.  He  attended  school  in  the  win- 
ter on  the  average  of  about  thirty  days  each  year. 
He  then  left  home  and  worked  on  a  farm  two 
years,  went  to  Indiana  and  worked  in  the  tim- 
ber about  one  year,  and  finally  removed  to  Me- 
tropolis and  went  to  work  in  the  drug  store  of 
J.  T.  Willis.  Feeling  the  necessity  of  an  edu- 
cation he  applied  himself  diligently  to  his  busi- 
ness, and  soon  became  its  master  in  all  its  de- 
tails. He  could  do  any  kind  of  work  aI)out  the 
store,  and  then  commenced  to  study  medicine  un- 
der the  instructions  of  Dr.  Willis.  In  1887  he 
went  to  the  Louisville  Medical  College,  remained 
there  two  years  and  graduated  in  1889,  after 
which    he    returned    to    Metropolis    and    liegan 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


461 


tlie  practice  of  liis  profession,  which  he  has  con- 
tinued with  success  until  the  present  time.  His 
prnetice  extends  over  a  large  area,  and  he  is  part 
owner  of  a  drug  store.  He  was  married  Februar}' 
19,  1889.  to  Alice  Millek,  of  Metropolis,  whose 
parents  are  both  living  in  this  city.  Mrs.  Stewart 
bore  her  husband  two  children,  twins,  Hattie  and 
Hazel,  and  died  November  24,  1892.  Politicall}', 
the  Doctor  is  a  Republican,  and  fraternall)-  a 
Knight  of  Pythias.  He  is  one  of  the  successful 
l)hysicians  of  the  place  and  is  highly  respected  as 
a  citizen. 


€>^^<l 


I^ILLIAM  M.\RTIN  was  brought  up  to  the 
life  of  a  farmer's  boy  b}'  his  father,  Isaac 
Martin,  and,  like  the  majority  of  bo^'s,  has 
followed  in  his  sire's  footsteps,  and  is  now  one  of 
the  leading  agriculturists  of  his  section,  being  the 
owner  of  an  exceptionally  well-tilled  and  well-im- 
proved farm.  Isa.ic  Martin  was  a  Virginian,  born 
in  December,  1802,  and  being  left  fatherless  at  a 
very  earlj-  age,  was  taken  to  rear  by  the  C^uak- 
ers  at  A'incennes,  Ind.,  who  generously'  provided 
him  with  the  means  of  obtaining  a  good  educa- 
tion, and  although  a  mere  lad,  he  was  wise  enough 
to  improve  his  opportunities. 

Our  subject  was  an  ambitious  and  enterprising 
youth,  restless  of  restraint,  and  in  1818  took  the 
law  into  his  own  hands  and  ran  awaj',  going  to 
Lebanon.  Ohio,  where  he  learned  the  trade  of  a 
stone-mason,  which  fully  occupied  his  time  and  at- 
tention for  a  number  of  years.  Adams  County, 
Ohio,  became  the  scene  of  his  labors  in  1828,  and 
there  he  made  his  first  purchase  of  real  estate,  his 
land  being  heavily  wooded  and  totall3'  unim- 
proved. With  characteristic  energy  he  at  once 
began  the  erection  of  a  log  cabin,  into  which  he 
moved  upon  completion,  and  settled  down  to  the 
profitable,  if  somewhat  prosaic,  occupation  of 
farming.  He  was  successful  in  the  accumulation 
of  worldly  goods,  for  besides  his  farm  in  Ohio  he 
entered  a  lar<;o  bodv  of    land   in  Illinois,  all   of 


which  greatly  increased  in  value  .as  the  country 
settled  up.  In  1835  Amanda  Davidson,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Amsiah  Davidson,  of  Ohio,  became  his  wife, 
and  their  union  resultetl  in  the  birth  of  ten  chil- 
dren: John,  now  a  farmer  of  Ohio;  Jane,  who 
died  in  childhood;  Amsiah,  a  farmer  of  Iowa; 
.Sarah,  widow  of  J.  C.  Cockerell;  William,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch;  James,  a  farmer  of  Ohio;  Rob- 
inson, deceased;  Mary,  wife  of  John  Hannah; 
Andrew  J.,  a  farmer  of  Ohio;  and  Isaac  C,  also  a 
tiller  of  the  soil  of  that  State. 

William  Martin  first  saw  the  light  on  the  old 
home  farm  in  Adams  County,  Ohio,  Januar3-  27, 
1842,  and  on  that  farm  he  was  brought  up  to  know 
the  meaning  of  hard  work.  His  father  was  wise 
enough,  however,  to  give  him  the  advantages  of  the 
common  schools,  which  he  attended  during  the 
winter  months,  .acquiring  a  fair  knowledge  of  the 
"world  of  books,"  and  he  also  had  sufficient  time 
for  wholesome  recreation,  and  .as  a  result  grew  to 
sturdy  and  intelligent  manhood.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  enlisted  in  the  Union  army  in  Com- 
pany F,  First  Ohio  Light  Artillery,  and  during  his 
service  for  his  country  was  in  a  great  many  bat- 
tles, among  the  most  important  of  which  were  Per- 
ryville,  Murfreesboro,  Chickamauga  and  Decatur. 
He  was  wounded  a  number  of  times,  and  at  the 
present  time  carries  a  ball  in  one  of  his  legs  which 
he  received  in  the  fight  at  Murfreesboro.  He  re- 
ceived his  discharge  in  August,  18G5,  and  returned 
to  his  Ohio  home,  from  which  place  he  removed  in 
1866  to  Illinois,  and  took  up  his  residence  on  a 
tract  of  land  of  which  his  father's  generosity  had 
made  him  the  pos.sessor.  As  the  land  was  in  its 
primitive  condition,  he  began  the  work  of  laying 
the  forest  low,  and  although  the  work  of  clearing 
was  arduous,  it  was  eventually  crowned  with  suc- 
cuss,  and  he  is  now  the  owner  of  one  of  the  best 
farms  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  State.  For 
twelve  winters  after  settling  in  his  log  cabin  home, 
he  was  engaged  in  teaching  school,  but  the  spring, 
summer  and  autumn  were  devoted  to  the  improve- 
ment of  his  farm. 

February  1.5,  1866,  our  subject  w.as  married  to 
Miss  Kllcn  Blair,  a  daughter  of  William  L.  lilair, 
of  Ohio,  and  their  union  has  resulted  in  the  birth 
of   two  children.  Annie   M.  and   William  I.     So- 


u;-> 


ToUrUAir  AND   I'.lOCKAl'IIICAL  HK\'IHW. 


cially,  Mr.  Martin  is  :i  iiicinhoi-  of  J^odge  No.  232, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  is  also  a  member  of  Lodge 
No.  91, 1.  O.  O.  F.;  the  F.  M.  B.  A.;  and  Post  No. 
34.'),  G.  A.  R.,  and  in  politics,  is  in  S3'mpatiiy  witii 
the  Democratic  party.  In  the  early  days  of  the 
count}'  he  served  one  terra  as  County  Surveyor, 
and  is  an  Exhorter  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  to  which  all  liie  members  of  his  family 
beloiier. 


Wi  OH  ROlilSON  DAVISSON  is  a  retired  farmer 
living  in  Metropolis,  Massac  County,  and 
was  born  on  a  farm  two  miles  above  Haver- 
_^  hill,  fSciota  County,  Ohio,  March  3,  1817. 
His  father,  Amaziah  Davisson,  was  born  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  his  father,  also  named  Amaziah,  was,  it 
is  believed,  born  in  New  York  or  New  Jersey, 
and  was  of  English  parentage.  He  resided  in  New 
York  City  for  a  time,  but  soon  emigrated  from 
there  to  Virginia  and  then  to  the  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory. He  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  what  is 
now  Lawrence  Count}',  Ohio,  where  he  cleared  a 
farm  and  resided  until  his  death.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Harrison,  a  sister  of 
Gen.  William  Henry  Harrison,  and  she  died  on  the 
home  farm  in  Lawrence  Countj\  The  father  of 
Job  Robison  was  married  in  Virginia  to  Sarah 
Thompson,  a  native  of  that  State.  He  inherited  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  Lawrence  County,  upon 
which  he  continued  to  live  until  1841,  when,  with 
his  wife  and  two  children,  he  came  to  Illinois  and 
settled  in  what  is  now  Massac  County,  where  he 
entered  several  tracts  of  Government  land.  He 
built  a  cabin  about  four  miles  from  Metropolis, 
where  he  lived  some  years,  and  spent  his  Last  days 
in  the  county,  his  death  occurring  before  the  war. 
His  wife  died  a  few  years  later. 

Job  Robison  Davisson  was  reared  ;uk1  educated 
in  his  native  count}-,  the  schoolhouses  of  his  time 
being  of  the  same  primitive  kind  so  often  de- 
scribed in  these  pages,  made  of  logs,  and  having 
no  floor  but  the  ground.     He  afterward  attended 


in  a  frame  house  with  more  modern  furniture,  and 
came  to  Illinois  with  his  parents  down  the  Ohio 
River,  at  which  time  Massac  was  a  part  of  Johnson 
County,  and  w.-is  very  sparsely  settled.  He  secured 
a  tract  of  Government  land  adjoining  his  father's, 
and  hired  some  men  to  saw  lumber  with  a  whip- 
saw,  with  which  he  erected  a  frame  house,  one  of 
the  first  frame  houses  in  the  county,  it  being  16x24 
feet  in  dimensions,  and  had  a  porch.  He  cleared 
up-l)is  farm,  and  added  to  his  original  entr}'  until 
he  at  one  time  owned  three  hundred  acres  of  land. 
He  lived  on  the  farm  until  1887,  when  he  rented 
the  place  and  moved  to  Metropolis,  where  he  has 
lived  ever  since  relieved  from  farm  labor.  He  was 
married  in  1844  to  Mary  Kennedy,  a  native  of 
Ohio  and  a  daughter  of  Robert  Kennedy.  IMr. 
and  Mrs.  Davisson  have  four  children  living: 
Jennie  Kidd,  Robert  M.,  Jessie  D.  and  Kate  Clay- 
ton. Mr.  Davisson  has  been  a  Republican  since 
the  war,  and  has  given  all  his  energy  and  influ- 
ence to  that  party.  He  is  a  straightforward  busi- 
ness man,  independent,  self-reliant  and  thorouglily 
competent  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  agricultural 
pursuits.  By  his  excellent  management  and  eco- 
nomical living,  he  has  been  enabled  to  retire  from 
active  business  life,  and  is  now  enjoying  the  fruits 
of  his  labor. 


"il'  A  M  E  S  II.  C  O  T  T  O  N  was  born  in  Pope 
County  on  the  4th  of  November  1836,  and 
is  a  resident  of  Simpson  Township,  Johnson 
^^!^  County.  He  is  a  son  of  George  W.  and 
Elizabeth  (Larsen)  Cotton,  the  former  of  whom 
was  a  son  of  Elias  Cotton,  and  came  to  Illinois  in 
an  early  day,  settling  in  Pope  County,  where 
he  was  a  farmer  and  a  preacher.  After  living 
some  years  in  Pope  County,  he  sold  his  land  there 
and  bought  a  farm  in  Simpson  Township,  Johnson 
County,  where  he  resided  until  his  death. 

James  H.  Cotton  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty-one  years  old,  and  then  lived  on  a  rented 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


463 


farm  for  about  five  years.  At  the  expiration  of 
tiiis  period  he  pureliased  the  farm  upon  which  he 
now  lives.  He  was  married  in  December.  1859,  to 
S.arah  Ann  Simpson,  who  was  born  in  .Johnson 
County  Apiil  10,  1844.  Iler  father  was  born  in 
Tennessee,  and  her  mother  in  Kentucky.  He 
owned  at  one  time  two  hundred  and  fortj'  acres 
of  land,  but  disposed  of  half  of  it,  and  now  has 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres.  He  was  burned 
out  in  1891,  but  has  since  built  a  good  frame  house. 
Our  subject  is  the  father  of  eight  children:  Dora, 
Zynthia,  William  E.,  Arista,  Flora,  Causcon,  Char- 
lie and  .\rlie.  In  religious  views,  he  is  a  liberal- 
minded  man.  and  in  politics  he  belongs  to  the 
People's  party.  While  he  did  not  have  the  best 
of  educational  advantages  in  his  youth,  yet  by 
private  reading  and  study  he  h. as  become  possessed 
of  a  useful  fund  of  information. 


JOSEPH  ]\  liOWKER  was  a  noted  resident 
of  Metropolis,  Massac  County,  and  the  son 
of  Joseph  Bowkcr,  who  was  born  at  North 
Sudbury,  Mass..  July  15,  1777.  Joseph 
IJowker  was  by  occupation  a  farmer  and  a  black- 
smith, and  was  married  to  Mary  Brown,  of  Bos- 
ton, who  died  at  North  Sudbury  January  8,  1803. 
Mr.  Bowker  subsequently  married  Patty  Proctor, 
who  was  born  in  1790  and  died  at  Rutland,  Mass., 
September  10,  1841,  after  which  he  was  married  the 
third  time,  to  Mrs.  Polly  Noyes,  March  21.  1842, 
who  was  a  resident  of  Sudbury.  He  died  at  West- 
borough,  Mass.,  September  .3,  1846,  and  left  six 
children,  namely:  Mary,  Lydia,  Amos,  Almira.  Jo- 
seph Proctor  and  Daniel. 

Joseph  Proctor,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
born  at  North  Sudbury  April  4,  1814,  and  was 
brought  up  on  a  farm,  in  the  meantime  working  in 
a  shoe  factory.  He  w.as  well  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  his  native  State,  which  have,  per- 
haps, the  highest  reputation  of  any  in  the  Union, 
and  afterward  took  a  college  course,  .\fter  com- 
25 


pleting  his  studies  he  went  to  the  State  of  Michi- 
gan, which  was  then  comparatively  new,  and  was 
for  some  time  engaged  in  surveying  among  the 
Indians.  He  visited  Chicago  at  a  time  when  the 
investment  of  a  small  sum  would  have  afterward 
made  him  immensely  rich,  but,  like  many  another 
man,  he  thought  it  would  never  be  much  of  a 
place,  as  there  was  nothing  visible  there  then  but 
a  swamp.  He  therefore  came  South  and  located 
at  an  early  day  in  Mass.ac  County,  his  first  occu- 
pation here  being  that  of  keeping  wood  boats  on 
the  river.  He  built  the  first  tanyard  in  the  county, 
and  although  not  a  saddler  by  trade,  managed  the 
saddlery  business  at  Metropolis  one  year.  He  had 
the  contract  from  the  Government  for  carrying 
the  mails  between  Metropolis  and  Paducah,  also 
between  Metropolis  and  Mt.  Vernon,  and  at  the 
same  time  was  engaged  in  teaching  school,  which 
profession  he  followed  several  years,  being  a  com- 
petent and  successful  instructor. 

For  a  time  our  subject  held  the  office  of  School 
Commissioner,  and  all  this  time  he  was  carrying 
on  farming  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  and  during 
the  war  speculated  quite  extensively  in  cotton.  He 
operated  a  carding  machine  and  constructed  and 
operated  the  first  cotton  gin  in  Metropolis.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  energy  and  ambition,  and  was 
always  industrious  and  faithful  in  the  discharge 
of  every  duty  devolving  upon  him.  As  a  busi- 
ness man  he  was  unusually  successful,  and  w.as 
always  highly  esteemed,  being  strictly  upright  and 
honest  in  all  his  trans.actions.  He  was  a  consistent 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  which  he 
held  the  honored  position  of  Elder,  and  belonged 
to  the  order  of  Sons  of  Temperance,  in  which 
cause  he  w.as  a  most  earnest  worker.  He  died  at 
two  o'clock  A.M., February  14, 1891,  aged  seventy- 
six  j'eai-s,  ten  months  and  ten  days. 

Mr.  Bowker  w.as  married  M.ay  19,  1847,  to  Cath- 
erine Wilson,  of  Metropolis,  by  whom  he  had  nine 
children,  namely:  Mary  C,  Joseph,  Thomas  D. 
(dece.a.sed),  Martha  K.,  Charles  A.,  .Sarah  M.,  Lewis 
W.,  Maggie  F.  ar,(l  Ellen  A.  Catherine  (Wilson) 
Bowker  was  licirii  in  North  Carolina  March  6, 
1827.  Her  mother  died  in  (iranville  County,  X. 
C,  and  she  accompanied  her  father  and  one  sister, 
Mary,  who  is  ik.iw  the  wife  of  Milton  AVymore.  of 


464 


roKTirMT  AM)    r.I()(i|{Al'IIIC'AI>    KKVIKW. 


Metropolis,  to  Illinois,  wheie  her  futlicr  dii'il.  He 
and  bis  daughters  came  from  North  Carol iii:i  in  a 
wagon,  arriving  in  tiiis  State  July  4,  1840.  At 
that  time  the  country  was  new  and  tiiey  were 
obliged  to  submit  to  and  undergo  many  hard- 
ships and  privations.  Mr.  Wilson  bought  land 
and  built  a  cabin  in  the  wilderness,  which  was 
their  first  home  in  this  State.  Besides  the  usual 
and  inevitable  annoyance  from  wild  beasts,  which 
filled  the  woods,  his  famil3'  was  much  afflicted 
with  fevers,  which  were  then  much  more  com- 
mon than  now  in  that  section  of  the  State.  Mr. 
Wilson  was  a  man  of  good  education,  and  was  by 
trade  a  carpenter.  He  was  elected  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  a  time,  but  resigned  in  order  to  give  his 
entire  attention  to  other  affairs.  Mrs.  Bowker  is 
now  living  in  Metropolis,  where  she  is  held  in 
high  esteem.  She  has  children  in  Kansas  and  else- 
where who  would  gladly  have  her  with  them,  but 
she  prefers  the  old  home,  as  in  connection  with  it 
arc  all  the  hallowed  associations  of  her  early  life. 
She  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
has  long  been  a  consistent  member  thereof. 


\f7  EMUEL  L.  LAURENCE,  who  lives  in  the 
I  (^  village  of  New  Burnside,  Johnson  County, 
il^^  was  born  in  Graves  Count}',  Ky.,  August 
12,  1838.  His  father  was  Henry  G.  Laurence,  a 
farmer  in  Illinois  and  formerly  a  miller  of  Vir- 
ginia, who  had  mills  on  his  own  farm.  He  was 
born  in  1807,  and  went  with  his  parents  in  his 
youth  to  Kentucky.  His  father,  Thomas  D.  Lau- 
rence, was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  served  as  a 
private  soldier  In  the  Revolutionary  War.  Lemuel 
L.  Laurence  has  a  relic  of  those  olden  days  in  the 
shape  of  a  pair  of  very  long  stockings,  made  at 
home  from  the  flax  grown  on  his  grandfather's 
farm,  that  the  worthies  of  those  da3-s  were  in  the 
habit  of  wearing  with  their  knee  breeches.  These 
hose  weigh  nearly  half  a  pound  and  tell  the  story  of 
his  great  stature.  He  was  twice  married,  and  had  by 


the  two  wives  two  sonsand  six  daughters,  of  whom 
Henr3'  G.  Laurence  was  a  son  by  the  second  wife. 
Thomas  D.  Laurence  died  in  Kentucky  at  an  ad- 
vanced age,  his  widow  living  some  3'ears  afterward 
and  dying  in  1852.  Had  she  lived  seven  days 
longer  she  would  have  received  a  pension  for  the 
services  of  her  husband  in  the  Revolutionarj' War. 
Henr^'  G.  Laurence  was  a  well-educated  man  and 
taught  school  in  his  early  life.  He  married  Sallie 
Balcom,  a  native  of  North  Carolina. 

After  our  subject's  father's  marriage,  which  oc- 
curred in  Kentucky  in  1825,  he  lived  in  Ken- 
tucky twenty-five  years,  and  in  the  sjiring  of  1850 
emigrated  from  Kentucky  to  Illinois  with  his  own 
team  and  covered  wagon,  bringing  with  him  all 
his  sheep  and  cattle.  Mr.  Laurence  bought  a 
squatter's  claim  of  one  hundred  and  twentj'  acres 
of  land,  and  also  other  lands,  until  he  owned  in 
the  aggregate  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres, 
the  patents  to  which  our  subject  still  has  in  his 
possession.  When  he  moved  to  Illinois  from  Ken- 
tucky- he  had  but  limited  means,  and  brought  with 
him  his  wife,  seven  sons  and  three  daughters, 
of  which  famil}'  Lemuel  was  the  seventh  child  and 
sixth  son.  Of  these  children  four  sons  and  one 
daughter  still  survive,  namely:  Thomas  N.,  the 
first  born,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County,  and  who  was 
a  member  of  Company  B,  Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry. 
Lemuel  L.,  our  subject,  was  also  a  member  of 
the  same  company,  going  out  as  a  Lieutenant  in 
18()1,  and  serving  about  nine  months  from  Sep- 
tember, 1861,  when  he  was  severely  wounded  by 
receiving  a  charge  from  a  double-barreled  shot- 
gun and  from  a  rifle  or  pistol,  four  buckshot 
lodging  in  his  arm  and  lung.  This  was  on  the 
march  from  Shawneetown  to  Paducah,  Kv.  Will- 
iam M.  is  a  farmer  of  Simpson  Township,  now  in 
impaired  health.  H.  H.  is  a  farmer  of  Burnside 
Township;  and  Sarah  A.  is  the  wife  of  James  Far- 
less,  a  farmer  of  Texas.  The  father  of  these  chil- 
dren died  on  his  farm  March  14,  1861,  in  his  Miy- 
fffth  year.  A  large  sycamore  tree  is  now  standing 
near  New  Burnside  which  was  cut  and  u.scd  as  a 
measure  for  his  coffin  by  the  undertaker  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  and  afterward  stuck  in  the 
ground  near  where  the  coffin  was  made.  He  was 
large    and    of  fine   figure,  being  six  feet  tall  and 


PORTRAIT   AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


465 


weighing  two  hundred  and  ten  pounds.  His  widow 
survived  him  many  years,  dying  in  1887,  eighth- 
two  years  old  lacking  seven  da3s.  She  was  born 
the  same  year  as  her  husband,  and  they  rest  side 
b^-  side  in  the  old  Reynoldsburgh  Cemetery. 

Lemuel  L.  Laurence  was  married  Mav  7,  18.57, 
to  Piid'be  Daiton,  of  Kentucky-,  daughter  of  Edwin 
and  Eliza  (Laurence)  Daiton,  but  although  tiieir 
ancestors  were  of  the  same  name  they  were  not 
relatives.  They  came  to  Johnson  County  in  1852. 
.Mr.  Laurence  has  been  a  farmer  most  of  his  life, 
and  lived  for  many  years  on  the  old  home  farm 
of  wiiich  he  was  the  owner.  He  now  has  a  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  acres,  which  is  a  part 
of  the  old  homestead  on  which  his  mother  spent 
her  last  3-ears  with  him.  He  bought  his  pres- 
ent home,  a  frame  house,  24x75  feet  in  size,  and 
two  stories  iiigh,  with  a  cellar  underneath,  with 
no  mortgage  upon  it.  This  is  the  largest  house 
in  New  Buruside,  and  was  built  in  1876  and 
in  1887  at  a  cost  of  about  ^3.000.  lie  also 
owns  several  lots,  which,  togetlier  with  the  prop- 
erty- above  described,  make  a  fine  home,  to  wiiieh 
he  moved  in  March,  1892.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lau- 
rence have  buried  one  son  and  two  daughtei-s, 
who  died  either  in  infanc3'  or  earl}-  childhood. 
They  iiave  seven  children  living,  five  sons  and 
two  daughters,  namely-:  David  IL,  a  farmer  of 
Burnside  Township,  who  has  two  sons  and  two 
daugliters;  Uii-sses  Grant,  a  farmer  of  Simpson 
Township,  residing  in  Ozark,  who  has  a  wife,  two 
sons  and  one  daughter,  his  wife  being  a  daughter 
of  Rev.  C.  H.  Caldwell;  Maud,  wife  of  W.  L.  Kelt- 
ner,  of  New  Burnside,  who  has  two  sons  and  two 
daughters;  M.  C,  a  dealer  in  musical  instruments, 
who  li.as  a  wife,  but  no  children;  Marshall  L.,  a 
farmer  of  Burnside  Township,  who  h.is  one  daugh- 
ter; Josiah  \V.,  a  young  man  living  at  home  and 
attending  scliool;  and  Ella,  a  young  miss  of  six- 
teen years.  All  of  these  children  iiave  been  well 
educated. 

Mr.  Laurence  Wiis  a  .Justice  of  the  Peace  three 
and  a-half  yeai-s  and  School  Director  for  man}' 
yeai-s.  serving  satisfactorily  in  that  capacity.  He 
was  at  one  time  an  Odd  Fellow  and  was  formerly 
a  Republican,  but  is  now  a  member  of  the  Peo- 
ple's party.     He  was  a  member  of   William   Lau- 


rence Post  No.  538,  G.  A.  R.,  recently  disbanded, 
and  in  religion  is  a  Free  Thinker.  He  has  never 
been  sued  in  his  life  for  an}-  debt  he  contracted, 
and  has  in  his  possession  the  first  and  last  note 
that  he  ever  gave.  He  is  a  gentleman  in  every 
respect,  liis  word  is  as  good  as  his  bond,  and  he  is 
one  in  whom  his  fellow-men  can  put  a  great  deal 
of  trust. 


e^+^ 


JOHN  M.  C.  DAMRON,  M.  D.,  a  practicing 
physician  of  Vienna,  .Johnson  County,  was 
born  in  Weakley  County,  Tenn..  February 
,,_^  20,  1824.  His  father,  Charles  Damron,  was 
born  in  Iventucky  to  Wilson  Damron,  who  was 
born  in  Virginia  and  removed  from  that  .State  to 
Iventuck}-,  where  he  was  an  associate  of  Daniel 
Boone.  From  Kentucky  he  removed  to  the 
Northwest  Territory,  and  for  a  time  resided  in 
that  part  thereof  now  included  in  the  State  of  Ill- 
inois, from  which  be  removed  to  the  Territory  of 
Missouri,  and  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Springfield.  He  was  in  the  eraplo}-  of 
a  fur  company,  and  was  one  of  the  explorers 
of  the  Yellowstone  River  country.  He  spent  his 
last  days,  however,  near  Springfield,  Mo.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  w-as  McClain. 

Charles  Damron,  father  of  our  subject,  came  to 
the  Northwest  Territory  with  his  parents  when 
very  young,  and  resided  here  until  the  Stat*  was 
admitted  into  the  Tnion.  He  voted  for  the  adop- 
tion of  the  first  constitution  of  the  State.  At  that 
time  he  was  living  in  Saline  County,  at  a  period 
w-hen  deer,  bears  and  panthers  w-ere  very  plentiful. 
Soon  after  his  marri.ige  he  removed  to  Weakley 
County,  Tenn..  purchased  a  tract  of  land,  engaged 
in  farming,  and  resided  there  until  1852,  when  he 
came  to  .Johnson  County  and  settled  in  what  is 
now  Tunnel  Hill  Township,  where  he  bought  a 
farm,  upon  which  he  lived  until  his  death  in  1878. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  w-ife  was  Mary  Cai-son. 
She  was  born  in  Middle  Tennessee,  to  I'riali  Car- 
son, and  died  alx)ut  1882. 


466 


I'OKl'UAir  AM)   l!l()(iUAI'lII(  AL   UKNIKW. 


Dr.  Damron  received  his  early  education  in  the 
select  schools  of  Weakley'  Countv.Tenn.,  and  when 
twenty-one  j'oars  old  commenced  teaching  sciiool 
in  Williamson  County,  111.,  teaching  five  years  in 
one  schoolhouse,  after  which  he  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine,  and  attended  a  course  of  lectures 
at  Rush  Medical  College  during  the  winter  of 
1854-55.  He  then  commenced  practice  near  Car- 
rier's Mills,  in  Saline  County,  and  continued  to 
practice  there  until  the  fall  of  1855,  when  he  at- 
tended his  second  course  of  lectures  at  Rush  Med- 
ical College,  graduating  from  that  institution  with 
the  Class  of  'CO.  He  removed  to  Vienna  in  the 
fall  of  1855,  and  has  been  in  the  active  practice  of 
medicine  there  ever  since.  He  was  married  in 
1850  to  Elizabeth  Buckner,  who  died  in  1852. 
His  second  marriage  occurred  in  1855,  to  Adeline 
Standard  who  was  born  in  Union  County,  and 
was  the  daughter  of  William  Standard.  After  her 
death,  in  1877,  our  subject  married,  in  1878,  Adelia 
Knowles,  who  was  born  in  Indiana  and  died  in 
1887.  His  fourth  marriage  occurred  in  1888,  to 
Alice  (Matheney)  Murdock.  By  his  first  mar- 
riage he  had  one  son,  Leonidas,  a  farmer  living  in 
Missouri;  by  his  second  marriage  six  children: 
•Tohn  Franklin,  P^mma,  MoUie,  .Tennie,  Lucy  and 
Augusta.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Southern  Hlinois 
Medical  Association;  of  Vienna  Lodge  No.  150, 
A.  F.  (fe  A.  M.;  and  of  theCumlicrland  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  is  a  Democrat  in  politics. 


J'  iOIlN  II.  SCHMIDT,  a  farmer  living  on  sec- 
[  tion  II,  township  15,  range  4,  in  Massac 
County,  is  a  son  of  Henry  Schmidt,  who 
,^_j^  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  and  came 
to  America,  reaching  Chicago  in  1832.  He  came 
.across  the  ocean  in  a  sailing-vessel  and  was  oul^^ 
four  weeks  on  the  voyage,  a  remarkably  short  time 
for  tho.se  days.  Upon  his  arrival  in  Chicago  there 
was  little  else  to  be  seen  but  low,  swampy  laud, 
and  no  indications  whatever  of  that  city's  present 
greatness,     At  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  this  coun- 


try he  was  eighteen  years  old.  He  had  been  broughk 
up  on  the  farm,  and  although  he  was  jjoor.  yet  he 
was  fairly  well  educated. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  wlio  died  December 
4,  1891,  was  married  when  he  was  twenty-five 
years  old  to  Adeline  Wihncrs,  a  native  of  Triis- 
sia.  who  is  still  living  in  Bentonville,  111.  After 
his  marriage  he  moved  onto  a  farm  which  be  owned. 
This  he  sold  in  1866,  and  removed  to  Massac 
County,  where  he  lived  ten  3-ears,  when  he  re- 
turned to  the  count}'  from  which  he  iiad  gone  to 
Massac  County.  By  his  marriage  with  Miss  Wil- 
mers  he  had  ten  children,  namely:  John  II.;  Frank 
A.,  a  farmer  of  Massac  County;  Henry,  a  dr^- -goods 
merchant  in  Chicago;  August;  Louisa  and  Emma, 
both  deceased;  William,  of  Bensenville,  111.;  Li- 
zetta,  wife  of  Louis  Biermanu,  of  Itaska,  111.,  and 
two  others  that  died  in  infancy. 

,Tohn  H.  .Schmidt  was  born  in  Du  Page  County, 
111.,  February  3,  1841,  and  was  brought  up  on 
a  farm  receiving  a  somewhat  limited  common- 
school  education.  He  remained  at  home  with  his 
parents  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old,  and  in 
1862  enlisted  in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and 
Fifth  Illinois  Infantry.  He  remained  in  the  ser- 
vice of  his  adopted  country  until  the  close  of 
the  war,  saw  much  hard  service  and  was  a  good 
soldier.  He  participated  in  numerous  battles,  and 
was  with  Sherman  on  his  march  to  the  sea.  He 
also  went  on  up  through  the  Carolinas  and  Vir- 
ginia to  Washington,  D.  C,  and  took  part  in  the 
great  military  review  of  May  23  and  24,  1865. 
While  in  Washington  he  went  through  tiie  White 
House  and  all  the  other  public  buildings  and  be- 
came quite  familiar  with  the  capital  of  his  coun- 
try. He  then  returned  to  Du  Page  County  with 
health  somewhat  impaired  by  the  exposures  and 
hardships  he  had  undergone.  He  worked  at 
home  for  his  father  one  year,  and  was  then  mar- 
ried to  Sophia  Schuettc,  a  native  of  Hanover,  Gei- 
many.  He  removed  to  M.assac  County  to  the  farm 
where  he  now  lives,  a  portion  of  which  came  to 
him  by  inheritance,  and  the  other  portion  he 
bought.  Some  of  it  had  been  improved,  but  it 
was  all  in  bad  condition.  He  built  a  log  cabin, 
cleared  additional  land,  brought  up  that  which 
was  poor,  and  in  all  ways  worked  hard  in  order 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


467 


that  he  miglit  have  a  good  farm  and  a  coinfortahle 
home.  Afterward  he  erected  a  much  better  house, 
in  which  he  now  lives.  lie  kept  on  from  year  to 
year  patiently  laboring,  and  in  every  way  possible 
imi)roving  his  farm,  and  he  now  is  living  to  en- 
J03'  the  reward  of  his  labors. 

Mr.  Schmidt  has  seven  ciiildren,  namely:  Ellen, 
wife  of  Christdpher  Borman,a  miller  of  Metropolis; 
Dora,  William,  Henry,  Ida,  Amanda  and  Agnes, 
all  at  home.  Politically,  he  is  a  Republican,  and  is 
a  member  of  Tom  Smith  Post  No.  345,  G.  A.  K.,and 
also  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
.Mr.  Schmidt  is  a  (ierman-American  citizen  of  much 
more  than  average  intelligence  and  inlluence,  and 
he  has  succeeded  where  many  would  have  failed. 
When  he  went  to  work  upon  his  farm,  it  was  con- 
sidered very  poor  land,  but  by  the  proper  kind  of 
management  he  has  made  of  it  a  good  farm.  lie 
is  an  upright  and  honest  citizen  and  has  the  re- 
spect of  the  entire  community. 


<^ 


'f^^-r  — 


OIIX  HENRY  MILLER,  a  resident  of  town- 
sliii)  15,  range  4,  Massac  County,  is  a  son  of 
Henry  Miller,  whose  biography  appears  else- 

where    in    this    volume.     He   was   born    in 

Massac  County  on  the  old  home  farm,  October  31, 
1807,  where  he  was  brought  up  and  received  a 
common-school  education.  He  worked  hard  when 
a  boy  and  formed  habits  of  industr}'  and  economy 
wliicb  have  been  of  immense  value  to  him  through 
life.  He  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm  until  he 
was  twent}'  years  old,  and  then,  desiring  to  make 
a  beginning  for  himself,  worked  in  the  timber  and 
in  picking  cotton  and  corn  in  Arkansas  foralime. 
He  then  returned  to  Massac  County  and  worked 
land  in  .summer  on  shares.  He  bought  the  place 
where  he  now  lives  in  1890.  It  comprised  fort3' 
acres,  to  which  lie  has  since  added  one  hundred 
acres.  It  is  well  situated,  being  near  the  city  of 
Metropolis. 

Our  subject  was  married  Se|)tcmber  22,   1h;)2,  to 
Mollie  l>;n  iiaiil.  who  came  to  this  State   from  Ken- 


tucky and  was  born  in  ISGG.  She  first  went  with 
her  parents  to  Ohio,  and  then  to  Jlassac  County, 
III.  Her  father  died  in  Ohio,  and  her  mother  in 
Massac  County-.  Politically,  Mr.  Miller  was  a  Re- 
publican, and  he  is  a  pleasant,  genial  young  man, 
progressive,  intelligent  and  enterprising.  He  is 
doing  all  he  can  to  enlarge  and  improve  his  place, 
and  has  before  him  as  good  prospects  as  any  young 
man  in  the  county. 


3++**,^^*+++i 


^EORGE  W.  LKDl'.KTi'KR  is  a  sf>n  of  .Tames 
A.  Ledbetter,  a  native  of  Christian  County, 
Ky.,  who  is  a  man  of  good,  practical  educa- 
tion. He  learned  the  trade  of  a  miller,  followed 
it  afew  3'ears,and  then  removed  in  1843  to  Hardin 
Count}-,  III.,  where  lie  engaged  in  merchandising. 
He  was  married  to  Mary  Scoggins,  a  native  of 
Hardin  County,  HI.,  by  whom  he  has  five  children, 
all  of  them  now  living,  viz:  .John  Q.  A.,  living  in 
Elizabethtown;  J.  A.,  living  at  Cave  in  Rock; 
Mary  E.,  wife  of  L.  F.  Twiichell,  living  in  Color- 
ado; and  Henry  partner  in  a  large  mill  with  George 
W.,  the  remaining  member  of  the  famil}'.  The 
latter  was  born  at  Elizabethtown,  ill.,  on  the  7th 
of  December,  1858,  and  received  his  early  education 
in  the  schools  of  that  place.  Later  he  attended 
Bethel  College,  at  Russellville,  Ky.,  and  afterward 
attended  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point. 
He  began  business  as  a  miller  in  1878,  and  has 
continued  in  the  same  line  ever  since. 

Our  subject  was  first  married  February  8,  187it, 
to  Elizabeth  Davie,  by  whom  he  had  two  children, 
Georgia  and  Mora.  The  mother  of  these  children 
died  March  l',l,  1887,  and  Mr.  Ledbetter  was  next 
married.  May  21,  1888.  to  Gertrude  Brewer,  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  and  Emily  Brewer,  of  Dixon,  Ky., 
by  whom  he  has  two  children.  .Mr.  Ledbetter 
votes  the  Democratic  ticket,  and  is  a  member  of 
Elizabeth  Lodge  No.  27G,  A.  F.  A-  A.  JL,  at 
l'",lizabi'tlit(iwii.  and  is  also  a  member  of  Empire 
Lodge  No.  ."il.  I.  ().  ().  F.  This  in  brief  is  the 
skelcii  of  a  iiKui  wliose  present  sulistanlial  position 


468 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


in  life  has  been  readied  entirel}'  thi'ough  his  own 
perseverance  and  good  judgment,  and  the  facts 
connected  with  his  operations  and  their  results 
only  show  what  a  person  witli  courage  and  en- 
lightened views  can  accomplish. 


\P^^- 


EDWIN  R.  IKJUCIIIN  was  born  in  Hickman, 
Ky.,  September  14,  1833,  and  lives  in  Me- 
tropolis, Massac  County.  His  father,  Alex- 
ander Houchin,  was  born  either  in  Warren  or 
Edmonson  County,  Ky.,  and  his  father,  Charles 
Houchin,  was  born  in  Virginia.  The  latter  re- 
moved to  Kentucky  at  an  ear!y  day  and  settled  on 
the  Kentucky  Purchase,  a  few  miles  from  Bowling 
Green.  He  cleared  up  a  farm  from  the  wilderness 
and  lived  upon  it  until  his  death,  operating  it  with 
slave  labor.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Polly  Sales. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  reared  in  his  na- 
tive State.  He  lived  in  Hickman  until  his  mar- 
riage and  then  removed  to  Graves  County,  Ky., 
and  thence  to  Illinois,  settling  near  the  line  be- 
tween Pope  and  Johnson  Counties  in  Massac 
County.  He  took  up  Government  land  and  im- 
proved a  farm,  upon  which  he  resided  until  his 
death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Flowers, 
and  she  was  the  daughter  of  .James  Flowers.  She  was 
born  in  the  same  locality  as  her  husband  and  died 
on  the  home  farm  in  Massac  County.  She  and  her 
husband  reared  twelve  children. 

Edwin  R.  Houchin  was  sixteen  years  old  when 
he  came  to  Illinois  with  his  parents.  The  removal 
was  made  b}'  means  of  ox-teams  and  they  brought 
all  their  household  goods.  iMuch  of  the  laud  in  the 
vicinity  in  which  they  settled  was  owned  by  the 
Government  and  was  for  sale  at  11.25  per  acre, 
and  at  that  time  Metropolis  was  a  small  village. 
He  remained  with  his  father  until  nearly  twenty- 
one  years  old,  when  he  married  and  bought  forty 
acres  of  land,  erecting  the  log  cabin  in  which  he 
and  his  wife  commenced  their  married  life.  Tliere 
were  then  no  railroads  and   hut  two   public   roads 


in  the  county.  .Mclropolis  was  the  market  and 
the  depot  of  supplies  for  llie  inland  districts  for 
many  miles  around.  Later,  as  his  means  would 
permit,  he  purchased  other  Government  land  until 
at  one  time  he  owned  five  iiundred  acres  and  still 
owns  four  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 

Our  subject  was  first  married  April  7,  1854,  to 
Martlia  Green,  who  was  born  in  Scott  Count3',Va.. 
and  was  the  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Susannah 
(ircen.  She  died  in  April,  1863,  and  Mr.  Iloucliin 
was  married  late  in  the  same  year  to  Mahala 
(ireen,  sister  of  his  first  wife.  She  died  in  June, 
1888,  and  his  third  marriage  took  place  in  Jul}', 
1892,  to  Joannah  (\'aughn)  Williams,  who  was 
born  in  Massac  County,  and  was  the  daughter  of 
Joseph  and  Corinna  (Wallace)  Vaughn.  The 
Vaughn  family  were  residents  of  Caldwell  Count^^, 
Ky.,  and  were  pioneers  of  Massac  County.  Mr. 
Houchin  has  two  children  living  by  his  first  mar- 
riage. David  B.  and  Dudley  A.  By  his  second 
marriage  lie  also  has  two  children  living,  viz: 
Ruf  us  M.  and  Joe  Ann.  The  present  Mrs.  Houchin 
ivas  first  married  in  her  twenty-third  year  to  Dr. 
James  Allen  Williams,  who  was  for  several  j'ears 
engaged  in  the  drug  business  in  Metropolis  and 
was  pre-eminent  as  a  phj'sician.  He  was  born  in 
Ohio  and  was  a  son  of  James  and  Rebecca  ( Dansson ) 
Williams.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Rush  Medical  Col- 
lege, Chicago,  in  tiie  Class  of  '63, and  served  in  the 
late  war  in  the  Fifty-sixth  Illinois  Infantry.  Mrs. 
Houchin  has  one  son  by  her  first  marriage,  James 
V.  Williams.  Mr.  Houchin  is  a  Democrat  in  pol- 
itics, and  is  a  member  of  Tom  Smith  Post  No.  245, 
G.  A.  R. 


■    ^-Sz 


<j|^  LDER  .lAMES  L.  MORTON  was  born  in 
IIU]  Prince  Edward  County,  Va.,  in  1809.  His 
/i^ — --^  father,  John  Morton,  was  born  in  Charlotte 
County,  Va.  He  was  a  son  of  Charles  Morton,  who 
was  a  farmer  of  Virginia,  in  which  State  he  died. 
He  married  Miss  Mary  Smith,  and  they  reared  three 
sons:   Nathaniel,  John   and  William.     The   father 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


469 


(iiod  in  tlie  prime  of  life,  leaving  a  comfortable  C'om- 
|K't('iic'v.  The  mother  was  afterward  married  to 
Hart  well  Iliglit,  by  whom  she  had  one  son,  Thomas 
llight,  and  died  when  just  past  middle  life. 
Nathaniel  Morton  removed  to  Lincoln  Count^', 
Ky.,  and  had  one  son,  James,  and  a  daughter. 
William  was  a  Baptist  preacher,  and  reared  three 
.>;()ns  and  one  daughter.  The  sons  were  Alfred, 
Missouri  and  Messena,  and  all  were  reared  to  farm 
life,  consequently  followed  that  occupation  all 
their  lives.  Alfred  is  dead,  but  the  two  others  are 
farming  in  Calloway  Countv,  K3'.  John  Morton, 
the  father  of  James  L.,  married  Tabitlia  Penick, 
daughter  of  William  Penick.  They  had  three  sons 
and  eleven  daughters,  all  of  whom  arrived  at 
ailult  age  and  reared  families.  Grandmother  Pen- 
ick lived  to  be  eighty-four  years  of  age. 

Our  subject's  parents  were  married  in  Prince 
Kdward  County,  Va.,  where  they  had  six  children 
born  to  them,  of  whom  none  are  living  except 
"lie,  .1.  L.  The  others  are:  William;  Zorada, 
who  died  in  Jul}',  1892,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
nine,  and  a  widow  of  Isaac  Cochran,  a  Presbj-ter- 
ian  preacher,  to  whom  she  bore  three  sons  and  three 
daughters;  Mary, who  died  a  young  woman;  Judith, 
who  married  a  JL\  Hill  and  died  in  advanced 
years,  leaving  a  family;  and  .James  L.  While 
young,  James  L.  Morton  received  but  a  moderate 
education,  but  when  he  was  a  man  he  attended 
the  Ohio  University,  at  Athens,  Ohio,  going  to 
that  State  on  horse-back,  a  distance  of  four  hun- 
dred miles.  This  was  in  1829,  when  he  was 
twenty  years  of  age.  He  was  there  a  part  of  two 
years  preparing  for  the  ministr}',  during  which 
time  he  fairly  mastered  Latin  and  Greek.  In  1838, 
he  began  his  ministry  in  Virginia,  and  in  1839 
was  ordained  at  the  Mathews  Baptist  Church. 

Mr.  Morton's  first  marriage  occurred  in  his 
twenty-fourth  year  to  Nancy  E.  Hill,  daughter  of 
Robert  and  Elizabeth  Hill,  in  1832.  This  lady 
lived  but  live  months,  and  our  subject  was  mar- 
ried the  second  time,  to  Eliza  H.  Hill,  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Hill,  but  not  related  in  any 
way  to  his  first  wife.  In  1847,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Morton  removed  with  their  two  children  to  Car- 
roll County,  Tenii..  a  journey  of  seven  hundred 
miles,  made  by  steamer   and    teams,   and    costing 


110(1.  In  Tennessee  he  bought  a  good  farm, 
having  sold  his  farm  in  \'irginia,  and  three  3'ears 
later  sold  this  farm  in  (iibson  County  and  bought 
another  in  Henry  County.  During  his  stay  in 
Tennessee  he  bought  a  grist  and  saw  mill,  but 
the  location  being  unhealthful  he  moved  to  a 
farm.  In  the  year  1856,  he  sold  again  and 
removed  to  Calloway  County,  Ky.,  where  he 
bought  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land, 
upon  which  he  lived  until  1862.  He  tlieu 
.sold  that  farm  and  bought  his  present  home  in 
Johnson  County,  111.,  which  comprises  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres  of  improved  land.  This  land 
cost  ^10  per  acre,  but  b}^  paying  cash  down  he  se- 
cured a  discount  of  ten  per  cent,  and  afterward 
bought  sixt}-  acres  more.  He  has  since  then  sold 
and  given  awa}-  to  his  childicii  until  ho  has  left 
only  seventy-nine  acres. 

Our  subject's  companion  died  August  6,  1869, 
aged  fifty-five  years,  having  borne  five  sons  and 
two  daughters,  one  of  each  dying  in  infancy,  and 
John  T.  dying  in  the  aimy.  Those  living  are: 
James  W.,  a  farmer  of  Kentucky,  having  a  wife, 
two  sons  and  four  daughters;  Edward  V.,  a  clerk 
in  Vienna,  who  has  a  wife  and  one  son;  and 
Mary  E.,  now  Mrs.  W.  W.  Reeves,  living  on 
part  of  the  old  farm,  and  having  four  daugh- 
ters. Joseph  K.,  an  unmarried  man,  it  is  be- 
lieved is  dead.  John  T.  Morton  w.as  a  soldier  in  the 
Union  army,  volunteering  at  seventeen  years  of 
age  in  Conii)any  E,  Second  Illinois  Cavalry,  and 
he  died  of  typhoid  fever  in  a  hospital  at  Columbus, 
Ky.  Mr.  Morton  was  married  again,  January  16, 
1870,  to  Nancy  J.  Joiner,  nee  Trammell.  Her  first 
husband  was  William  L.  .loiner.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  was  mus- 
tered in  ill  1862,  and  was  in  the  (Quartermaster's 
department,  but  on  account  of  failing  health  was 
discharged.  He  died  on  the  2(1  of  Eebruaiy,  1866, 
on  the  twenty-third  anniversary  of  his  wife's  birth. 
He  left  her  with  three  sons:  Josiah  W.,  now  a 
farmer  and  teacher,  and  just  ready  to  begin  the 
practice  of  law;  he  has  a  wife,  three  sons  and  one 
daughter;  Joshua  A.,  a  farmer  and  teacher  of  Ar- 
.  kansas,  who  has  a  wife,  two  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter; and  Willis  H.,  a  young  man  of  twenty-six 
years  of  age  in  Arkansa.s. 


470 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


Mr.  iiiid  Mrs.  .Morton  have  had  seven  chil- 
dren, (ive  suns  and  two  daugliters:  C3'ntliia, 
wlio  died  at  fourteen  months;  Hugh  (J.,  tweiity- 
two  yc'i''S  old;  Charles  T.,  twenty;  Samuel  P., 
eighteen;  Frederick  15.,  fifteen;  Matthew  W.,  ten; 
and  Harriet  E.,  eight.  These  children  are  all  fairly 
well  educated.  Mrs.  Morton  has  four  brothers 
living,  there  being  four  deceased.  Her  brother 
.lonathan  was  killed  by  a  runaway  team. 

Mr.  Morton  has  been  a  farmer  most  of  his  life, 
but  taught  school  for  some  six  or  eight  3'ears  in 
Virginia  and  Tennessee.  In  1839  and  1840,  he  was 
in  the  missionary  work  as  a  minister,  and  has 
preached  more  or  less  for  sixty  years.  During  his 
long  life  in  the  ministry  he  has  been  the  means  of 
the  conversion  of  many  a  sinner  and  has  taken  an 
active  part  in  manj'  revivals,  his  first  one  being  in 
Virginia,  when  he  imipersed  seven  men  and  their 
wives.  Mrs.  Morton  was  converted  in  her  four- 
teenth year  and  she  has  been  a  very  active  worker 
in  the  cause  of  religion.  Mr.  Morton  has  been  a 
Mason  over  forty  years,  and  organized  Lodge 
No.  419,  at  old  Reynoldsbuigh,  of  which  for 
many  years  he  was  the  Worshipful  Master.  He 
has  also  served  as  King  in  the  Vienna  chapter  and 
is  in  all  probability  the  oldest  Royal  Arch  Mason  in 
this  part  of  the  countr}',  as  he  is  one  of  the  oldest 
men. 


'OSEPH  T.  HOSICK,  of  Elizabethtown,  111., 
is  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of  Hardin 
County,  a  son  of  William  Ilosick,  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  a  grandson  of  Alexander  Hosick, 
who  was  a  native  of  .Scotland,  and  came  to  Amer- 
ica before  the  Revolutionary  War,  settling  in  Vir- 
ginia. William  Hosick  was  born  in  Virginia,  was 
brought  up  on  the  farm,  and  secured  a  good  edu- 
cation for  the  times.  He  was  at  one  time  Surveyor 
for  his  county', and  removed  to  Livingston  County, 
Ky.,  in  1810,  buying  timber  land  and  erecting  a 
log  cabin  in  the  woods.  He  settled  down  to  hard 
work,  and  cleared  up  and  improved  his  farm. 
Even  at  that  early  day  the  question  as  to  the  right 


and  policy  of  slavery  was  being  agitated,  and  he, 
being  opposed  to  the  institution  in  any  form,  sold 
his  farm  and  left  the  State,  this  being  the  only 
thing  he  could  do,  as  those  who  favored  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  system,  whether  or  not  they  be- 
lieved in  its  righteousness,  seemed  to  know  in- 
stinctively, that  if  the  question  were  fully  and 
fairly'  discussed,  such  discussion  must  necessarily 
result  in  its  overthrow.  Leaving  Kcntuckj',  he 
came  to  Illinois  in  1816,  entered  Government  laud, 
built  a  log  cabin  with  puncheon  floor,  and  again 
began  to  clear  up  and  improve  his  farm.  He  re- 
mained in  that  locality  until  the  end  of  his  days, 
dying  in  about  1810.  He  was  married  in  1797  to 
Polly  Turner,  of  Kentucky',  by  whom  he  had  ten 
children,  viz:  Elizabeth,  Alexander,  Nancy,  Polly, 
Nellie,  Perlina,  Joseph  T.,  Johnson,  Matilda  and 
Sallie. 

Joseph  T.  Hosick  was  born  in  Livingston  County, 
Kj'.,  June  9,  1812,  and  was  brought  up  on  the 
farm,  and  educated  in  the  schools  of  the  day,  such 
as  they  were,  learning  but  little  therein.  But  be- 
ing of  strong  and  active  intellectual  powers,  he 
obtained  a  good,  practical  education,  and  has  made 
a  fair  success  of  his  life.  He  came  to  Pope  County 
in  1827,  and  settled  in  whatisnow  Hardin  County, 
buying  timber  land,  erecting  a  log  cabin,  and  go- 
ing to  work  in  earnest  to  establish  a  home.  He 
made  a  success  of  his  efforts,  and  in  after  years  a 
large,  two-story  brick  residence  took  the  place  of 
the  humble  log  cabin,  and  large  fields  in  a  high 
state  of  cultivation  took  the  place  of  the  timbered 
wilderness.  He  was  married  in  the  j^ear  1832 
to  Nancy  Martin,  of  Livingston  County,  Ky., 
daughter  of  David  Martin,  of  South  Carolina,  who 
was  of  Irish  ancestiy.  To  this  marriage  with  Miss 
Martin  there  were  born  four  children,  all  now  de- 
ceased, and  she  died  in  1840.  He  was  married  the 
second  time,  to  Elizabeth  M.Telford,  in  1842.  She 
is  a  daughter  of  Robert  Telford,  a  native  of  South 
Carolina.  To  tiiis  second  marriage  there  were 
born  five  children,  viz:  Edmond  S.,  a  farmer  of 
Hardin  County;  Amanda,  deceased;  Polly  Ann, 
wife  of  Leroy  Clanahan,  a  minister  at  Metropolis; 
Samuel  T.,  a  farmer  of  Hardin  County-;  and  Alice 
A.,  deceased. 

Mr.  Ilosick  takes  [iruU'  in    the  fact   that   he  has 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


471 


made  ten  trips  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Riv- 
ers in  flatboats,  and  has  traveled  a  great  deal  on 
railroads  without  ever  seeing  an  accident.  He  is 
also  proud  of  the  fact,  that  although  there  are  a 
great  many  people  of  his  narae,  3"et  none  of  them 
have  ever  been  convicted  of  anj'  crime.  He  has 
been  fighting  whisky  for  the  past  lifty-two  years, 
and  has  voted  with  tiie  Prohibition  party  for  the 
last  five  years.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  it  runs  in 
the  nature  of  the  Hosick  family  to  oppose  the 
wrong,  for  as  his  father  was  a  decidedly  anti-slav- 
ery man,  so  is  he  now  a  <1ecidedl3-  anti-whisky 
man.  He  is  also  on  the  side  of  religion,  having 
been  an  active  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  for  fifty  years,  and,  all  in  all,  Mr.  Hosick  is 
one  of  the  best  and  most  useful  citizens  of  Hardin 
County,  and  is  so  considered  by  all  who  know 
him. 


=^[]^^1CJ>^1I 


\1/  AMES  M.  SLACK,  a  resident  of  township 
15,  range  4,  and  Superintendent  of  the 
Poor  Farm  of  Massac  County,  is  a  son  of 
John  Slack,  who  was  brought  up  a  farmer 
in  Johnson  County  and  lived  here  nearly  all  his 
life,  spending  the  last  one  and  a-half  3'ears  of  his 
life  in  Carbondale,  Jackson  County,  and  d\'ing 
Ma3'  25,  1880.  He  was,  as  has  been  stated,  brought 
up  on  a  farm,  obtained  his  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools  and  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty-one  years  old,  when  he  was  married  to 
Sarah  Ann  Alexander,  a  native  of  Tennessee, 
who  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Williamson 
County  when  a  child.  Both  her  parents  are  now 
deceaj^ed.  After  his  marriage,  our  subject's  father, 
having  no  nnjiiey,  taught  school,  and  in  this  way 
got  his  start  in  life.  He  next  began  farming  and 
worked  some  of  the  time  at  the  carpenter's  trade. 
His  farm  was  located  in  Johnson  County  and  he 
became  a  successful  farmer.  Upon  his  first  farm, 
which  consisted  of  forty  acres  and  was  located 
near  Vienna,  he  built  a  house  and  made  upon  it 
otiicr   iiiiprovemeiils.     In    1851    he   sold  out  and 


entered  a  tract  of  land  covered  with  timber,  but 
with  no  buildings  upon  it.  Of  this  land  he  cleared 
sevent^'-five  or  eighty'  acres,  improved  it  other- 
wise, and  erected  a  good  log  house  and  bains. 
Upon  this  farm  he  lived  like  others  in  that  part 
of  the  State,  in  true  pioneer  st^ie,  until  the  war 
came  on,  and  during  the  war  he  sold  his  farm. 
He  was  a  very  successful  farmcu-  for  those  days. 
His  first  wife  was  Sarah  Ann  Alexander,  who  died 
May  2,  1864.  He  was  married  the  second  time, 
January  17,  1865,  to  Nancy  E.  Wy more,  who  came 
from  Kentucky.  John  Slack  was  the  father  of 
nine  children,  viz:  Wilford,  of  Metropolis;  Sarah 
A.,  wife  of  William  King,  a  farmer  of  Acton,  Tex.; 
James  M.;  Mary  E.,  wife  of  Thomas  E.  Keith,  of 
Salina,  Kan.;  Amanda,  wife  of  Vander  Light,  of 
Pontotoc,  Tex.;  John  W.,  a  farmer  of  Simpson, 
Johnson  County,  III.;  Isaac  W.,  a  farmer  also  of 
Johnson  County;  Thomas  Eranklin,  a  school 
teacher  of  Oklahoma;    and  Norman  G.,  of  Texas. 

James  M.  Slack,  the  third  child  of  his  father's 
first  wife,  was  born  in  Johnson  County  March 
16,  1849,  and  was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  working 
hard  from  the  time  he  was  eight  years  old  until  he 
was  nineteen.  In  the  meantime  he  received  a  fair 
education  in  the  common  schools,  but  desiring  a 
better  education  and  having  no  money,  he  pawned 
a  horse  to  get  money  with  which  to  go  to  school. 
He  attended  school  eigiit  months  at  Vienna,  and 
then  in  order  that  he  might  increase  his  knowledge 
still  more,  he  taught  school  four  winter  terms  and 
worked  on  a  farm  in  summers  in  Johnson  Couutv. 

Our  subject  married  Mary  A.,  daughter  of  Will- 
iam K.  Hoil,  January  21,  1872.  After  his  mar- 
riage he  farmed  on  rented  land  until  1879,  making 
a  good  living.  He  then  engaged  in  the  marble 
business  in  Cairo  as  a  traveling  salesman  for  three 
years,  becoming  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  bus- 
iness. At  the  end  of  Ihree  years  he  began  business 
for  himself  at  Metropolis  and  was  there  four  years, 
beginning  in  1882.  He  lost  lieavily,  however,  by 
the  great  Hood  of  1881.  At  llie  end  of  his  four 
years  in  business  in  Metropolis  he  went  back  to 
farming,and  in  1887  wasappointed  Superintendent 
of  the  Massac  Countj'  Alms-house.  His  wife  died 
June  30,  18'J1,  having  borne  four  children,  viz: 
Oliver  ().;   and  Ada,  both  at  home;   Clarence,  dc- 


472 


PORTRAIT  AND   lUOfi  RAI'IIICAL  RKVIKW. 


ceased,  and  one  that  dk'd  in  iiit'iuicy.  Politically, 
Mr.  Slack  is  a  Republiciiii.  lie  is  a  genial  gentle- 
man and  is  ver^'  popular.  He  is  a  successful  man- 
ager of  the  farm  and  has  given  satisfaction  to  all 
concerned. 


JJILLON  T.  KERLEY  was  born  in  Burke 
County,  N.  C,  August  20, 1850,  and  makes 
^  his  home  in  vSimpson  Township,  Johnson 
County.  His  father,  Aaron,  and  his  mother,  Rebecca 
(Alexander)  Kerley,  were  also  born  in  that  Stale, 
the  former  in  1800,  and  the  latter  in  1804.  Aaron 
Kerley  was  the  son  of  Henry  and  Sarah  Kerley, 
the  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of  North  Caro- 
lina. The  maternal  grandfather  of  our  subject 
was  an  officer  of  high  standing  in  the  army  of  the 
Revolution,  and  his  grandfather,  Henry  Kerley,  was 
also  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  who  came  to  Illi- 
nois, taking  up  Government  land,  and  also  pur- 
chasing other  lands  in  Simpson  Township.  These 
lands  were  all  covered  with  timber,  and  he  had  to 
clear  his  farm  and  erect  the  necessary  buildings, 
all  of  logs.  His  limited  education  was  obtained 
in  North  Carolina,  in  the  primitive  log  house,  one 
entire  end  of  which  was  taken  up  with  the  fireplace, 
the  chimney  of  which  was  made  of  sticks;  in  other  re- 
spects the  house  was  much  the  same  as  those  in  the 
early  day  in  southern  Illinois.  He  reached  Illi- 
nois November  28,  1852,  and  December  13,  1853, 
was  married  to  Elizabeth  R.  Simmons,  who  was  a 
native  of  .lohnson  County,  111.,  born  there  May  22, 
1830,  and  the  daughter  of  William  and  Sarah  (Al- 
lard)Simmoiis,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Ala- 
bama, and  the  latter  in  South  Carolina.  Mr.  Ker- 
ley's  first  wife  died  April  10,  1878,  and  he  was  mar- 
ried the  second  time,  to  Fannie  R.  Shirk,  January  24. 
1881.  She  was  born  in  Pope  County,  November  4, 
1842,  her  parents  being  also  natives  of  Illinois.  Mr. 
Kerley  still  resides  on  the  old  place  upon  which  he 
first  settled  on  coining  to  the  State,  which  comprises 
two  hundred  and  eighty-nine  acres  of  land.  He 
is  one  of  the  most  prosperous  of  farmers,  .ns  well 


as  one  of  the  most  courteous  and  genial  of  gentle- 
men, and  is  well  known  for  his  hospitality  far  and 
wide.  He  has  reared  si.v  children,  namely :  Rebecca 
J.,  James  15.,  Jerome  15.,  Robert  W.,  Diilard  C.  and 
Quiilon  A. 

When  the  father  of  our  subject  first  settled  in 
Illinois,  deer,  turkeys  and  other  wild  game  were 
abundant  on  his  farm.  His  grandfather  Kerley 
died  in  Tennessee,  and  his  grandfather  Alexander 
died  in  North  Carolina  in  1838.  The  father  of 
Mr.  Kerley'  was  a  farmer  all  his  life,  and  owned 
five  hundred  and  fort}-  acres  of  land  in  one  bod^'. 
He  was  married  in  1827,  and  reared  six  children 
to  maturity,  of  whom  (Juillon  T.  was  the  second 
one  of  the  family  in  age.  His  parents  spent  their 
last  days  with  their  youngest  son,  the  father  d}'- 
ing  in  1878,  and  the  mother  in  1888.  Quiilon  T. 
Kerley  and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Cum- 
berland Presbyterian  Church,  and  he  has  served  as 
Justice  of  the  Peace  ten  years,  as  Supervisor  one 
term,  and  as  Assessor  one  term.  He  always  votes 
the  straight  Democratic  ticket.  Our  subject  first 
moved  to  Arkansas,  but  could  not  become  accli- 
mated to  the  country.  On  account  of  chills  and 
fever  he  only  stayed  there  eleven  months,  and 
then  came  to  Illinois,  where  he  has  accumulated 
a  good  farm,  which  is  well  improved. 


^^- 


'SAHEL  BURNETT,  of  Bloomfield  Town- 
^OI  ship,  Johnson  County,  was  born  in  Vernon 
l£)  Township,  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  De- 
cember 4,  1829.  His  father,  John  Bur- 
nett, was  born  in  New  Jersey,  and  his  grandfather, 
William  Burnett,  was  also  born  in  the  same  State. 
There  John  was  reared  and  married,  and  in  1802 
emigrated  from  New  Jersey  to  Ohio,  where  he  was 
one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Trumbull  County,  there 
being  but  six  families  in  the  county  before  hira. 
He  secured  a  tract  of  land  in  Hubbard  Township, 
upon  which  there  was  a  water  power,  which  he  im- 
proved. He  then  built  a  sawmill,  put  in  a  turn- 
ing lathe,  and  besides  this  machinery  operated  his 


I 
I 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


473 


farm,  residin":  upon  it  until  his  death.  He  was 
twice  married,  and  reared  nineteen  cliildren. 

.lolin  ]Jurnelt  was  two  years  old  when  liis  father 
moved  to  Ohio,  where  he  was  reared  and  married. 
After  Iiis  marriage  he  settled  in  Vernon  Township, 
bougiit  a  tract  of  timber  land,  cleared  a  farm  in 
the  wilderness  and  lived  tiiere  until  1845,  when 
he  sold  out  and  moved  to  Portage  County',  and 
bought  a  farm  in  Charlestown  Township  three 
miles  east  of  Ravenna.  This  farm  he  occupied  for 
a  number  of  j-ears,  when  he  sold  it  and  bought 
another  farm,  this  time  in  Ravenna  Township, 
within  two  miles  of  Ravenna,  and  there  resided 
until  his  death. 

The  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject  before 
she  was  married  was  Harriet  Merrj',  and  she  was 
born  in  Hartford  Townshii),  Trumbull  County, 
Ohio,  in  July,  1801,  being  the  first  while  child 
born  in  that  township.  Her  father,  Charles  Merry, 
was  born  in  Massachusetts  and  emigrated  to  Ohio 
about  1800,  being  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  the 
Territory  of  Ohio,  where  he  secured  a  tract  of 
timber  land  in  Hartford  Township  and  resided 
thereon  till  his  death.  The  village  of  Burgh  Hill 
is  located  on  his  farm.  He  was  an  officer  in  the 
War  of  1812,  and  lived  to  be  ninety  years  of  age, 
having  been  the  father  of  six  children.  John  Bur- 
nett and  his  wife  were  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren: Julia,  Charles  M.,  Asaliel,  Martiia,  Frank, 
Mar3%  William  and  Wellington.  Asahel  received 
his  early  education  at  his  village  school,  and  later 
he  attended  school  in  Portage  County.  At  the 
age  of  sixteen  he  returned  to  Trumbull  County 
and  followed  the  vocation  of  teaching  for  two 
terms  in  Trumbull  County,  at  which  time  there 
was  but  little  public  money  used  for  school  pur- 
l)Oses,  and  the  schools  were  in  part  subscription 
schools,  each  family  ])aying  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  scholars  sent.  He  received  *il8  per  month 
and  boarded  round  among  his  pupil's  parents. 
After  teaching  two  terms  in  Trumbull  County  he 
taught  three  terms  in  Portage  County,  and  later  in 
Fleming  County,  K^-.,  for  two  years.  In  18.').3,  he 
removed  to  Illinois  and  bought  the  farm  where  he 
now  resides,  which  comprises  twelve  acres  of 
timber,  which  he  cleared  and  in  i)art  planted  to 
corn.    TliiM-e  were  twenty  fruit  trees  and  a  garden. 


which  constituted  the  improvements  on  the  place. 
He  worked  the  farm  seven  years  and  then  erected 
the  frame  house  in  which  he  now  resides.  He 
has  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  in  the 
home  farm  and  in  addition  owns  another  of  sev- 
enty-five acres,  in  Vienna  Township.  He  was 
married  in  1852  to  Miss  Ellen  Farnham  and  in 
185-1  to  Didamia  Robertson,  who  was  born  in 
Bowling  (^rcen,  Kj-.  Her  parents  were  William 
and  Elizabeth  Robertson,  who  were  natives  of 
Virginia  and  Kentucky  respectively. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burnett  have  one  son,  Marcus  L. 
who  was  born  in  October,  1855,  and  married  .Sarah 
Conlej-,  who  bore  him  two  children.  A.  Breeze  and 
Chloe  B.  Our  subject  voted  for  Lincoln  in  1864, 
but  since  then  until  recently  he  has  acted  with  the 
Democrats  and  now  is  a  Prohibitionist.  It  should 
have  been  stated  in  its  proper  place  that  Mr.  Bur- 
nett taught  school  in  the  winter  seasons  for  nearly 
twenty-six  years,  which  is  an  indication  of  his  popu- 
larity as  a  teacher.  Mr.  Burnett  and  son  belong 
to  the  Masonic  Lodge  No.  150,  at  Vienna,  and  the 
former  has  alw,\vs  taken  a  decided  interest  in  edu- 
cational matters  and  has  alw,ays  been  ver}'  actively 
engaged  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  eommu- 
nitj-.  He  li.as  served  as  School  Director  for  a  num- 
ber of  voars. 


ENRY  ROSKEMMER  was  born  in  Han- 
over, Germany,  October  25,  1844,  and  was 
reared  on  a  farm  in  his  native  country, 
where  he  formed  habits  of  industiy  and 
economy',  also  acquiring  a  good  (ierman  educa- 
tion. He  came  to  the  I'nited  Slates  when  about 
eighteen  j-earsold,  crossing  the  ocean  in  a  sailing- 
vessel,  and  being  eight  weeks  on  the  \oyage. 
He  landed  in  New  Orleans,  and  at  that  time  had 
but  little  money.  He  settled  in  M.iss.ic  County, 
where  he  bought  and  improved  a  farm  until  it 
was  converted  into  a  good  and  convenient  home. 
Being  under  aije,  he  attended  school   some    time 


474 


roKi'KArr  and  luocKApiiicAr.  |{i-:view. 


nfter  luriving  in  Massac  County.  WIh'U  twonty- 
one  veins  old  he  was  manned  to  Maiy  Dicckiiiiui, 
wlio  was  of  German  parentage. 

After  liis  marriage  our  subject  removed  to  Me- 
tropolis, where  he  lived  two  years,  at  which  time 
he  bought  a  forty-acre  farm,  moved  on  and  im- 
proved it,  and  made  of  it  a  good  place.  He  lived 
there  thirteen  years,  and  was  a  very  industrious 
iniin.  Ik' .'ifterward  sold  this  farm  and  bought 
one  hundred  and  twenty-six  acres,  where  his  widow 
now  lives,  upon  which  he  built  a  good  house, 
made  a  good  farm  and  just  as  it  was  completed 
he  died,  May  25,  188().  He  and  his  wife  had 
three  children,  viz:  William,  deceased;  Fritz  and 
Louisa,  both  at  home.  They  have  had  good  op- 
portunities to  receive  an  education  in  the  common 
schools. 

PoUticall}',  Mr.  Roskemmer  was  a  Republican, 
and  a  member  of  the  German  Lutheran  Church. 
The  farm  where  his  widow  and  son  now  live  was 
much  improved  by  him,  and  was  made  an  attrac- 
tive place  to  live  in.  He  erected  a  good  brick  house 
and  good  barns,  besides  other  good  outbuildings. 
Mr.  Roskemmer  was  a  man  of  considerable  influ- 
ence, among  the  German  citizens  particularly,  and 
always  bore  a  good  name.  The  widow  and  her 
son  now  manage  the  farm,  and  have  one  of  the 
best  farms  and  most  pleasant  homes  in  the  county. 


E^^ 


eP.  ESTES,  dealer  in  musical  instruments 
at  Metropolis,  Massac  County,  is  a  son  of 
Joseph  Estes,  who  was  born  at  Ft.  Nash- 
ville, or  where  Nash ville,Tenn.,  now  stands.  Joseph 
Estes'  father  was  a  Frenchman,  who  worked  his  way 
up  the  Mississippi  and  Cumberland  Rivers  from 
New  Orleans  to  Ft.  Nashville  at  an  early  day. 
Joseph  Estes  was  a  farmer  and  a  hard-working, 
intelligent  and  honest  man.  For  the  times  in 
which  he  lived  he  was  well  educated,  which  edu- 
cation, however,  was  obtained  more  by  his  own 
private  endeavors,  than  by  contact  with  the  schools, 
which  in   his   daj's  in  Tennessee   were    vei-y    few 


and  far  between,  and  very  poor.  He  was  a  man 
of  sound  judgment,  and  his  opinions  were  highly 
l)rized  by  the  peoi)le  among  whom  he  lived.  He 
followed  farming  for  the  most  part  and  removed 
from  Tennessee  to  Kentucky,  where  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Rilty  Lee,  a  native  of  South  Carolina, 
who  was  of  English  extractitjn. 

While  living  in  Kentucky,  Mr.  Estes  became 
dissatisfied  with  the  condition  of  things  in  that 
State,  and  in  order,  as  he  hoped,  to  better  his 
condition  he  came  to  Illinois.  He  assisted  in  the 
formation  of  a  colony,  consisting  of  thirty  fam- 
ilies, and  with  their  ox-teams  they  all  started  for 
the  new  and  better  land.  They  reached  the  Ohio 
River  opposite  the  present  site  of  Cave  in  Rock, 
where  the  river  opposed  an  obstacle  to  further 
progress  ditticult  to  surmount.  The  great  ques- 
tion which  then  presented  itself  for  solution  was 
how  to  get  across  the  river.  Among  the  colonists 
was  a  carpenter  by  the  name  of  Barker,  and  under 
his  direction  timber  was  cut  down,  lumber  sawed 
out  with  a  whipsaw,  logs  hewed,  and  at  length  a 
boat  was  constructed,  by  means  of  which  tliey  all 
crossed  over  the  river  and  reached  the  promised 
land,  not  even  the  leader  being  left  behind.  This 
was  in  1807,  and  thus  these  colonists  were  among 
the  very  earliest  settlers  in  Hardin  County.  The3' 
took  up  land  and  began  life  in  the  wilderness. 
The  timber  was  excellent,  and  they  built  log  houses, 
each  day  witnessing  the  completion  of  one  house, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  the  entire  thirty  fami- 
lies were  all  safely  and  snugly  housed,  each  in  a 
domicile  of  its  own.  Then  the  work  of  clearing 
up  the  land  began.  They  raised  a  little  corn  the 
first  year,  but  the  nearest  mill  was  eighty  miles 
away,  and,  as  there  were  no  roads  or  other  means 
of  communication,  that  was  a  considerable  dis- 
tance to  go  to  mill.  These  pioneers  therefore  set 
to  work  to  invent  a  kind  of  mill  of  their  own. 
The  end  of  a  huge  log  was  squared  off,  set  up  on 
end,  and  live  coals  were  placed  in  the  center,  and 
by  keeping  the  edges  wet  a  hole  or  depression 
was  made  by  the  (ire,  which,  when  deep  enough 
and  large  enough,  served  as  a  mortar,  into  which 
the  corn  to  be  ground  was  placed  and  beaten  with 
a  heavy  pestle  of  wood,  and  thus  made  into  meal. 
Corn  bread  was  afterward    quite  plentiful,  and  as 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


475 


the  woods  aboundpd  in  all  kinds  of  game,  such  as 
deer,  turkeys,  etc..  and  as  there  was  an  abundance 
of  wild  honey,  these  early  settlers  had  a  great 
abundance  to  eat,  and  any  fmo  who  could  not  man- 
age to  keep  from  starving  on  such  good  and 
varied  diet  would  indeed  be  hard  to  please. 

Thus  a  commencement  was  m.ide,  but  all,  how- 
ever, were  not  satisfied  with  their  surroundings. 
The  country  around  them  was  rough,  and  the 
land  in  many  places  poor,  and  thinking  there  was 
better  land  further  back  from  the  river,  .Joseph 
Estes,  after  a  consultation  with  others,  persuaded 
fifteen  families  to  hitch  up  their  oxen,  load  up 
their  wagons  and  seek  still  another  location.  After 
starling  they  continued  traveling  until  they  came 
to  prairie  land,  where  the  country  w.as  more  level, 
and  where  there  was  still  timber  enough  for  all 
needful  purposes.  They  therefore  made  a  settle- 
ment in  what  is  now  Franklin  County,  this  State, 
and  beg.an  .again  the  work  of  building,  clearing,  etc. 
Here  Mr.  Estes  lived  until  1840,  when  he  sold  out 
and  moved  to  what  is  now  Jefferson  County, 
where  he  secured  six  hui\dred  acres  of  land,  made 
a  good  home  for  his  family  and  lived  upon  it  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1849.  His  wife,  the 
mother  of  the  subject  of  tliis  sketch,  was  his  com- 
panion through  all  these  trials  and  hardships  and 
labors.  She  died  in  1856.  To  her  and  her  hus- 
band there  were  born  sixteen  children,  viz:  James 
L.,  who  was  four  years  old  when  the  move  was 
made  to  Illinois.  He  was  the  pride  of  the  familj-, 
and  his  father  sent  him  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  ob- 
tained a  fair  education,  and  eventually  became 
fjuite  a  prominent  man,  and  died  in  Chicago. 
John  and  Priscilla,  who  both  died  in  Franklin 
County;  Elijaii,  who  died  in  Oregon;  Lucy  and 
Annie,  who  died  in  Perry  County;  Absalom,  who 
died  in  Jefferson  County;  Joseph,  who  died  in 
Keokuk.  Iowa;  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Alfred  Bettis. 
of  Benton,  III.:  Matilda,  wife  of  Robert  Creed,  of 
the  State  of  Washington;  Chisholm,  who  died  at 
Ml.  Vernon,  III.;  Patience,  wife  of  Parson  Tay- 
lor, a  preacher  of  Franklin  County;  Melinda,  de- 
ceased; Calvin  P.;  Mary  Ann,  wife  of  D.  P.  Good- 
rich, of  Mt.  Vernon,  111.;  and  Maletna,  dece.-ised. 

Calvin  P.  Estts,  the  fourteenth  child,  was  born  in 
Franklin  County.  January  5,  18.'52,  and  was  reared 


on  the  farm,  where  he  herded  cattle  and  sheep 
for  his  father  during  liis  younger  days.  He  at- 
tended school  but  little  until  after  he  was  fourteen 
years  of  age,  and  was  then  sent  to  Keokuk, 
Iowa,  to  make  his  home  with  his  elder  brother, 
James,  and  there  he  had  better  opportunities  than 
in  the  country.  His  education,  however,  w.as  ob- 
tained through  practical  experience  in  connection 
with  the  business  which  he  followed.  One  of  his 
brothers  had  a  tin  shop  and  store  at  that  point, 
and  his  assistance  w.as  almost  indispensable  to 
that  brother.  He  was  an  excellent  salesman  .and 
very  quick  and  .active,  and  remained  there  from 
the  spring  of  18.50  to  the  fall  of  1857.  Then  the 
feeling  of  unrest  which  characterized  his  father 
manifested  itself  in  him,  and  awaj'  he  went  to 
California,  first  to  San  Francisco,  then  to  more 
northern  points,  and  at  length  to  Oregon.  He 
spent  two  years  in  the  Western  country,  buying 
stock,  handling  sheep,  etc.,  with  success,  and  he 
then  returned  to  Keokuk,  Iowa,  where  he  secured 
an  agency  for  selling  lands  for  Charles  Mason, 
Commissioner  of  the  Patent  Office.  He  continued 
thus  engaged  and  in  selling  timber  for  about 
three  years,  and  he  then  became  engaged  in  gen- 
eral trading  and  speculating,  with  Keokuk  .as  head- 
quarters. He  then  went  to  Mt.  Vernon,  111.,  where 
he  engaged  with  W.  W.  Kimball  in  the  piano 
and  organ  business,  which  business  he  has  fol- 
lowed ever  since.  He  has  built  up  a  large  and 
successful  trade,  which  extends  over  a  large  ter- 
ritory. 

Mr.  Estes  was  married  first  in  1855,  at  Keo- 
kuk, Iowa,  to  Addie  Jennings,  who  was  a  native  of 
Zanesville,  Oliio,  and  died  in  1869.  He  was  then 
married  at  Vienn.a,  III.,  to  Clara  Kimball,  of  Gol- 
conda.  III.,  who  is  still  living.  By  his  first  mar- 
riage he  had  five  children,  viz:  Delia,  wife  of 
Frank  Earsnian,  a  contractor  and  builder  of  Helena, 
Ark.;  Maggie,  wife  of  Edward  Keeley,  editor  of 
the  Dramatic  Star,  of  Seattle,  Wash.;  William  J., 
engaged  in  business  with  his  father;  and  Mary 
and  Florence,  both  of  whom  died  in  Keokuk,  Iowa. 
By  his  second  marriage  he  h.as  had  two  children, 
viz:  Charlie  K.,  at  home;  and  Ritty  Lee,  de- 
ceased. Politically,  .Mr.  Estes  is  a  Democrat,  and 
both  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Congre- 


476 


roUTUAlT  AND    lUOCiRAl'IIICAL    KKVIKW. 


gational  Church.  He  has  been  in  business  at  Me- 
tropolis for  twelve  years,  and  his  is  the  leading 
house  in  his  line  of  trade.  Mr.  Estes  is  a  genial 
and  popular  gentlem.in,  and  is  highly  esteemed  in 
this  portion  of  Illinois. 


ANIEL  .lENNINGS,  a  resident  of  Pope 
County,  was  born  in  Hamilton  County, 
Tenn.,  in  1835.  His  father,  Thomas  .Jen- 
nings, was  born  in  Rhea  County,  Tenn., 
and  died  in  that  State  in  tlie  prime  of  life  in  1839. 
He  left  a  widow  with  five  children,  four  sons  and 
one  daughter,  all  of  whom  are  living  l3ut  one,  a 
daughter.  The  latter  died  in  middle  life  in  Pope 
County,  tlie  wife  of  .lohn  H.  Ledbetter.  The  living 
ones  are  as  follows:  William,  a  miner  of  Hardin 
County;  Daniel;  .Joseph,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County, 
and  Elbert,  a  farmer  of  Hardin  County.  The 
mother  of  these  cliildren  was  married  again,  to 
David  Cochram,  by  whom  she  had  one  son  and 
one  daughter,  the  daughter  dying  at  fifteen  years 
of  age.  The  son,  .Tames  Cociiram,  is  a  farmer  in 
Pope  County'.  The  mother  died  at  sixty-three 
years  of  age. 

Daniel  .Jennings  w.as  reared  on  the  farm  up  to 
his  eighteenth  year,  and  lie  was  tiien  in  Missis- 
sippi for  three  years,  when  he  returned  to  Pope 
County,  and  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Dickerson, 
of  Kentucky,  a  daughter  of  Walter  and  Mary 
(Hart)  Dickerson.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dickerson  brought 
their  famil}-  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Hardin  County, 
about  1815,  and  died  in  Pojie  County.  Mr.  Dick- 
erson was  accidentally  killed  at  a  log  rolling  when 
he  was  thirty-five  years  old.  Mrs.  Dickerson  died 
in  1892,  at  the  age  of  sevent3--six,  leaving  four 
children.  In  Octobei,  1861,  Mr.  .Jennings  volun- 
teered to  fight  for  the  Old  Flag,  in  Company  G, 
Sixtli  Illinois  Cavalry,  and  served  in  the  ranks  all 
the  time  until  November,  1865,  except  for  a  short 
time  when  he  was  in  the  hospital  from  an  attack 
of  measles,  and  during  the  time  of  his  service  was 
promoted  to  be  Corporal.     He  participated  in  many 


battles,  among  them  the  siege  of  Port  Hudson, 
the  raid  on  Baton  Rouge,  and  in  the  battle  of 
Nasiiville,  where  Hood  was  so  gloriously  thrashed. 
While  he  saw  his  comrades  fall  around  him,  and 
while  a  hall  struck  his  saber  scabbard,  yet  he  was 
himself  unharmed.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  .Jennings  have 
buried  two  sons,  one  in  infancy,  and  one,  Elihu, 
at  eighteen  years  of  age.  He  was  accidentally 
killed  by  being  thrown  from  a  mule.  They  have 
seven  children  living,  viz:  Thomas  W.,  a  levee 
contractor  in  Mississippi,  who  is  married;  Susan, 
wife  of  William  Potts,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County, 
who  has  one  son  and  one  daughter;  Daniel,  a 
young  man  at  home;  Elva  F.,  a  young  lady  at 
home;  Ada  F.,  a  miss  of  twelve;  Elmer,  nine  and 
Katie  May  four.  Mr.  .Jennings  is  a  stanch  Demo- 
crat, and  both  he  and  his  wife  are  inemliers  of  the 
United  Uaptist  Church.  He  has  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  acres,  on  which  he  carries  on  general 
farming,  his  son  doing  the  work,  he  himself  being 
an  invalid  and  a  pensioner  from  his  services  in  the 
war. 


"JYl  OEL  R.  McKEE,  was  born  in  Massac  County 
in  June,  1846.  He  is  a  son  of  .John  W.  and 
Fannie  (Enloe)  McKee.  The  former  was  a 
^^^  native  of  Missouri,  and  the  latter  of  Illinois. 
John  W.  McKee  was  the  son  of  James  and  Nancy 
McKee,  and  came  to  Illinois  at  a  very  early  day, 
taking  up  Government  land  one  mile  from  Metrop- 
olis. He  cleared  a  farm,  which  was  covered  with 
timber,  built  a  log  house  upon  it  and  there  reared 
his  family  of  six  children.  He  at  length  sold  this 
farm,  and  bought  land  in  Johnson  County,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death,  March  5,  1866.  Joel 
R.  McKee  remained  at  home  until  he  was  eighteen 
years  of  age,  when  he  enlisted  in  Company  G, 
Fourteenth  Illinois  Cavalry.  He  was  at  the  battle 
of  Atlanta,  as  he  had  been  in  that  of  Kenesaw 
Mountain.  He  was  captured  in  the  Stoneman- 
raid,  in  Georgia,  and  was  held  prisoner  at  Ander- 
sonville  nine  months.  He  was  taken  to  Golds- 
borough,  N.  C,  was  paroled,  afterward  serving  to 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


477 


the  end  of  the  war,  and  was  honorably  discharged 
at  Springfield,  111.  After  coming  home  lie  en- 
gaged in  farming  on  shares  for  some  time,  and 
tlien  houglit  land  in  Williamson  Count_v,  which  he 
afterward  exchanged  for  land  in  Johnson  County 
near  where  he  now  lives.  He  soon  sold  this  land 
and  bought  his  present  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  in  Simpson  Township.  He  was 
married  January  11,  1872,  to  Jane  Harper,  who 
was  born  on  the  farm  upon  which  she  now  lives. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  Joseph  H.  and  5Iar\-  H.  Har- 
per. Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKee  have  seven  children, 
viz:  Fannie,  John  E.,  Emma  M.,  William  F.,  Mary 
Ann,  Joel  R.,  Jr.,  and  Nellie.  Mr.  McKee  is  a 
member  of  Simpson  Lodge  No.  773, 1.  O.  O.  F.,and 
Simpson  Post,  G.  A.  R.  In  politics,  Mr.  McKee  is 
a  loyal  Republican. 


S^i^d^'i 


IV-'ILLI.AM  T.  HOUTS,  architect  and  builder 
of  Metropolis,  is  a  son  of  C.  J.  Houts,  who 
came  to  Illinois  from  Kentucky.  The  lat- 
ter w.as  a  pioneer  Methodist  preacher,  and  a  man 
of  much  force  of  character,  though  not  a  man  of 
much  education.  He  however  became  familiar 
with  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  and  devoted  his  life 
to  their  expounding.  He  was  a  contemporary-  of 
Peter  C'artwriglit,  and  was  frequently  associated 
with  the  great  pioneer  preacher  in  religious  labor. 
He  w.as  born  near  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  came  to 
Soutliern  Illinois  when  about  twelve  3-ears  old. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  conference  there  for  forty 
years.  He  preached  all  over  southern  Illinois,  and 
died  at  Metropolis  about  1882.  His  name  m.ay  be 
found  in  a  life  of  Peter  C'artwriglit,  showing  that 
he,  as  well  as  that  noted  minister  of  the  Gospel, 
was  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  these  now  ex- 
tinct ministers.  He  was  married  to  Mary  J.  Ran- 
dall, of  Monticello,  who  is  living  at  Des  Moines, 
Iowa,  witli  a  sister.  To  their  marriage  there  were 
born  ten  children:  George,  a  carpenter  by  trade, 
living  near  Chicago;  Julia,  wife  of  W.  HoInian,of 
Des  .Miiiius.   hma;     twins,  who    died   in    infancy; 


Mary,  wife  of  H.  T.  Goddard,  a  banker  of  Mount 
Carmel,  111.;  William  T.;  Anna  and  Carrie,  de- 
ceased; Jennie,  wife  of  George  Quante,  of  Me- 
tropolis; and  Charles  E.,  deceased. 

William  T.  Houts  was  born  at  St.  Louis,  Mo., 
March  10,  1854,  and  w.as  educated  in  the  common 
schools.  He  began  life  for  himself  in  1871,  going 
to  work  for  the  Wheeler  it  Wilson  Sewing  JIachine 
Company  in  Chicago.  He  then  learned  the  car- 
penter trade  at  F^vanston,  111.,  remaining  there  for 
twoanda-half  years,  and  then  removed  to  Murphys- 
borough.  111.,  where  he  worked  at  his  trade  for  one 
3-ear,  and.  then  taught  school  for  one  winter  in 
Jackson  County.  He  next  worked  at  his  trade  at 
Anna,  111.,  for  one  year,  and  in  1875  removed  to 
Metropolis,  and  there  worked  at  his  trade.  He  has 
been  engaged  at  Metropolis  working  at  his  trade 
ever  since.  He  has  been  an  industrious  and  suc- 
cessful man.  Of  late  he  has  given  more  attention 
to  the  preparation  of  plans  and  specifications  for 
the  construction  of  buildings  than  to  their  actual 
construction.  He  was  married  at  Metropolis,  in 
1876,  to  Emma  Lukens,  who  was  born  in  Newport, 
Ky.  Her  parents  removed  to  Metropolis  when 
she  was  one  year  old,  and  are  still  living  here. 
They  have  had  four  children:  Herbert,  deceased; 
Mabel,  Nellie  and  Ralph,  all  at  home. 

Politically,  ^Ir.  Houts  is  a  Prohibitionist;  fra- 
ternally, an  Odd  Fellow,  and  religiously,  a  Meth- 
odist, as  is  also  his  wife.  They  are  botli  active  in 
the  work  of  the  church  and  the  Sunday-school. 
Mr.  Houts  is  now  the  only  architect  in  Metropolis, 
and  isa  man  of  mucii  ability  in  his  profession.  He 
is  one  of  the  genial  and  Christian  gentlemen  of 
the  city,  and  is  highly  esteemed  and  deservedly 
popular. 


— -     '        |i|'i1fi'Vli; 


ILLIAM  SCHNEEMANN,  a  farmer,  who 
lived  on  section  22,  township  15,  range 
v^'!^  ii  of  M.assac  County,  w.as  born  in  Prussia, 
Germany,  and  was  reared  in  his  native  country, 
receiving   there    a  good    German   education    and 


W 


478 


roiMitAir  AND  iiKxii; AiMiiCAL  KI•;^'II■:w. 


learning  the  trade  of  a  stonemason.  At  tlie  age 
of  twentj'-oiie,  deciding  to  come  to  the  United 
States,  he  secured  passage  on  board  of  a  sailing- 
vessel  and  was  on  the  ocean  for  nine  weel^s,  at 
last  landing  in  Baltimore.  Being  destitute  of 
money,  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  work  immedi- 
ately, but  being  master  of  a  good  trade,  it  was 
not  diUieull  for  him  to  find  work  to  do.  lie  re- 
moved from  Baltimore  to  Cincinnati,  where  lie  fol- 
lowed his  trade  for  sixteen  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  time,  having  built  up  a  good  business,  he 
sold  out  to  his  partner  and  removed  to  Metrop- 
olis. Soon  after  his  arrival  in  this  latter  city  he 
purchased  a  farm  of  eighty  acres  and  settled  down, 
first  in  a  small  log  cabin  of  two  rooms,  which, 
compared  with  the  home  he  had  left  in  Cincin- 
nati, was  very  poor  indeed.  But  one  year  after 
settling  down  in  this  way  he  built  a  neat  .and 
commodious  house,  and  added  forty  acres  to  his 
farm,  and  his  family  are  now  living  comfortably 
in  this  home,  which  was  then  new.  He  worked 
hard,  clearing  off  the  timber  and  making  other 
improvements,  and  was  successful  in  securing  for 
himself  so  long  as  he  lived,  and  for  his  famil}' 
after  his  death,  a  good  and  comfortable  home. 

Mr.  Schneemann  was  married  to  Sophia  Eick- 
horst,  who  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  and 
died  August  1,  1889.  She  was  seventeen  years 
old  at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  and  became  the 
mother  of  thirteen  children,  viz:  Lizzie,  living  in 
Cincinnati,  and  the  widow  of  Henry  Phillips; 
Henr^'  and  Charles,  both  in  Cincinnati;  William, 
deceased;  William;  Edward,  deceased;  Elvina,  wife 
of  Otto  Oaks,  of  Massac  County;  George,  a  school 
teacher  in  Massac  County;  Albert,  Edward,  Ida, 
Louis  and  Alice.  The  five  last  named  are  living 
on  the  home  farm  with  their  mother.  The  farm 
is  managed  by  the  sons  Albert  and  Edward,  and 
is  in  excellent  condition,  the  young  men  being 
both  enterprising  and  industrious. 

Mr.  Schneemann  was  a  Republican  and  strongly 
in  favor  of  educating  the  j-oung.  He  gave  all  his 
children  a  good  common-school  education,  thus 
fitting  them  for  their  positions  in  life.  He  was  a 
man  of  considerable  intluence  among  the  German 
people,  and  was  a  most  reliable  citizen.  The  son  Al- 
bert is  the  eldest  boy  now  at  home,  and  the  responsi- 


bilities of  llie  farm  management  and  of  the  sup- 
port of  the  family  fall  largely  on  his  shoulders. 
While  his  preference  is  not  for  a  farm  life,  yet 
he  assumes  the  duties  thus  imposed  upon  him  for 
the  sake  of  his  mother  and  the  younger  members 
of  the  farailv.  Too  much  credit  can  scarcely  be 
given  him  for  the  cour.se  in  life  wiiicli  he  is  now 
pursuing. 


BRAM  Z.  BRUNER,  proprietor  of  a  livery, 
feed  and  sale  stable,  at  Metropolis,  Massac 
County,  is  a  son  of  Abram  Bruner,  who 
was  born  in  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  and  was 
brought  up  to  work  in  an  iron  foundr3'  and  at  the 
forge.  He  began  this  kind  of  work  very  early  in 
life,  though  he  had  reasonably  good  opportunities 
for  securing  an  education,  and  attended  school 
sufficiently  to  acquire  such  knowledge  as  a  prac- 
tical man  is  always  in  need  of.  He  was  married  in 
Ohio  to  Eliza  Devers,  also  a  native  of  Ohio,  and 
removed  to  Massac  County  and  settled  on  a  farm 
seven  miles  northeast  from  the  present  site  of  Me- 
tropolis, having  secured  there  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land.  He  commenced  on  this  land 
a  poor  man.  It  had  but  little  clearing  made  upon 
it,  but  he  soon  succeeded  in  building  a  house  and 
barn  and  in  getting  his  premises  into  shape  for  a 
comfortable  home.  He  however  had  to  haul  such 
lumber  as  he  needed  sixteen  miles,  which  was  the 
best  he  could  do  at  that  time.  He  continued  at 
work  upon  his  farm,  and  soon  had  a  sufficient  por- 
tion of  it  cleared  up  so  that  he  could  cultivate  crops 
upon  which  to  support  his  family.  He  afterward 
sold  his  farm,  removed  to  Metropolis,  and  engaged 
in  the  livery  business,  for  which  purpose  he  erected 
a  neat  and  commodious  barn,  and  continued  thus 
engaged  until  his  death,  which  occurred  March  30, 
1889.  His  widow  is  still  living  in  Metropolis. 
She  and  her  husband  were  the  parents  of  six  chil- 
dren: Amanda,  wife  of  W.  H.  Jones,  who  is  en- 
gaged in  selling  flour  in  New  York  City;  Lucy, 
widow  of  Tom  Ward;  Allie,  wife  of  Dr.  .1.  T.  Wil- 


I 


♦ 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


479 


lis,  of  Metropolis;  Sallie,  wife  of  Edward  Hood, 
hotel  proprietor  of  Metropolis;  Libbie,  wife  of 
W.  H.  Toler.  grocer  of  Metropolis;  and  Abram  Z. 
Our  subject  was  born  in  Metropolis,  July  2, 
1868,  and  secured  a  good  education  in  tlie  public 
Schools  of  this  city.  He  went  to  work  in  the  drug 
store  of  Dr.  Willis,  and  became  a  registered  phar- 
macist, remaining  there  from  the  time  he  was  fif- 
teen years  old  until  the  death  of  his  father,  which 
made  it  necessary  for  him  to  attend  to  the  busi- 
ness left  by  the  latter.  He  has  ever  since  been  en- 
gaged in  the  livery  busines,  and  has  his  share  of 
the  trade  of  Metropolis  and  vicinity.  lie  has  a 
good  barn,  good  hoi-ses  and  buggies,  and  is  in 
every  way  an  accommodating  and  popular  gentle- 
man. 


KANCI.S  M.  DIXCAN.  Prominent  among 
the  successful  farmers  of  Pope  County  is 
the  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this 
sketch,  who  resides  in  township  11,  range  6,  and 
was  born  in  Rhea  County,  Tenu.,  in  1842.  His 
father,  Russell  Duncan,  was  born  in  Washington 
County,  Tenn.,  in  1817,  and  is  a  sou  of  William 
Duncan,  of  the  same  county.  The  latter  was  a 
farmer,  as  was  also  his  father,  Charles  Duncan,  of 
North  Car<>lina,  who  was  also  a  mechanic.  IJoth 
Charles  Duncan  and  his  son  William  died  in  Wash- 
ington County,  Tenn.,  at  quite  an  advanced  age. 
The  mother  of  our  subject  was  JIary  T.  Rector, 
of  East  Tennessee,  who  after  she  married  Russell 
Duncan  lived  in  Tennessee  until  1870.  That  year 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duncan  removed  by  team  to  Jeffer- 
son County,  111.,  and  tliere  the  latter  died  in  1879, 
Mgcd  fifty-six  years,  having  been  the  mother  of 
thirteen  children,  seven  sons  and  six  daughters, 
one  of  whom  died  when  an  infant.  Landon  R., 
who  w.as  a  volunteer  in  the  Second  Tennessee  In- 
fantry of  the  Federal  army,  died  in  Kentucky 
in  the  spring  of  1862,  in  his  twenty-first  year. 
Mary  Saphrona  died  in  Illinois  at  about  the  age  of 
twenty-eight;  Sarah  M.,  wife  of  William  Secrest, 
died   in    Illinois;  Hiram   II.  died    at  his   parents' 

26 


home  in  1884;  and  Ellen  E.,a  single  lady,  died  also 
at  home,  in  1892.  The  names  of  the  living  are  as 
follows:  Margaret  E.,  in  Alabama;  Francis  M., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Charles  Polk,  a  farmer 
of  Pope  County;  John  A.,  a  farmer  of  Jeflferson 
County;  William  E.,  also  a  farmer  of  Jefferson 
County;  Vesta  E.,  wife  of  Henry  Miner,  of  Jeffer- 
son County;  and  Adeline,  wife  of  David  Mooney. 

Francis  M.  Duncan,  who  was  the  second  child 
and  second  son,  and  is  the  eldest  of  the  fam- 
il}-  living,  was  reared  to  farm  life,  worked  hard 
when  a  bo}',  and  was  almost  entirelj'  deprived 
of  educational  advantages.  He  enlisted  in  his 
twentieth  year  in  Kentuck}'  in  the  Fifth  Tenn- 
essee Infantry,  of  the  Union  army,  and  served 
in  the  ranks  over  three  j'ears,  except  when  sick  in 
the  hospital  for  a  short  time.  His  brothers,  Charles 
Polk  and  John  A.,  were  also  volunteers  in  the 
Federal  army.  These  men  in  Tennessee  who  en- 
tered the  Union  army  knew  something  of  what  it 
cost  to  be  loyal  to  the  Old  Flag,  and  they  also 
knew  something  of  the  cost  of  war.  At  first  Mr. 
Duncan  volunteered  at  home,  but  the  regiment 
was  soon  disbanded  and  each  member  of  it  fled 
for  safety.  For  some  time  he  was  secreted  in  the 
mountains  with  his  father  and  brother,  but  one 
night  went  home  to  sleep  in  his  bed,  and  was 
captured  by  the  rebels  and  held  a  prisoner,  but 
only  for  two  hours,  when  he  made  his  escape. 
The  next  spring  he  was  one  of  thirty-three  to 
cross  the  mountains  and  volunteer  in  Kentucky, 
and  came  out  of  the  war  without  being  wounded. 

In  April,  1866,  our  subject  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  Jane  Robbs,  of  Pope  County,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  .1.  L.  Robbs.  He  and  his  wife  then  went  to 
Missouri  for  a  few  month,  but  later  returned  to 
this  county,  and  in  1876  they  bought  forty 
acres  of  land  for  ^400,  which  he  settled,  and  later 
bought  another  forty  .acres,  so  that  now  he  has 
eighty  acres  of  land.  He  built  a  part  of  his  pres- 
ent good  dwelling-house  in  the  fall  of  1892.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Duncan  have  buried  one  infant  daugh- 
ter, Mary  L.,  and  have  six  children  living,  viz: 
Amanda  .S.,  wife  of  Joseph  (iossage,  a  farmer  of 
Pope  County;  Vesta  I.,  wife  of  William  Gossage, 
and  who  has  three  children;  William  A.,  a  young 
man  of  nineteen,  at  home;  Minnie,  a  young  lad\- 


480 


POHrUAlT  AND   UIOCUArillCAL  HP:VIKW. 


of   eighteen;    Elrnina,  a   miss   of    fourteen;    and 
Thomas  L.,  twelve  j-ears  old. 

Mr.  Duncan  is  a  Master  Mason,  and  is  a  Sinmn- 
pure  Republican  in  polities.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Social  Hrcthren  Church,  and 
both  having  been  somewhat  unfortunate  as  to 
educational  opportunities  in  their  youth,  and  real- 
izing it,  are  doing  the  best  they  can  to  give 
their  children  all  a  good  education.  Mr.  Duncan 
carries  on  general  farming,  all  his  eiglity  acres 
being  under  cultivation.  The^'  are  devoted  to  the 
raising  of  corn,  wheat,  oats  and  hay,  and  a  few 
cattle,  horses,  sheep  and  hogs. 


•^^■^H^@!^l^^- 


\T/OIIN  M.  KELTNER,  a  merchant  of  New 
I  I  Burnside  since  1879,  was  born  in  Giles 
^^1  I  Count}-,  Tenn.,  in  July,  1854.  His  father 
^5^^  was  Lewis  B.  Keltner,  of  the  same  county, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  farming,  as  was  his 
father  before  him.  This  grandfather  of  John  M. 
Keltner  was  of  German  ancestry,  and,  it  is  believed, 
was  born  in  Germany.  The  wife  of  Lewis  B. 
Keltner  was  Mary  Farris,  of  the  same  part  of  Ten- 
nessee, who  with  her  husband  came  to  southern 
Illinois  with  a  small  famil}^  but  within  about  one 
year  they  returned  to  Tennessee,  subsequently 
coming  to  Johnson  County  in  1857,  where  they 
settled  on  one  hundred  and  si.xty  acres  of  land  in 
Simpson  Township,  which  Mr.  Keltner  had  pur- 
chased on  his  first  visit  to  the  State.  Tiie}'  com- 
menced life  in  moderate  circumstances,  but  by  in- 
dustry and  frugalit}-  soon /had  a  comfortable  home 
and  a  competency,  and  the  farm  upon  wliich  tliey 
settled  is  still  owned  in  the  family.  Lewis  B. 
Keltner  died  on  this  farm  in  1884,  aged  fifty- 
seven  years,  and  his  widow,  now  sixty-eight  j-ears 
old.  is  in  excellent  health  and  still  lives  on  the 
farm.  She  has  four  sons  and  one  daughter  living: 
Stephen  F.,  a  farmer  near  tiie  old  iiome,  who  has  a 
wife,  one  son  and  two  daughters;  Edward,  a  farmer 
of  Pope  County,  who  has  a  wife  and  one  daugh- 
ter; and  John  M.  and  W.  L.,  the  two  latter  being  in 


partnership  in  New  Burnside,  in  the  hardware  and 
furniture  business.  W.  L.  has  a  wife,  two  sons 
and  two  daughters.  The  3'oungest  of  the  family, 
Alice,  is  the  wife  of  Thomas  B.  Murrie,  and  has  two 
sons  and  one  daughter  living.  They  reside  on  a 
farm  near  the  old  homestead.  Lewis  B.  Keltner 
was  fairly  successful  in  life  and  left  a  small 
estate. 

The  youth  of  .lohn  M.  Keltner  was  sjjent  on  the 
farm,  consequently  he  received  a  somewhat  lim- 
ited education,  and  when  nineteen  years  old  he 
married  Martha  E.Moore,  who  was  seventeen  years 
of  age.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Green  B.  Moore, 
of  Tennessee,  who  died  about  1867,  having  been 
preceded  to  his  final  rest  a  few  years  by  his  wife. 
She  has  two  brothers:  James  M.  Jloore,  of  Simpson 
Township,  and  George,  a  farmer  on  Horse  I'rairie. 
Her  sister,  Indiana,  is  the  wife  of  Thomas  Simpson, 
a  farmer  on  Horse  Prairie,  in  Jefferson  County. 

Mr.  Keltner  and  wife  began  domestic  life  on  her 
father's  farm,  where  the}'  lived  one  year,  and  then 
bought  a  farm  of  eighty-seven  acres  adjoining  his 
father's  farm,  for  which  he  paid  -§800.  Here  he 
lived  from  1875  to  1879,  when  he  sold  the  farm 
and  removed  to  New  Burnside,  buying  the  drug 
business  and  store  of  F.  M.Jones,  and  remaining  in 
that  business  until  1889,  when  he  sold  his  store 
and  bought  a  farm  of  eighty  acres,  upon  which  he 
lived  the  next  winter.  In  the  spring  of  1890  he 
sold  it  and  again  removed  to  the  village,  where  he 
began  business  as  a  hardwaie  and  furniture  dealer, 
buying  out  the  business  of  a  Mr.  Gre}'.  This  bus- 
iness he  conducted  alone  until  September,  1891, 
when  he  took  in  his  brother,  W.  L.,  as  partner. 
They  were  among  the  many  losers  by  the  great  fire 
of  December  of  that  j-ear,  but  being  pai-tially  in- 
sured they  soon  rebuilt  and  commenced  business  in 
their  new  store  in  April,  1892.  In  February, 
1892,  Mr.  Keltner  opened  the  store  b}'  the  side  of 
the  track  with  a  stock  of  clothing,  etc.,  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Graham,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Graham  &  Co.,  this  business  being  managed  by  an 
employe  named  W.  I.  Hampton. 

Mr.  Keltner  and  his  brother  each  devote  a  part 
of  their  time  to  the  hardware  and  furniture  busi- 
ness. The  former  rented  a  dwelling  until  Oc- 
tober, 1891,  when  he  bought  his  present  fine  home. 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


181 


which  is  the  elegant  new  house  erected  b3'  John 
J)uPont,  on  thirteen  and  one-lialf  acres  of  land, 
witii  line  ornamental  siiade  and  fruit  trees.  He 
has  lost  one  daughter,  Nora  A.,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  eight  j'ears,  in  April,  1892.  One  son, 
Lewis  O.,  a  young  man  of  eighteen,  is  living  at 
home  and  attending  school.  Mr.  Keltner  is  not 
an  office-seeker  nor  active  in  politics,  but  he  votes 
the  Democratic  ticket,  and  has  been  School  Trus- 
tee for  some  three  j'ears.  He  is  a  Royal  Arch 
^Mason,  and  was  an  Odd  Fellow,  but  withdrew 
from  the  order.  Both  he  and  wife  are  members  of 
the  United  Baptist  Church. 


O^ 


RS.   MARIA    Cl>AYTON,    widow    of    the 
late  John  Clayton,  is  a   daughter  of  Isaac 
li  L.  and  Xancy  (Jackson)  Martin,  deceased, 
-^  and  at  the  present    time    resides  in  town- 

ship 11,  range  6,  Pope  County-.  Her  father  was  a 
native  of  Tennessee,  and  his  wife  of  Hardin 
County,  111.  In  1824,  when  a  lad  of  twelve  years, 
he  came  to  Illinois  with  his  parents,  and  here 
lived  and  died  on  his  own  farm.  He  was  a  brave 
soldier  in  the  Black  Hawk  War  and  married  a 
lady  by  the  name  of  Xancy  Jackson,  who  bad 
been  previously"  married  to  George  Doctorman, 
by  whom  she  had  two  sons,  one  of  whom  grew  to 
mature  j'cars.  She  bore  Mr.  Martin  four  sons  and 
four  daughters.  One  daughtei  died  in  infancy, 
and  there  are  now  living  but  four  of  the  eight 
children.  George,  the  second  child  and  first 
son,  was  a  volunteer  in  Company  A,  Twenty- 
ninth  Illinois  Infantry,  under  the  command  of 
('apt.  Terrell,  and  later  under  Capt.  Howard.  He 
1  nlistcd  when  seventeen  yeai-s  of  age,  in  1862,  as 
■i  private  soldier,  and  was  taken  prisoner  near 
Natchez,  Miss.,  where  he  was  confined  one  j'car, 
and  died  of  scurvy  and  starvation  in  Xovember, 
1«6.'),  in  his  twentieth  year.  The  family  could 
loam  nothing  of  his  fate  until  a  long  time  after 
his  death.    Franklin  P.  died  in  March,  1872,  in  his 


eighteenth  year,  of  pneumonia;  John  died  in 
1874,  in  his  twentj'-second  j'ear,  of  fever.  The 
surviving  members  of  the  family  are  Mrs.  Maria 
Clayton,  of  this  sketch;  Anna,  wife  of  Marshall 
IlifT,  a  farmer  of  Hardin  County;  Izora,  widow  of 
John  Keeling,  residing  on  her  farm  near  Eliza- 
bethtown ;  and  Isaac  L.,  a  farmer  of  Hardin  County. 
The  mother  of  these  children  died  in  1860,  leav- 
ing the  3'oungest  child  two  years  old,  and  Mrs. 
Clayton,  the  eldest  of  the  family,  had  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  family  upon  her  hands  for  ten  3'ears. 

When  she  was  twenty-six  years  old,  our  subject 
married  Isaiah  Ragau,  of  Ohio,  in  1869,  in  Hardin 
County,  where  thej'  lived  two  years,  and  then  lived 
in  Livingston  County,  K3'.,  for  the  same  length 
of  time.  In  January,  1873,  the^'  removed  to  the 
present  home  of  Mrs.  Claj'ton,  where  she  has 
lived  ever  since.  They  had  but  little  to  begin  with, 
but  at  that  time  had  saved  up  some  monej'  and 
bought  two  hundred  and  fift3'  acres  of  land  with 
fair  improvements  for  «il,250,  pa3'ing  all  down  but 
8200,  the  rest  within  one  3'ear.  After  three  years 
they  bought  eight3-  acres  more,  making  the  pres- 
ent farm  three  hundred  and  thirty  acres,  situated 
on  section  34,  township  11,  range  6.  Mr.  Ragan 
died  in  July,  1877,  at  the  age  of  thirt3--five,  leav- 
ing his  widow  with  two  sons  and  two  daughters, 
viz:  William  Henry, a  young  man  at  home;  John, 
tweiit3^  years  old;  Narrissa,  a  young  lady;  and 
Mollie,  fifteen  3-ears  of  age.  The3'  are  all  at  home, 
the  sons  working  on  the  farm,  and  the  daiighlei-s 
attending  school.  The  father  of  these  children, 
Isaiah  Ragan,  was  the  son  of  William  and  Marv 
(Leper)  Ragan,  the  former  of  Pennsylvania  and 
the  latter  of  Ohio.  They  came  to  Illinois  from 
Ohio  in  1856,  and  settled  on  a  farm  near  the  ])ar- 
ents  of  Mrs.  Clayton,  and  their  children  grew  up 
together. 

Mrs.  Ragan  was  married  to  the  late  John  Clayton, 
a  son  of  John  Clayton,  of  Kentucky.  The  latter 
was  a  carpenterbv  trade,  and  followed  that  occupa- 
tion verv  profitably  for  man3-  years.  He  married 
Eliza  Hill,  of  Kentucky,  then  the  widow  of  a  Mr. 
Sloan,  and  removed  to  Evansvillc,  Ind.,  about 
1840,  and  in  18,04  to  Eliz.abethtown,  HI.,  where 
they  died,  the  mother  in  middle  life,  leaving  five 
children  b3'  Mr.  Clayton  and  two  b3-  her  fii-st  hus- 


482 


roHTKAir  AM)    I!1(»(;HA1'IUCAL    KKVIEW. 


band.  Mr.  Cla3'ton  lived  some  years  afterward, 
and  died  in  18',I2,  at  the  age  of  seven tj'-seven. 
Three  of  his  children  are  still  living.  John  Clay- 
ton was  a  carpenter  by  trade  and  was  married  to 
Mrs.  Ragan  in  187!).  He  died  in  November,  1891. 
Mrs.  Clayton  has  the  symi)ath_v'  of  many  friends  in 
her  aHliction,  which  she  is  bearing  with  great  for- 
titude and  resign.ntion. 


<*  IRILLI  AM  H.  GILliERT, a  prominent  farmer 
\/\//l  ^^  Pope  County,  111., who  has  resided  on  his 
WW  present  farm  of  tiirce  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  on  section  4,  township  12,  range  6,  for  nineteen 
j-ears,  was  born  in  1840,  near  where  he  now  lives. 
His  father,  .lames  Gilbert,  was  born  in  Kentnck}' 
May  8,  1803,  where  he  was  a  farmer,  as  was  also 
his  father  before  him.  He  married  Minerva  Rose, 
of  Hardin  County,  this  State,  daughter  of  Elbert 
and  Sarah  (Hobbs)  Rose,  of  Virginia. 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  died  in 
Kentucky,  and  the  grandmother  then  removed  to 
Indiana,  where  she  died,  having  reared  four  sons 
and  two  daughters,  of  whom  .lames  was  the  second 
son  and  chdd.  When  a  3'oung  man  .James  Gilbert 
came  to  Illinois,  and  was  married  JIarch  30,  1830, 
to  Minerva  Rose,  who  was  born  in  1811.  He  left 
home  when  quite  a  youth,  but  upon  the  death  of 
his  father  returned  to  Kentucky  and  removed  his 
mother  to  Indiana,  where  his  elder  brother,  Rich- 
ard, lived.  After  the  death  of  his  mother  he 
brought  two  sisters  and  a  brother  from  Indiana  to 
Pope  County.  After  his  marriage  he  removed 
to  Hardin  County,  111.,  and  lived  there  for  one 
year,  and  in  the  spring  of  1832  he  removed  to  a 
farm  near  the  present  farm  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  and  here  bought  a  settler's  claim  and 
moved  into  the  little  log  cabin  already  erected. 
Here  he  and  his  wife  lived  permanently,  he  clear- 
ing up  the  farm  and  succeeding  by  hard  work  in 
making  a  good  home.  When  he  began  life  on  this 
place  he  had  but  little  or  no  cash  capital,  but   be- 


fore his  death  he  owned  several  farms,  the  home 
farm  containing  some  four  hundred  acres  of  land. 
He  and  his  wife  had  eleven  children,  live  sons  and 
six  daughters,  all  but  one  of  whom  grew  to  mature 
years.  They  were  Louisa,  who  married  William 
Jackson  and  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-five,  leaving 
two  daughters;  E.  R.,  who  died  in  Missouri  in  the 
prime  of  life,  leaving  one  daughter;  Martha  A., 
who  married  Jonathan  Fulkersou  and  is  now  de- 
ceased; James  R.,  who  died  when  a  3'oung  man; 
Sarah,  who  died  at  sixteen;  William  H.;  Aaron  T., 
who  died  at  the  old  home,  leaving  two  sons;  Eliz- 
beth,  wife  of  John  G.  Anderson,  a  farmer  and 
merchant  of  the  vicinity;  Minerva,  who  married 
A.  P.  Holioway  and  died  leaving  one  daughter; 
Elmina,  wife  of  J.  G.  Whiteside;  and  John  R.,  who 
died  when  eight  j'eats  old. 

William  H.  Gilbert  was  reared  on  the  farm  to 
habits  of  industrj'.  His  earlj^  education  was  re- 
ceived first  in  the  subscription  schools  and  later  in 
the  free  schools,  as  the  change  from  the  one  system 
to  the  other  was  made  in  this  country  when  he 
was  a  boy.  The  subscription  schoolhouse  was  the 
t^'pical  primitive  school  building  of  that  early  da^', 
with  its  puncheon  ftoor,  the  writing  desk  a  shelf 
on  pins  driven  into  the  wall,  and  the  windows 
mere  apertures  or  openings  without  glass.  The 
fireplace  was  at  one  end  of  the  building  and  the 
chimney  was  of  claj'  or  sticks.  Here  our  subject 
learned  the  rudiments  of  an  English  education, 
that  is,  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  fairly  well. 
He  left  home  and  was  married  at  the  age  of 
twentj'-three  years  to  Margaret  King,  daughter  of 
A.  N.  and  Parraelia  (S.  Barger)  King,  earl}-  settlers 
of  Pope  County.  Mrs.  Gilbert  was  born  in  this 
county  in  1842,  and  after  her  union  with  our  sub- 
ject settled  on  the  old  homestead  and  there  lived 
five  years,  at  which  time  thej'  bought  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  ten  acres  near  b^-,  on  which  they 
lived  four  years,  and  then  sold  and  bought  two 
hundred  acres,  a  part  of  their  present  farm,  for 
$7.50  per  acre.  He  has  always  carried  on  general 
fanning,  raising  more  corn  than  wheat,  oats  or 
haj-.  He  sometimes  raises  as  high  as  fifteen  hun- 
dred bushels  of  corn  and  five  hundred  of  wheat. 
He  keeps  all  kinds  of  stock  for  his  own  use. 

In  politics  Mr.  Gilbert  is  a  Republican,  and  he 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


483 


and  his  wife  are  members  of  tlie  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Cimrch.  They  iiave  buried  two  sons  and  one 
daughter.  James  A.  and  John  T.  died  of  mem- 
branous croup;  they  were  aged  six  and  four  years 
respectively.  Prudy  died  when  seven  months  old. 
They  have  eight  children  living,  three  sons  and 
five  daugliters,  viz:  Ella,  widow  of  George  Jack- 
son, who  is  living  near  by  and  has  one  son;  Elbert 
W.,  a  single  man  at  home;  Almeda,  wife  of  C.  S. 
Terry,  a  neighboring  farmer,  who  has  one  son  and 
two  daughters;  Henry,  a  young  man;  Ada, a  young 
lady;  Parmela.  fourteen  years  of  age,  Minerva, 
twelve,  and  William  R..  a  lad  of  ten,  all  at 
home  and  in  school.  Jlr.  and  Mrs.  Gilbert  are 
determined  that  their  children  shall  have  at 
least  the  best  of  opportunities  within  their  reach 
for  securing  an  education,  and  if  there  is  any 
shortcoming  it  will  not  be  their  fault.  They  are 
kind  and  indulgent  parents,  agreeable  acquaint- 
ances and  warm  friends,  who  are  esteemed  b}'  all 
who  have  the  «ood  fortune  to  know  them. 


I' 


|ILLIAM  CONLEY,  a  farmer  living  on  sec- 
iV/i'jf  ^'"'^  ''^i  townshiij  13,  range  7,  Pope 
y  County,  is  a  son  of  John  Conle^^  a  farmer 
and  a  native  of  Ohio.  The  father  of  .John  Conle\' 
was  also  a  farmer,  wlu)  lived  in  Ohio,  and  reared 
his  son  on  the  farm,  who,  on  account  of  meagre 
educational  facilities,  failed  to  secure  more  than 
a  very  ordinary  education.  He  was  married  when 
about  twenty-three  years  old  to  .Susan  Ward,  who 
was  also  from  Ohio,  and  after  marriage  he  removed 
to  Illinois  by  team  and  wagon,  commencing  a 
poor  man,  making  ties  and  chopping  cord  wood  in 
the  winter  time,  and  in  the  summer  time  raising  a 
crop.  He  at  first  rented  a  farm  in  Saline  County, 
111.,  and  continued  in  this  way  to  make  his  living 
until  he  was  able  to  buy  eighty  acresof  land.  Be- 
fore he  was  able  to  get  settled  on  it,  however,  the 
war  broke  out,  and  with  the  enthusiasm  of  patriot- 
ism which   characterized    the  young  men,  particu- 


larly of  the  Northern  States,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany K,  Fifty-sixth  Illinois  Infantr3-,  and  served 
about  three  years  in  the  army,  participating  in 
numerous  battles  and  minor  engagements.  He  re- 
turned to  Saline  County  after  the  war  closed,  but 
with  healtii  impaired,  and  followed  farming  to  the 
best  of  his  ability  until  he  died.  He  was  the  father 
of  ten  children,  viz:  Sylvanus,  deceased;  Jane, 
wife  of  T.  J.  Stiff,  living  in  Pope  County;  Ellen, 
wife  of  M.  Tharpe,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County; 
William  and  Williamson,  twins,  farmers  of  Pope 
County:  Emeline,  deceased;  Edmund  and  Edna, 
twins,  both  living  with  William;  Anson  and  Fan- 
nie, twins,  the  former  living  with  William,  and  the 
latter  deceased.  The  father  died  in  Saline  County, 
but  the  mother  is  now  living  with  Willian). 

Our  subject,  one  of  the  first  pair  of  twins,  was 
born  in  Pope  County  near  Wilson  Mill,  January 
I,  I860,  and  was  brought  up  on  the  farm,  and  up 
to  nine  3'ears  of  age  received  his  education  in  the 
public  schools,  afterward  getting  what  he  could 
outside,  and  becoming  fairly  well  educated.  He 
was  only  ten  years  old  when  his  father  died,  and  as 
the  family  was  very  poor  he  had  to  take  hold  at 
that  earl}'  age  of  whatever  he  could  find  to  do,  in 
order  to  assist  in  the  support  of  the  family.  He 
worked  at  twenty-five  or  thirty  cents  per  day  for 
some  time,  his  wages  increasing  as  age  and  strength 
increased.  This  he  continued  to  do  until  he  was 
twenty-one  years  old,  when  he  felt  that  it  was 
time  for  him  to  do  something  for  himself,  and  so 
raised  a  crop  awaj-  from  home,  which  he  gathered 
and  took  home.  He  has  always  had  his  mother 
with  him,  and  while  he  had  to  struggle  hard  for  an 
existence,  yet  industry,  patience  and  kindness  have 
their  reward,  and  he  is  now  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances. 

In  1888  our  subject  bought  his  present  farm  of 
two  hundred  and  eight_v-sevcn  acres,  which  was  at 
that  time  somewhat  improved,  but  he  has  im- 
proved it  considerably  since,  and  he  has  now  a 
fine  farm.  It  is  situated  high  on  a  bank  of  the 
Ohio,  on  the  outside  of  a  considerable  bend  in  the 
river,  and  the  view  from  the  farm  is  magnificent 
both  up  and  down  the  stream.  Mr.  Con  ley  is  one 
of  the  successful  farmers  of  Pope  County,  and  as 
comfortably  situated  as  regards  this  world's  goods 


I'oinu.vrr  and  iuockai'iikai-  i;i;\ii;\v. 


!is  :iii\-  in:in  iici'd  wish  to  lie.  hi  April,  1HH9,  on 
Kiii^ter  .Sunday,  lie  was  married  to  Miss  Fannie 
Phelps,  of  Pope  County,  whose  parents  were  from 
Kentucky  and  Illinois,  but  both  are  deceased.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Conloy  have  one  cliild,  Bulla  Ann.  In 
politics,  Mr.  Conley  is  a  Republican,  and  believes 
strongly  in  the  education  of  the  young.  He  is  a 
very  popular  j'oung  man,  and  is  in  a  fiiio  con- 
dition to  make  a  success  of  life. 


G- 


EORGE  SAWYER,  attorney-at-law  of  Me- 
opolis.  Massac  County,  is  a  grandson  of 
Amos  Sawyer,  who  was  born  in  England, 
emigrated  to  the  United  States  and  settled  in  New 
Hampshire.  He  is  a  son  of  William  Sawyer,  who 
was  born  in  New  Hampshire  in  1827,  and  who 
early  in  life  learned  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith.  He 
removed  to  Illinois  when  young.  His  education 
was  somewhat  limited,  being  obtained  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  but  he  subsequently  learned  much 
by  observation,  and  acquired  a  wide  knowledge 
of  persons,  places  and  things.  He  was  a  nat- 
ural musician  and  could  play  on  almost  any  in- 
strument. Upon  coming  to  Illinois  he  first  en- 
gaged in  work  at  Metropolis,  and  afterward 
worked  on  the  farm  of  his  father  until  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  In  1861,  he 
enlisted  in  Company  G,  Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry, 
and  served  until  August,  1863,  when  lie  was  hon- 
orably discharged.  He  had  considerable  exper- 
ience in  the  army  and  was  in  man^'  battles  and 
skirmishes,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  Holly 
Springs,  Grierson's  raid,  Franklin  and  Nashville. 
He  was  injured  while  lifting  on  a  wagon  at  Holly 
Springs,  and  was  discharged  on  account  of  disa- 
bility, after  which  he  returned  home,  with  health 
much  impaired,  and  began  work  on  the  farm.  His 
father  died  in  December,  1863,  he  died  in  January 
of  the  following  year,  and  liis  mother  died  De- 
cember 18,  1881.  He  was  a  successful  business 
man  and  accumulated  a  competency  for  old  age, 
but  his  widow,  after  expending  her  all  in  defend- 


ing a  law  suit  in  whiih  the  title  to  the  farm  was 
in  some  way  involved,  died  poor,  the  f;uni  being 
taken  away  from  her  under  process  of  law. 

Mr.  Sawyer,  the  father  of  our  subject,  married 
Thcodosia  Monroe,  a  native  of  Virginia,  whose 
parents  removed  to  Pope  County-,  and  were  farm- 
ers; they  are  both  deceased.  Mrs.  Saw\-er  was  of 
Iiish  extr.'iction.  George  was  tlie  only  child  of 
his  mother,  and  was  born  at  Metropolis  September 
1,  18G1.  He  was  nine  years  old  when  his  father's 
property  was  taken,  and  he  seemed  then  to  have 
nothing  upon  which  to  depend.  He  therefore 
went  to  work  for  an  uncle,  being  determined  to  do 
something  for  himself.  He  worked  three  months 
for  18.20.  The  next  year  he  worked  for  a  neigh- 
bor on  a  farm  and  continued  to  work  on  a  farm 
for  six  years,  securing  books  and  studying  nights 
in  order  to  have  an  education.  He  had  bis  books 
with  him  on  all  sorts  of  occasions,  and  put  in 
every  spare  minute  in  study.  He  was  so  deter- 
mined that  he  made  progress  under  the  most  ad- 
verse circumstances,  where  most  other  boj's  would 
have  been  thoroughly  discouraged  and  would 
have  failed.  He  learned  rapidl}',  and  at  the  age  of 
nineteen  began  teaching  school,  at  the  same  time 
reading  law,  and  thus  b\'  hard  work  and  ]ilenly 
of  it  he  secured  his  own  education.  He  read 
not  only  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  but  also 
other  books  on  the  law,  and  so  successful  was  he  in 
his  study  that  he  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  188it, 
and  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law  immedi- 
ately at  Metropolis.  He  has  since  been  engaged  in 
the  practice  with  success. 

After  two  3'cars'  practice  our  subject  was  elected 
to  the  position  of  City  Attornej-.  He  has  formed 
no  partnership  and  has  had  no  assistance,  quite  the 
contrary,  for  at  first,  as  he  says,  the  cold  shoulder 
was  turned  to  him  by  the  older  members  of  the 
Bar,  until  he  compelled  recognition,  and  he  is  now 
one  of  the  most  promising  of  the  attorneys  of  the 
place.  He  was  married  Januaiy  31,  1892,  to  Lydia 
Barham,  daughter  of  Robert  C.  Barham,  Sheriff  of 
the  county.  IMr.  and  Mrs.  Sawyer  have  one  son, 
Robert  James. 

Politically  Mr.  Sawyer  is  a  Reimhlioan  and  also 
a  Knight  of  Pythias.  He  is  a  young  man  of  pleas- 
ing appearance  and  of  pleasant  address,   is   quite 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


185 


popular  and  has  the  qualifications  of  a  good 
lawj'er,  as  is  shown  In'  his  remarkable  success  under 
tlie  adverse  circumstances  of  his  earlier  life,  as  well 
as  those  of  his  career  as  an  attorney  at  the  Bar. 


1^4 


^^= 


jfijij^,  ICIIAKL  WILKIXS,  a  farmer  living  on 
section  23,  township  15,  range  4,  Massac 
County-,  is  a  son  of  Willoughby  Wilkins, 
who  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  removed 
thence  to  Indiana,  and  at  length  came  to  Illinois, 
locating  first  in  Saline  County,  and  then  removing 
to  Massac  County  about  1840.  lie  bought  a  farm 
here  near  New  Columbia,  which  had  upon  it  but 
little  improvement,  and  forty  acres  of  which  were 
deeded  land.  The  land  and  the  improvements 
upon  it  cost  him  $150,  and  as  there  was  a  little 
log  cabin  already'  built,  he  moved  into  this  shelter 
and  lived  there  six  years.  During  this  time  he 
improved  his  little  farm,  and  then  bought  eighty 
acres  of  deeded  land  and  made  a  claim  to  eighty 
acres  more,  on  which  he  resided  until  his  death. 
His  life  was  not  an  easv  one  in  the  woods,  and  as 
there  were  no  roads,  he  trotted  horseback  to  mill 
and  to  other  i)laces  where  it  was  necessaiy  for  him 
to  go,  but  after  a  time  he  had  o.ven  and  carts,  and 
horse  mills  came  into  vogue.  The  timber  was 
heavy,  and  he  burned  up  a  great  deal  of  it  to  get 
it  out  of  the  way. 

The  mother  of  our  subject  was  Miss  Nanc^- 
Tanner,  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  who  died 
about  1873.  B}-  his  marriage  with  Miss  Tanner 
Mr.  Wilkins  had  nine  cliildren,  namely:  Bryant, 
John,  Lewis,  .Sarah,  .Samuel  and  Thomas,  all  de- 
ceased; Michael;  Alfred,  deceased;  and  Elizabeth, 
widow  of  Alfred  Vaughn,  wlio  was  a  soldier  in 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

Micliael  Wilkins  was  born  in  Posey  County, 
Ind.,  January  5,  1823,  and  was  brought  up  to  hard 
work  on  the  farm,  having  but  little  opportunity 
to  get  a  good  education.  What  education  he  did 
obtain  was  in  the  primitive  log  .schoolhouse,  which 
was  mostly  in  the  summer  time,  when  there  was  no 


need  for  (Ires.  He  luis  learned  more  by  actual 
contract  witii  the  world  and  by  observation  than 
he  learned  in  school.  He  began  life  for  himself 
when  nineteen  j'ears  old,  working  by  the  month 
in  the  timber,  making  staves,  splitting  rails,  etc. 
He  engaged  with  five  others  to  cut  and  make  a 
boat-load  of  slaves  to  take  down  the  river  to  New- 
Orleans,  but  tlie  man  for  whom  they  did  this  work 
died  suddenly-  and  his  creditors  took  the  stufF,and 
those  who  did  the  work  received  but  little  for 
their  long  job.  Mr.  Wilkins  then  hired  to  a  man 
'  to  raise  a  crop  on  his  farm,  the  man  furnishing 
everything  and  giving  him  half.  The  croj)  was  a 
good  one  and  he  made  some  money  at  this  job, 
after  which  he  engaged  to  learn  the  wagon-maker's 
and  the  cabinet-maker's  trade  and  to  do  car|)en- 
tering  at  Metropolis,  working  in  this  way  for  the 
next  thirteen  years.  He  then  bought  a  farm  thir- 
teen miles  northeast  from  town  and  lived  there 
until  1861,  when  he  bought  where  he  now  resides, 
selling  the  other  place,  which  was  mainly  in  the 
woods  and  had  but  little  improvement  upon  it. 

Our  subject  did  not,  however,  make  his  home 
on  the  last  purchase  at  once,  but  instead  moved 
into  Metropolis,  bought  town  lots,  improved  them 
and  kept  a  boarding-house.  He  tiieii  rented  his 
town  property  and  moved  onto  his  farm,  into  a 
little  cabin.  He  improved  his  place,  worked  hard, 
got  out  timber  for  and  built  a  good,  substantial 
house,  one  of  the  best  in  the  county,  in  which  he 
still  lives.  I'lre  destroyed  his  place  in  town  and 
be  rebuilt  it,  two  good  brick  buildings,  one  of  the 
best  corners  in  Metropolis,  which  he  now  has 
rented.  He  was  about  twenty-one  years  old  when 
he  was  married  first  to  ]\Iartha  Johns,  who  was 
from  Kentucky,  and  died  about  1849,  leaving  three 
children,  namely:  Henry,  who  was  a  soldier  in 
Company  A,  Si-^th  Illinois  Cavalry,  fought  in 
man3'  battles  and  is  now  living  in  Evansville, 
Ind.;  Jane  and  Elizabeth,  both  deceased.  He  was 
married  the  second  time,  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Yates, 
from  Ohio,  who  was  brought  to  Illinois  by  her 
parents,  who  arc  now  both  dead.  Her  first  hus- 
band was  John  Yates,  and  by  him  she  had  three 
cliildren,  namely:  Harriet,  wife  of  Dr.  Gowan,  of 
Metropolis:  John  and  Kittle  A.,  both  dece.ised. 
Her  marriage  with  Mr.  Wilkins  occurred  April  13, 


486 


POUTUAIT  AND    HIOCRAl'l  1 1  (A  I,    IM:\'IKW, 


1857,  :ui(l  liy  liiiii  sIk'  lias  luid  fotii'  cliildrcii,  iiaiiK'ly : 
llattie  Ellen,  wife  of  Wiley  Nix,  a  faiuiei'  of 
Massac  County;  Magj^ie  J.,  wife  of  L.  I).  Fullmer, 
a  farmer  of  Massac  County;  E.  O.,  a  farmer  near 
the  old  home;  and  Andrew  W.,  who  died  October 
10,  181(2.  Politically,  Mr.  AVilkins  is  a  Democrat, 
and  religiously  he  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Clinrch,  but  his  wife  is  a  member  of  the 
I'uited  Hrethrcn  Chiufh. 


<J  j^  ''•  HICKS  was  born  in  AVayne  County, 
\/\///  Ky.,  August  13,  1836,  and  now  lives  in 
"^//^l  township  11,  range  7,  Pope  County.  His 
father,  Adrey  Ilicks,  was  born  in  1822,  in  Tennes- 
see, and  his  father,  Allen  Hicks,  was  born,  it  is  be- 
lieved, in  North  Carolina.  He  was  a  farmer  by 
occupation,  and  by  his  three  wives  had  thirty- 
seven  children,  of  whom  Adrey  was  one  of  eleven 
children  by  his  mother.  He  married  Nancy  W. 
Jenkins,  of  North  Carolina,  daughter  of  William 
Jenkins,  and  they  had  twelve  children,  six  sons 
and  six  daughters,  of  whom  our  subject  is  the  sec- 
ond child  and  first  son.  The  father  died  in  Tenn- 
essee in  the  year  1855,  aged  thirtj'-three,  and  the 
mother  is  still  living  in  the  Chickasaw  Nation 
at  seventy-six  years  of  age,  and  is  bright  and 
sprightly  for  her  age.  The  family  are  all  living 
but  one  daughter,  Lucinda,  wife  of  B.  D.  Grain. 
She  died  in  P^ast  Tennessee  at  twenty-two  years 
of  age,  leaving  three  children.  They  are  all  far- 
mers, and  mostly  settled  in  the  Cherokee  and 
Chickasaw  Nations. 

W.  J.  Hicks  had  but  little  education  in  his  child- 
hood, and  that  little  was  obtained  in  the  subscrip- 
tions schools  of  the  day.  He  was  reared  on  the 
farm  to  hard  labor.  When  he  was  twenty-four 
years  of  age  he  was  one  of  fifty  loyal  men  who 
stole  away  from  Roane  County,  Tenn.,  and  went 
to  Dick  Robinson's  camp  in  Kentucky.  August  10, 
1861,  he  was  mustered  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States  as  a  member  of  Company  A,  Second 
East  Tennessee  Regiment,  under  Capt.  Amos  Mar- 


ney,  and  he  served  as  a  private  soldier  for  nearly 
four  years.  He  was  captured  at  Rogersville,  E. 
Tenn.,  November  fi,  1864,  and  was  in  Anderson- 
ville  prison  for  three  months,  being  liberated  about 
the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  one  of  seventy -seven 
prisoners  of  his  company  captured  and  incarcerated 
in  that  terrible  den  at  Andersonville,  all  but  seven 
of  wiiom  perished.  He  returned  to  Roane  County, 
E.  Tenn.,  after  the  war  to  his  wife  and  child. 

Our  subject  had  been  married  December  6,  1859, 
to  Sarah  Ann  Roberts,  daughter  of  John  W.  and 
Martha  Roberts.  He  came  to  southern  Illinois 
with  his  own  teams  and  wagons  in  the  spring  of 
1868,  bringing  with  him  his  wife  and  one  child, 
and  bought  one  hundred  acres  of  wild  land,  in 
Grand  Pier  Precinct,  paying  therefor  $3  per  acre, 
and  here  they  lived  for  twenty  ^-ears.  In  the  win- 
ter of  1868-G9  they  sold  out,  and  bought  another 
farm;  this  farm  they  sold  out  in  1890  and  bought 
their  present  farm  of  eighty  acres,  building  their 
frame  house  in  1890.  They  have  buried  one 
infant  son,  and  now  have  five  sons  and  five 
daughters  living:  John  Adrey,  a  farmer  near  by, 
who  has  a  wife  and  four  sons;  Ulysses  G,  a  farmer 
of  Saline  Count\-,  who  has  a  wife  and  one  daughter; 
Martha  M.,  at  home;  Mary,  Susan,  Theodocia,  Jo- 
sephine, Theodore,  Willie  and  Thomas  F.  In  poli- 
tics, Mr.  Ilicks  is  a  Republican,  and  he  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  United  Baptist  Church. 


=^ 


4^ 


^p^EORGE  W.  WALBRIGHT.  M.  D.,  an  able 
(l|  (^^  and  successful  physician  and  skillful  sur- 
^^;^|  geon,  although  young  in  years  already  en- 
joys an  extended  and  lucrative  practice  in  Massac 
County,  111.,  being  pleasantly  located  in  Round 
Knob,  where  he  has  established  a  drug  store,  which 
has  an  excellent  and  constantly  increasing  patron- 
age from  the  village  and  surrounding  country. 
Our  subject  is  a  native  of  Lawrence  County,  Ohio, 
and  was  born  J.anuar^'  13,  1865.  His  father,  Fred- 
erick Walbright,  was  also  born  in  Lawrence  County-, 
Ohio,  his  natal  year  being  1831.     He  was  manied 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


487 


in  the  Buckeye  State  to  Miss  Mary  Ervin,  also  a 
native  of  the  same  county  as  lier  husband.  The 
father  and  mother  removed  from  Ohio  to  Massac 
County  in  1876,  and  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
village  of  Brooklyn,  where  Mr.  \Vall)right  still 
lives,  having  survived  his  good  wife,  wiio  passed 
away  in  October,  1884. 

Jlr.  and  Mrs.  Frederick  Walbright  were  tlie  par- 
ents of  six  children,  but  two  of  whom  survive. 
John,  the  eldest  brother,  is  now  deceased;  Chris- 
tian lives  witli  his  father  near  Brooklyn:  Katie  is 
deceased;  George  W.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, and 
two  little  ones  who  died  in  infancy,  complete 
the  list  of  sons  and  daughters  born  in  the  old 
( )hio  home.  George  W.,  the  youngest  of  the  two 
living  children,  lived  during  his  earliest  j'ears  in 
a  small  village,  and  was  obliged  when  only  twelve 
years  of  age  to  begin  hard  daily  labor  upon  a 
lurin.  In  the  round  of  agricultural  duties  our 
sul)ject  spent  four  wearisome  years,  and  at  this 
lime  enjoyed  but  the  most  limited  opportunities 
for  study.  Wliile  in  the  village,  however,  he  had 
attended  the  common  schools  and  diligently  ap- 
plied himself,  thus  securing  a  good  primary  edu- 
cation upon  wliicii  to  build  a  stock  of  future 
knowledge.  When  sixteen  j-ears  old  Uv.  Wal- 
bright began  teacliing  scliool,  wiiicii  occupation 
he  followed  successfully  for  six  j-ears,  meanwhile 
reading  medicine,  and,  being  desirous  of  a  more 
extended  education,  entered  the  Normal  College 
at  Lebanon,  Ohio,  and  later  spent  one  year  in 
the  High  School  at  Metropolis. 

The  money  earned  in  teaching  was  expended 
by  our  subject  in  preparing  himself  for  his  future 
profession.  At  twent3'-two  3'ears  of  age  he  en- 
tered the  ofHce  of  Ilalliday  &  Gowan,  under  whose 
direction  he  studied  medicine  constant!}'  and  sys- 
tematically for  two  jears,  then  attending  the  lec- 
tures in  Rush  Medical  College,  at  Chicago,  for 
one  year,  and  in  the  year  18'.)0  graduating  from 
the  Medical  College  at  Louisville,  Ky.  Thus  self- 
reliantly,  by  his  own  endeavors  and  continued 
and  earnest  effort.  Dr.  Walbright  attained  the  de- 
sired goal  and  was  at  Last  a  full-Hedged  physician, 
ready  to  do  battle  with  disease,  and  aid  in  over- 
coming the  many  ills  that  (lesh  is  heir  to.  After 
close  investigation   and   earnest  con.-ideration,  our 


subject  settled  in  his  present  location,  and,  en- 
gaging actively  in  the  arduous  duties  of  his  pro- 
fession, was  from  the  first  successful,  entering 
almost  iramediatel}'  into  a  large  and  rapidly  ex- 
tending field  of  practice.  In  June,  1892,  he  com- 
bined with  his  practice  the  management  of  a 
drug  store,  which  he  then  opened  for  the  benefit 
of  the  surrounding  commuuit}'. 

In  the  month  of  July,  1890,  Dr.  Walbright  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Annie  Kraper,  a 
native  of  ^lassac  County  and  an  accomplished 
lady  of  high  attainments.  Politically,  our  subject 
affiliates  with  the  Republican  party  and  takes  an 
abiding  interest  in  all  matters  of  public  welfare. 
Fraternally,  he  is  associated  with  the  Ancient  Free 
A:  Accepted  Masons.  Absorbed  in  his  professional 
duties  and  ever  seeking  to  keep  fully  abreast  of 
the  times.  Dr.  Walbright  goes  his  rounds  untir- 
ingly, alike  in  sunshine  and  tempest,  and  a  thor- 
ough Christian  gentleman,  well  versed  in  the  re- 
quirements  of  his  profession,  has  a  bright  future 
before  him  and  cannot  fail  to  win  his  upward  way 
to  an  assured  position  of  high  lionor  and  pros- 
perity. 


"Ir^  OLLIN  J.  M.GINLS,  M.  D.,  is  a  son  of 
Ijiiir'  William  McGinis,  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
Ji  \V  van ia,  who  was  reared  on  the  farm  and 
^P  who  was  well  educated  for  the  times.  He 
served  as  a  private  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812  and 
took  part  in  several  of  the  battles  of  that  war, 
some  of  which  were  quite  severe,  such  as  the  bat- 
tles of  Ft.  Erie,  Buffalo  and  Black  Rock.  He  was 
severely  wounded  several  times,  and  finallj-  died 
from  the  effects  of  his  wounds.  He  had  married 
Nancy  Maitland,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  by  her  had 
five  children:  Eliza  (deceased).  Rullin  .1.,  Robert, 
Margaret  and  Joiin  F. 

Rollin  J.  McGinis,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
w.as  born  in  Pennsylvania,  on  the  11th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1821.  He  was  reared  on  the  farm,  and  at- 
tended a  subscription  school  in  the  country.  He 
afterward    attended    the    JelTerson    .Medical    Col- 


488 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


lege  at  I'liiladclpliia  in  the  year  1841,  and  also  one 
session  in  New  York,  and  began  the  |>ractiee  of 
medicine  at  once.  He  left  Pennsylviuiia  in  18r)2 
and  went  to  Kentucky,  locating  in  Livingston 
County,  and  beginning  there  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  Krom  there  he  went  to  Stewart 
County,  Tcnn.,  and  contracted  to  do  the  practice 
for  three  large  iron  furnaces,  the  liaura,  the  Great 
Western  and  the  Iron  Mountain.  These  furnaces 
had  in  their  cmploj'  about  one  hundred  and  forty 
men,  slaves,  each.  He  was  eraploj'cd  there  two 
years,  and  he  then  removed  to  Hilaud,  Marshall 
County,  Ky.,  where  he  remained  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  medicine  for  about  two  years.  He 
then  removed  to  Wadesboro,  Ky.,  in  1859,  and  re- 
mained there  until  1861,  when,  on  account  of  his 
political  opinions,  he  was  compelled  to  leave  that 
State.  He  procured  a  little  wood  boat  and  floated 
down  the  Ohio  River,  landing  at  Metropolis,  111., 
but  remained  there  only  about  a  month,  when  he 
went  on  board  the  steamer  "Charley  Bowen"  and 
went  to  Elizabothtown,  111.,  and  there  practiced 
his  profession  until  1867.  He  then  removed  to 
Odin,  Marion  County,  111.,  and  was  engaged  there 
as  a  specialist  for  two  years.  He  was  then  em- 
ployed on  a  salary  by  the  Paducah  it  Elizabeth- 
town  Railroad  Company,  to  practice  for  them  at 
the  crossings  on  the  Cumberland  and  Tennessee 
Rivers.  This  position  he  held  until  1870,  when  he 
returned  to  Metropolis,  and  remained  there  until 
May  7,  1872,  when  he  returned  to  Hardin  County, 
and  located  near  Rosiclare,  continuing  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine. 

On  January  18,  1877,  Dr.  McGinis  removed  to 
his  present  home  and  here  he  has  built  up  a  large 
and  profitable  practice.  He  has  also  a  fine  and 
well-improved  farm,  and  is,  all  in  all,  one  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  count}'.  He  was  married  No- 
vember 6,  1856,  to  Emeretta  Downs,  by  whom  he 
had  two  children:  Virginia  E.  K.,  wife  of  Pernitt 
Terrell,  a  farmer  of  Hardin  County,  and  Nellie  J., 
wife  of  Dennis  Isom.  Mrs.  McGinis  died,  and 
afterward  he  married  Augusta  Jarvis,  of  Tennes- 
see, by  whom  he  has  had  live  children,  two  of 
whom  are  living:  Thomas  .7.,  attending  medical 
College  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  Charles  F.,  now 
pr.acticiug  medicine  at  Lamb,  Hardin  County,  III. 


This  second  wife  also  died,  and  he  was  married 
,luly  11,  1878,  to  his  present  wife,  who  was  Mai-- 
garet  N.  Whitesides,  of  Pope  County,  111.  I)i-. 
McGinis  is  a  Mason,  and  votes  the  Kcpublican 
ticket. 


-=^m>^i^<m^ 


OBERT  HOOD,  a  resident  of  Cache  Town- 
ship, Johnson  County,  was  born  in  Lau- 
derdale County,  Ala.,  September  12,  1823. 
He  is  a  son  of  James  and  IMar^'  (Boey) 
Hood,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  South  Car- 
olina March  14,  1801,  and  the  latter  in  North 
Caiolina  in  1803.  .Tames  Hood  was  a  son  of  Mat- 
thew and  Mary  Hood,  the  latter  of  whom  was  born 
in  Marj'land.  James  Hood  left  his  native  State  at 
the  age  of  seventeen  and  removed  to  Alabama, 
where  he  purchased  land  and  remained  for  several 
years,  then,  selling  out,  removed  to  Tennessee. 
He  lived  in  Hardeman  County,  that  State,  for  sev- 
enteen years,  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war, 
and  then  as  his  political  principles  were  not  the 
same  as  those  of  the  people  among  whom  he  had 
been  living  so  long,  he  was  compelled  to  sell  out 
and  leave  the  State.  He  therefore  came  to  Illinois 
in  1862,  settling  in  Johnson  County,  where  he  died 
July  20,  1883. 

Robert  Hood  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty-four  years  of  age.  He  married  and  settled 
down  on  a  farm  in  Tennessee,  but  like  his  father, 
he  did  not  believe  in  secession,  and  w.as  compelled 
to  leave  the  State  because  of  his  opposition  to  the 
war.  However  he  did  not  le.ave  before  being 
drafted  into  the  Confederate  armj^,  and  in  order 
to  avoid  going  to  the  war,  he  hired  a  substitute. 
He  had  left  his  land  in  Tennessee,  and  the  next 
morning,  after  sending  his  substitute  to  the  army, 
left  his  native  State  and  started  for  the  North  and 
liberty.  He  arrived  in  Illinois  January  15,  1863, 
having  come  through  with  bis  ox-team,  being  beset 
by  guerrillas  and  bushwhackers,  and  having  m.any 
thrilling  adventures  on  the  way.  He  purchased 
one  hundred  and  sixty-five  acres  of   laud   on   sec- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


■ISO 


tion  G,  Caclie  Township,  whore  he  now  resides. 
This  IS  a  first-el.oss  farm,  on  wliich  is  a  pleasant 
home,  he  having  erected  most  of  tiie  buildings 
upon  it  himself. 

Our  subject  w.as  married  .July  31,  1849,  to 
Amanda  A.  Ferguson,  who  was  born  in  East  Tenn- 
essee April  10,  1824.  Iler  parents  were  natives  of 
Tennessee,  and  her  grandparents  were  born  in 
North  Carolina.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hood  have  reared 
four  cliildren:  Anna  E.,  Frank  R.,  Mar}-  and  .John 
.1.  Mr.  Hood  is  liberal  in  his  religious  views,  and 
ahva\-s  votes  the  Republican  ticket. 


RANCIS  MARION  SIMPSON,  one  of  the 
leading    merchants    of    Vienna,    Johnson 
^  County,  was  born  at  this  place  January  23, 

1838.  His  father.  John  Simpson,  was  born  in  Le.x- 
iugton,  K}'.,  and  his  father,  Maj.  AVilliam  Simpson, 
was  long  a  resident  of  that  city,  whence  he  re- 
moved to  Johnson  Countv,  111.,  in  180.5.  He  was 
one  of  the  (i i-st  settlei-s  of  the  countv,  settling  here 
when  it  was  a  part  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  and 
practically  uninhabited  except  b}'  Indians.  Upon 
removing  to  Johnson  Count}-,  he  located  ten  miles 
northeast  of  the  present  site  of  Vienna,  and  se- 
cured a  tract  of  timber  land,  upon  which  he  erected 
a  double  log  house  such  as  were  common  in  those 
d.'ij'S.  This  he  opened  to  the  i)ublic  as  an  hotel, 
and  it  was  one  of  the  first  hotels  in  Illinois.  While 
a  resident  of  Kentucky  he  dealt  in  live  stock,  and 
in  the  line  of  his  business  made  several  trips  to 
Detroit,  and  after  coming  to  Johnson  Count}'  he 
also  made  several  trips  with  cattle  to  that  cit}'. 
lie  improved  his  farm  and  resided  upon  it  until 
his  death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Polly  Jonis. 

John  Simpson  was  reared  in  Johnson  County, 
until  he  was  eight  j-ears  old,  when  his  parents 
moved  into  Vienna.  After  he  grew  to  manhood 
he  engaged  in  mercantile  pui-suits  at  Simpson 
Springs.  Later  he  removed  to  Vienna,  and  engaged 
in  business  there  until  his  death,  in    18()4.     There 


were  then  no  railroads  in  this  part  of  the  State, 
and  it  was  his  custom  to  buy  his  goods  in  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  take  them  down  the  Ohio  River  to  Gol- 
conda,and  thence  by  teams  to  Vienna.  His  wife  in 
maidenhood  was  Elizabeth  Sheerer,  and  was,  it  is 
believed,  born  in  Johnson  Count}'.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  David  Sheerer,  who  was  a  native  of 
Frankfort-on-the-JIain,  and  a  pioneer  of  Johnson 
County.     She  died  in  1846,  leaving  nine  children. 

Francis  Marion  Simpson  is  the  only  one  of  the 
nine  now  living.  He  was  eight  years  old  when 
his  parents  died,  after  which  he  lived  with  a  mar- 
ried sister  until  he  was  eighteen  yeai-s  old,  when 
he  started  out  to  care  for  himself.  He  was  first 
employed  in  driving  an  ox-team  at  86  per  month. 
Afterward  he  was  employed  on  a  farm  for  a  time, 
and  at  twenty  years  of  age  he  began  clerking  in 
a  general  store  at  Reynoldsburgh.  In  April,  1861, 
he  removed  to  Vienna  with  a  capital  of  *400,  and 
forming  a  partnership  with  \V.  W.  Peterson, 
started  a  general  store,  and  he  has  been  engaged 
in  the  same  business  the  greater  portion  of  the 
time  ever  since.  For  a  period  of  twenty  years  he 
was  engaged  in  the  drug  business,  and  for  the  piist 
four  yeai-s  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  dry-goods 
business.  In  addition  to  these  several  lines  he  has 
also  been  interested  in  farming. 

Mr.  Simpson  was  married  first  in  1861,  to  Miss 
Julia  Jinnett,  a  native  of  Johnson  County,  and 
a  daughter  of  N.  15.  and  Mary  (MeCorkle)  Jinnett. 
She  died  November  7,  1869.  His  second  marriage 
occurred  October  24,  1871,  and  united  him  with 
Mrs.  Maggie  A.  (Heal)  Copeland.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Stephen  Real,  and  the  widow  of  Sam- 
uel L.  Copeland.  By  his  first  marriage  Mr.  Sinii)- 
son  had  one  son,  William  C,  who  is  engaged  in 
the  drug  business.  By  his  second  marriage  he  also 
had  one  son,  Francis  M.  Before  the  war  our  sub- 
ject was  a  Douglas  Democrat,  but  he  has  been  a 
Republican  since  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  He 
has  served  as  a  member  of  the  village  board,  and 
was  appointed  Postmaster  by  President  Grant, 
serving  fourteen  years.  Socially,  he  is  a  member 
of  Vienna  Lodge  No.  1.50,  A.  F.  A:  A.  M.;  Vienna 
Chapter  No.  67,  R.  A.  M.;  Cairo  Commandery  No. 
13,  K.  T.;  and  of  Egyptian  Lodge,  K.  it  L.  of 
H.      Mr.    Simpson    is    one    of     the    most   distin- 


490 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


gixished  citizens  of  \'ieiiii:i,  iiiid  one  of  its  foic- 
most  business  men.  Sturlinu;  with  but  little  edu- 
cation find  no  capital,  he  is  in  the  best  sense  of  the 
word   a  self-made  man. 


KS.  KLl/ABETIl  A.  TURNER,  an  indus- 
trious, energetic  and  capable  woman,  of 
practical  business  experience  and  excellent 
judgment,  elHciently  manages  a  valuable 
farm  of  one  hundred  acres  desirably  located  in 
township  15,  range  4,  Massac  County,  111.,  near 
Metropolis.  Mrs.  Turner  is  the  widow  of  Charles 
M.  Turner,  an  old-time  resident  and  honored  citi- 
zen of  Massac  County,  where  his  death  was  mourned 
as  a  public  loss  by  a  host  of  friends  .and  acquaint- 
ances. 

Our  subject,  although  during  almost  her  entire 
life  intimately  associated  with  the  history,  growth 
and  progress  of  the  best  interests  of  Massac  County, 
is  a  native  of  Ohio,  but  came  to  Illinois  with  her 
parents  when  only  three  years  old.  Her  father, 
James  Woodward,  was  among  the  pioneer  farmers 
of  Johnson  County,  111.,  and  there  bought  eighty 
acres,  upon  which  he  built  a  log  cabin,  for  many 
years  the  home  of  his  family.  With  industrious 
frugality,  and  meeting  the  sacrifices  and  privations 
of  frontier  life  with  cheerful  effort,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Woodward  improved  their  homestead  year  by  year 
and  there  reared  their  intelligent  family  to  worth- 
ily occupy  positions  of  influence  and  usefulness. 
The  mother,  a  most  estimable  woman  of  fine  char- 
acter, was  a  native  of  \'irginia  and  in  girlhood  was 
Miss  Mary  Sinnett.  She  has  now  passed  to  her 
rest  and  the  father  died  some  years  ago. 

Elizabeth  Woodward  was  first  united  in  marriage 
upon  January  7,  1858,  then  entering  the  matrimo- 
nial relation  with  Perry  Wilcox,  of  Massac  County, 
who  died  March  9,  1867.  Our  subject  was  mar- 
ried to  Charles  M.  Turner  October  1,  1868,  and 
after  a  happy  companionship  of  twenty-two  years 
was  deprived  by  death  of  a  kind  ami  devoted  hus- 


band, upon  October  23,  1890.  Mr.  Turner  was  a 
native  of  Tennessee  and  spent  his  life  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  He  enjoyed  the  a<lvantages  of  a 
good  education  in  his  birthplace  and  was  a  man 
of  thrift  and  energy.  Settling  upon  the  farm  where 
his  widow  now  resides,  he  toiled  early  and  late  to 
improve  the  fertile  acres,  which  he  brought  up  to 
a  high  state  of  cultivation,  after  previously  clear- 
ing the  land  of  the  heavy  timber  and  underbrush. 
He  built  a  good  house  and  barns,  an<l  the  Turner 
homestead  soon  became  one  of  the  best  pieces  of 
farming  property  in  the  vicinity.  I'oliticallj',  Mr. 
Turner  was  a  stalwart  Republican  and  an  ardent 
advocate  of  the  party  of  progress  and  reform.  He 
was  well  posted  in  the  current  events  of  the  day 
and  was  ever  interested  in  both  local  and  national 
issues.  He  was  a  member  of  the  liaptist  Church 
and  a  liberal  supporter  and  ready  aid  in  the  ex- 
tension of  the  good  work  of  that  religious  denom- 
ination. He  was  also  active  in  the  labors  of  the 
Sunday-school  and  held  a  high  place  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  church.  A  liberal  man  and  true  Chris- 
tian citizen,  loyal  and  public-spirited,  Charles  M. 
Turner  will  long  be  a  pleasant  and  abiding  mem- 
ory in  the  community  where  his  sunny  presence 
was  familiar  for  so  many  long  years. 

Into  the  cheery  and  prosperous  home  of  our 
subject  came  bright  and  winsome  children,  two 
manly  sons  and  a  fair  young  daughter.  Mrs. 
Turner  was  also  the  mother  of  four  children  by 
her  first  husband,  three  sons  and  one  daughter. 
Her  first-boin,  Leonidas  Wilcox,  is  a  resident  of 
New  Columbia,  Massac  County;  Laura  Wilcox 
became  the  wife  of  S.  Grace,  of  Massac  County; 
Ira  Wilcox  is  a  Massac  County  farmer;  David 
Perry  Wilcox  resides  with  his  mother.  The  chil- 
dren of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Turner  were  Charles  M.,  a  suc- 
cessful Massac  County  agriculturist;  Harriet,  now 
Mrs.  Richardson,  of  this  coiinty;  and  James,  the 
youngest  born,  now  deceased.  A  fond  and  loving 
mother,  Mrs.  Turner  has  faithfuUv  endeavored  to 
give  her  children  ever}'  advantage  of  education 
possible  and  has  trained  each  son  and  daughter 
entrusted  to  her  care  to  habits  of  thrifty  industry 
and  self-reliance,  thus  well  arming  them  for  the 
battle  of  life.  Although  busily  occupied  with  the 
manifold  interests  of  ajiricultuial  life,  our  sul)ject 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


491 


finds  time  for  social  relaxation  and  is  foremost  in 
tlie  promotion  of  benevolent  enterprise.  Manag- 
ing well  tlie  ways  of  her  household,  Mrs.  Turner  is 
a  kind  friend  and  wise  adviser  in  the  hour  of 
trouble,  and  surrounded  by  the  associations  of  her 
early  j'outh,  commands  the  esteem  and  confidence 
of  all  who  know  iier  and  rests  secure  in  the  love 
of  her  children  and  in  the  pleasant  memories  of  a 
well-spent  life. 


^s^.EORGE  W.  IIORSLEY  was  born  in  1816,  in 
if  <^w7  ^''®  school  district  in  which  he  now  lives,  in 
\5^D  Tunnel  Hill  Township,  Johnson  Count}'. 
His  father,  George  T.  Ilorsley,  was  born  in  Sumner 
County,  Tenn.,  February  28.  1812,  where  lii.s  par- 
ents were  pioneers,  and  died  on  their  farm.  The 
grandfather  of  George  W.  Horsley  died  young 
and  left  but  one  son,  George  T.,  who  upon  arriv- 
ing at  manhood's  years  married  Susan  Shaver,  of 
Tennessee.  After  marriage  thej-  lived  some  years 
in  that  State  and  then  came  to  Illinois  with  their 
first  two  children,  in  1852.  After  raising  one  crop 
here  they  returned  to  Tennessee  and  spent  an- 
other season,  raising  one  crop,  after  which  they 
next  removed  to  Arkansas,  and  in  the  fall  of 
1854  or  1855  returned  to  Illinois.  These  various 
journeys  were  all  made  of  course  in  the  old-fash- 
ioned way,  in  a  covered  wagon  drawn  by  a  yoke 
of  oxen  and,  as  they  were  poor  people,  they  were 
obliged  to  stop  when  they  could  go  no  further. 

Mr.  Horsley,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was  a 
farmer  and  mechanic  and  used  to  work  at  night 
making  the  old-fashioned  hand-looms.  While  he 
never  served  a  regular  aiiprenticesliipat  any  trade, 
yet  he  was  so  naturally  a  mechanic  that  he  could 
do  nearly  all  kinds  of  wood-work,  lilacksmith- 
ing  and  horse-shoeing.  He  was  also  a  good  car- 
penter and  could  build  a  liouse.  He  owned  his 
first  farm  in  .lohnson  County,  which  was  settled  on 
and  deeded  under  the  liitt  Act,  and  whicli  com- 
prised one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land.    Later 


on  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  a  settler  and  sub- 
sequently bought  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
more  for  $300,  about  the  year  1861.  He  at  one 
time  owned  three  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  at 
his  deatli  owned  one  hundred  and  twcnt\'  acres, 
having  given  each  of  his  children  a  small  farm. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  were  active  and  zealous 
workers  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  His 
wife  died  when  George  W.  was  about  ten  jears 
old,  and  he  died  when  about  sixty-eight  years  old, 
having  had  three  wives  and  having  had  ten  chil- 
dren, six  sons  and  four  daughters,  of  whom  two 
died  young.  The  names  of  these  ten  children  are 
as  follows:  John,  who  died  in  February,  1891, 
leaving  three  sons  and  four  daughters;  James,  a 
farmer  in  Arkansas,  who  has  one  son  and  three 
daughters;  Roland,  who  was  a  volunteer  in  the 
Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  served  three  years 
and  died  of  disease  at  the  age  of  twenty-three 
\-ears;  Frank,  who  died  iu  early  childhood;  George 
W.;  ^lary  Ann,  wife  of  F.  M.  Provow,  a  farmer  in 
Tennessee,  who  has  ten  children,  six  of  them  sons; 
Ivy  M.,  a  farmer  of  Joiinson  County,  who  has 
three  sons  and  three  daughters;  Rebecca,  wife  of 
B.  F.  Cox,  a  farmer  in  this  county,  who  has  nine 
children;  Lutetia,  who  died  in  infancy;  and  Lizzie, 
wife  of  Frank  Cotton,  a  farmer  of  Johnson  County, 
and  who  has  three  children. 

George  W.  Horsley'  has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life, 
except  for  five  winters,  when  he  taught  school. 
Though  he  had  no  college  education,  yet  he  was  a 
successful  teacher,  and  began  teaching  at  seventeen 
years  of  age.  He  was  in  love  with  the  work  of 
the  teacher,  but  failing  health  compelled  him  to 
abandon  it  for  the  farm.  He  was  married  in  Oc- 
tober, 1869,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Oliver,  daughter  of 
John  and  Susan  (Stone)  Oliver.  Mr.  Oliver  was 
of  Tennessee,  but  he  and  his  wife  were  married  in 
Illinois,  and  it  was  in  this  State  that  Mrs.  Horsley 
was  born.  Her  father  died  at  his  home  farm  in 
1872,  aged  forty-live  years,  and  his  widow  still 
survives  on  the  farm,  .aged  sixt}--six  years.  Mi-s. 
Horsley  has  two  brothers  and  three  sistei-s.  She  and 
her  husband  buried  two  sons  anil  two  daughters 
in  infancy,  and  have  one  son  and  three  daughters 
living,  namely:  Orpha,  fifteen  >ears  old;  Ollie, 
eleven;  Evy,  seven;  and  Otto,  four.     Our  subject 


492 


PORTKAIT  AND  IJKXiRAl'IIICAL  IJKXIKW. 


lived  firet  for  a  few  years  on  forty  acres  of  land 
given  him  by  his  father,  and  then  sold  this  and 
bought  seventy  acres  where  he  now  lives  in  1870. 
Mr.  Horsley  carries  on  mixed  farming,  and  makes 
with  his  sorghum  mill  about  live  hundred  gallons 
of  syrup  each  year.  He  has  always  been  a  Repub- 
lican and  is  a  Master  Mason,  and  has  been  Senior 
Warden,  Tyler  and  Chaplain.  Believing  in  edu- 
cation, he  is  giving  his  children  the  best  advant- 
ages he  can  afford,  and  he  and  his  family  are  re- 
spected residents  of  this  vicinity. 


AMUEL  JACKSON,  a  resident  of  \'ienna 
City,  .Johnson  County,  was  born  in  Wilson 
County,  Tenn.,  December  4, 1830.  His  fa- 
ther, Samuel  Jackson,  was,  it  is  thought) 
born  in  North  Carolina,  but  spent  his  later  years  in 
Tennessee,  dying  in  1830.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Nancy  Porterfield.  She  survived  her 
husband  many  years  and  died  in  Pulaski  County, 
111.  Samuel  Jackson  was  born  a  few  weeks  after 
his  father's  death  and  his  mother  then  went  to  re- 
side with  her  deceased  husband's  parents,  William 
and  Frances  Ann  Jackson,  coming  with  them  to  Illi- 
nois in  1831,  the  removal  being  made  overland  in 
a  four-horse  wagon.  They  all  lived  in  Sangamon 
Countj'  two  years  and  then  removed  to  what  is 
now  Pulaski  County.  They  resided  there  and  in 
Union  County  for  some  years. 

When  Samuel  Jackson  was  twelve  years  old  he 
was  bound  out  to  a  doctor,  to  live  with  him  until 
he  was  twent3'-one  years  old.  He  remained  with 
the  doctor  until  1847,  receiving  his  board  and 
clothes  for  his  services,  and  from  that  time  on  he 
cared  for  himself.  During  the  year  1847  he  en- 
gaged with  a  mail  contractor  to  carry  the  mail 
from  Vienna  to  Shawneetown,  a  distance  of  sixty 
miles,  niakin,^  the  round  trip  three  times  per 
week  on  horseback  for  three  months.  In  the 
spring  of  1848  he  put  in  a  crop  of  corn  for  Mrs. 
A'anderbilt  and  received  $30  for  his  labor,  but  not 


in  cash.  In  October  of  the  same  year  he  went  to 
Mississippi  and  was  employed  on  Island  No.  75, 
or  Ozark  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas 
River.  Before  going  down  the  Mississippi  River, 
however,  he  had  been  engaged  at  different  kinds 
of  work,  a  part  of  the  time  on  the  farm  at  twenty- 
five  cents  per  day.  At  that  time  the  nearest  mills 
were  operated  by  horse  power  and  it  was  necessary 
for  him  when  he  went  to  mill  to  start  by  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  and  sometimes  then  he  had 
to  wait  all  da^-  to  get  his  grist,  parching  corn  in 
the  ashes  for  his  dinner. 

Our  subject  remained  in  the  South  until  March 
25,  when  the  cholera  broke  out  and  his  bedfellow 
sickened  and  died  in  a  few  hours.  He  returned  at 
once  to  Johnson  County,  but  without  any  money. 
He  obtained  two  days'  work  at  fifty  ctnts  per  daj', 
and  on  the  25th  of  April  he  engaged  as  porter  in 
a  general  store.  He  was  thus  employed  six  months, 
when  he  became  a  clerk  in  the  same  store,  remain- 
ing there  until  1853.  He  then  went  to  Jones- 
boro  and  clerked  one  year  and  then  one  year 
in  Pulaski  County.  He  afterward  went  to  Anna, 
Union  County,  and  remained  there  until  March, 
1856,  when  he  went  to  St.  Louis  and  clerked 
in  a  wholesale  boot  and  shoe  store  until  July, 
1859.  Returning  to  Illinois,  he  located  at  Vi- 
enna with  a  capital  of  §2,000  and  engaged 
in  business  for  hirasclC  on  the  corner  west  of  the 
Perkins'  House.  In  December,  1861,  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  John  Bain,  the  firm  name 
being  Bain  &  Jackson,  which  continued  until 
Mr.  Bain's  death.  He  then  formed  a  partnership 
with  his  son,  A.G.Jackson,  and  W.  B.  Bain,  under 
the  name  of  Samuel  Jackson  &  Co.,  which  partner- 
ship continued  until  their  store  was  burned  down, 
December  26,  1891.  Mr.  Jackson  then  engaged  in 
the  sale  of  farm  implements,  carriages,  wagons,  etc. 

Our  subject  was  married  September  23,  I860,  to 
Frances  P.  Bain,  who  was  born  in  Bloomfield, 
Joiinson  County,  111.,  in  1843,  and  who  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Winnie  Bain.  To  this  marriage 
there  have  been  born  eight  children,  viz:  Samuel 
A.,  Arthur  G.,  Cora,  Harry  M.,  John  B.,  Winnie 
May,  Walter  H.  and  William  G.  Ik-  lias  one 
son,  Samuel  A.,  by  a  former  wife.  Mrs.  .lackson 
is  a  member  of  the   Methodist  Episcopal    Church. 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


493 


Mr.  Jackson  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and  is  a 
member  of  Vienna  Lodge  Xo.  150,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.; 
of  Vienna  Chapter  No.  C7.  K.  A.  M..  and  Cora 
Council  ,  R.  &  S.  M. 


*jr=!^  I'GENE  LAFONT,  manager  and  part  pro- 
fe]  prietor  of  the  Erainre  Mills  at  Metropolis, 
' — '-^  Massac  County,  is  a  son  of  Lewis  A.  Lafont, 
who  came  from  Missouri  to  Illinois  about  1850. 
He  owned  a  trading-boat,  and  on  his  way  to  Mas- 
sac County  stopped  first  at  Brooklyn.  Soon  after 
his  arrival  he  was  married  to  Mclinda  Clioat,  and 
shortly  after  his  marriage  he  engaged  in  general 
merchandising  in  Metropolis,  in  which  business  he 
continued  for  a  number  of  A'cars.  He  then  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  brick  and  in  con- 
tracting and  building.  He  constructed  numerous 
large  business  blocks  in  Metropolis,  among  them 
the  Empire  Mill,  putting  the  machinery  in  the  mill 
and  running  it  for  four  years.  He  then  removed  to 
Arkansas,  where  he  is  still  living.  His  wife  is  now 
living  with  her  son  Eugene.  To  the  marriage  of 
Lewis  A.  Lafont  tiiere  were  born  nine  children: 
Augustus,  who  died  in  Massac  County;  Eugene; 
Mary,  deceased;  Lena,  wife  of  "W.  W.  Largent; 
Fannie,wife  of  R.  Dye;  and  Walter,  Willie,  Charles 
and  Richard,  all  four  deceased. 

Eugene  Lafont  was  born  in  Metropolis  March 
22,  1857,  and  was  reared  in  that  city.  When  he 
was  fourteen  3'ears  old  the  family  needed  some 
one  to  care  for  them,  and  he  started  out  in  life  to 
assist  in  the  support  of  his  mother  and  tiie  j'ounger 
children.  He  had  already  received  a  little  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools,  sufficient  to  enable 
him  to  carr}'  on  such  work  or  business  as  he  could 
find  to  do.  He  went  to  work  in  the  mill  and  did 
whatever  there  was  for  him  to  do  that  he  was  ca- 
pable of  doing.  He  fii-st  ran  the  dray,  and  after  a 
time  the  engine,  and  so  on,  from  time  to  time  tak- 
ing a  higher  and  more  responsible  pl.ice,  until  he 
was  master  of  the  whole  business  in  all  its  details. 
He  was  observing,  faithful   and    [iractical,  and   in 


1880  he  bought  an  interest  in  the  mill.  Since 
that  time  he  has  been  the  man.ager,  and  the  repu- 
tation the  mill  enjoys  to-day  is  the  result  of  his 
business  capacity  and  tact.  He  has  kept  the  mill  up 
with  the  times,  introducing  such  improvements  as 
commended  themselves  to  his  judgment.  During 
all  this  time  he  has  been  a  most  dutiful  son  and  has 
taken  care  of  his  mother.  He  was  married  in  1877 
to  Melissa,  daughter  of  William  Bruner,  whose  bio- 
graphical sketch  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 
By  this  marriage  he  has  two  children,  William  A. 
and  Roy,  both  of  whom  are  at  home.  Politically, 
Mr.  Lafont  is  a  Democrat,  and  fraternally  he  is  an 
Odd  Fellow.  He  w.as  a  representative  of  his  lodge 
to  the  Grand  Lodge  in  1892.  His  wife  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mr.  La- 
font is  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  business  abil- 
it3'  and  has  met  with  a  corresponding  degree  of 
success.  He  is  a  genial  and  courteous  gentleman, 
stands  high  in  the  community  and  has  hosts  of 
friends. 


]-^f^'u 


EISRY  WIXDllOHST,  .Ju.  A  really  most 
)  important  business  in  the  community  is  that 
:^)^  of  familj'  grocer.  He  it  is  who  supplies  us 
with  the  choice  selection  of  edibles  and 
condiments  which,  separate  or  combined  in  quan- 
tities known  only  to  the  cook,  become  either  the 
staff  or  the  sauce  of  life.  It  is  the  grocer  who 
sells  us  the  fruit  of  many  climes,  all  prepared  and 
ready  for  household  use.  But  it  is  necessaiy  to 
health  fulness  that  these  same  groceries  shall  be 
pure,  clean  .and  fresh,  and  too  much  caution  can 
not  be  taken  to  guard  against  imposition  in  this 
important  part  of  domestic  life.  The  safest  and 
best  manner  is  to  select  as  family  grocers  only 
those  who  are  perfectly  reliable  and  understand 
their  business,  that  the}-  themselves  raaj-  not  be 
imposed  upon  in  buying  and  unwittingly  impose 
upon  their  trade.  Such  a  house  as  one  may  select 
with  perfect  confidence  is  that  of  which  Henr3' 
Windluust  is  ihc  proprietor. 


494 


rORTRAIT  AND    1SI()(  iUAlMII  CM.    KKNIKW. 


Our  subject's  father,  who  also  beai-s  the  name  of 
Ilenrj',  was  born  in  Germany  in  1837,  and  came 
to  America  in  1851,  crossing  to  this  country  in  a 
sailing-vessel  and  landing  safely  in  New  York  af- 
ter ii  very  rough  and  long  passage.  From  New  York 
he  at  once  went  to  Cincinnati,  in  which  city  he 
secured  eniplo3'mcntas  a  clerk  in  a  drug  store  at  a 
salary  of  $7  per  week,  but  after  continuing  thus 
for  two  years  he  secured  a  position  in  a  wholesale 
grocery.  After  some  time  he  decided  to  locate  in 
the  West,  and  in  1861  became  a  citizen  ot  Metrop- 
olis, 111.,  in  the  vicinity  of  which  place  he  purchased 
some  land  and  began  farming,  and  this  occupation 
received  his  attention  until  his  death,  in  1888.  He 
had  succeeded  well  in  this  calling  and  had  made  a 
comfortable  competency  for  his  declining  years. 
His  union  with  Miss  Frcdericka  Sanman,  which  was 
celebrated  in  German 3'  in  1849,  resulted  in  the 
birth  of  seven  children:  Henry  (the  subject  of  this 
sketch),  Fritz,  Barney,  Mamie,  Frank, and  two  that 
died  in  infancy. 

Henry  AVindhorst,  whose  name  heads  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Septem- 
ber 30,  L853.  Unfortunately,  he  did  not  receive 
as  good  educational  advantages  in  his  j'outh 
as  he  could  have  desired,  but  being  naturally  in- 
telligent, he  has  made  good  use  of  his  talents  and 
is  justly  considered  a  well-informed  man,  and  es- 
pecially well  versed  in  the  details  of  his  calling, 
for  which  he  has  a  decided  liking,  notwithstanding 
the  f.act  that  it  entails  a  great  deal  of  hard  work. 
When  he  attained  his  majority  he  decided  to  com- 
mence the  battle  of  life  for  himself  and  for  some 
time  thereafter  worked  as  a  day  laborer,  receiving 
as  compensation  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents 
per  daj-.  This  state  of  affairs  was  not  at  all  satis- 
factory and  he  soon  gave  it  up  to  become  a  clerk 
in  a  grocery  in  Metropolis,  III.,  and  so  well  was  he 
pleased  with  the  work  that  he  continued  it  until 
1892,  at  which  time  he  opened  a  store  of  his  own, 
which  he  is  now  conducting  in  a  thoroughly  satis- 
factory manner  both  to  himself  and  to  tlie  large 
number  of  patrons  who  tlock  to  his  well-conducted 
emporium.  lie  carries  a  most  complete  line  of 
staple  and  fancy  groceries,  including  everything 
these  comprehensive  terms  may   imply. 

Mr.    Windhorst    was  married  July  28,  181)2,  to 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Derris,  of  Metropolis,  111.  He  is  a 
member  of  Lodge  No.  86, 1.  O.  O.  F.,  and  Encamp- 
ment  No.  41,  and    politically  affiliates   with    the 

Hepublican  party. 


yP.  CARTKK,  proiirielor  of  a  livery,  feed 
and  sale  stable  at  Metropolis,  Massac 
Count3-,  is  a  son  of  William  Carter,  who 
was  a  saddler  by  trade  and  came  from  Tennessee. 
The  latter  was  married  in  that  State  to  Mar^-  A. 
Lawler,  also  a  native  of  Tennessee.  They  both 
died  there  when  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a 
small  boy.  They  left  three  children,  viz:  James 
M.,  now  living  in  Kentucky;  William  P.,  and  Jos- 
eph B.,  of  Memphis,  Tenn.  William  P.  was  born  in 
Tennessee  and  was  for  the  most  part  brought  up  on 
a  farm.  He,  however,  received  a  fair  education  in 
the  common  schools,  but  was  obliged  early  in  life, 
on  account  of  the  death  of  his  parents,  to  make  his 
own  way  in  the  world.  When  fifteen  years  old  he 
commenced  as  a  clerk  in  a  grocery  in  Tennessee, 
remaining  thus  engaged  four  years.  Being  a  bright 
boy  and  quick,  obliging  and  an  accurate  observer, 
he  made  considerable  progress  in  learning  the 
practical  part  of  the  business.  He  then  removed 
to  Paducah,  Ky.,  remained  one  and  one-half  j^ears, 
and  then  went  to  Williamson  County,  111.,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  farming  three  years.  Here  he 
was  m.arried,  November  29,  1874,  to  Martha  Hill,  a 
native  of  Williamson  County.  After  her  death  he 
married,  in  1888,  Jlinta  Smith,  a  native  of  Ten- 
nessee, whose  parents  removed  from  that  State  to 
Williamson  County  and  continued  in  their  prev- 
ious occupation,  that  of  farming  and  raising  stock. 
Mr.  Smith  was  quite  largely  engaged  in  buying 
and  selling  cattle,  horses  and  mules,  and  was  a 
verj'  successful  trader  in  that  line. 

Mr. Carter  removed  to  Vienna,  Johnson  County, 
in  January,  1890,  Dought  an  interest  in  a  livers- 
business,  and  remained  there  two  years,  when  he 
removed  to  Metropolis,  having  in  the  meantime  in 
Vienna  built  up  a  good    business  and  erected  a 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


495 


substantial  brick  livery,  wliicli  he  traded  for  a  farm. 
This  farm  upon  his  removal  to  Metropolis  he  sold 
to  Dr.  McC'all.  In  .Metroiwlis  he  bought  a  lot  ad- 
vantageously situated  for  Ins  business  and  erected 
the  barn  which  he  now  occupies  with  T.  A.  Bivins 
as  partner.  This  lirm  owns  good  stock  and  is  re- 
ceiving its  share  of  tiie  trade  of  the  city  and  vicin- 
ity. By  his  first  wife  Mr.  Carter  had  seven  cliiidren, 
viz:  Lydia,  Tliomas,  Herbert,  Myron,  Ernest,  Nan- 
nie and  Mamie,  all  of  whom  are  at  liorae.  By  his 
second  wife  lie  has  one  child, Willie,  at  home.  Po- 
litically, Mr.  Carter  is  a  Democrat,  and  he  is  also 
an  Odd  Fellow.  Me  is  one  of  the  self-made  men 
of  southern  Illinois.  What  he  has  accumulated 
has  been  without  :»ssistance  and  by  his  own  indus- 
trv  and  good  management. 


<^ 


^^ 


IL^OX.  FRANCIS  M.  M(  GEE,  a  merchant  and 
ifjj,  farmer  of  New  Burnside,  Johnson  County, 
JW^    was  born  in  Graves  Count}',  Ky.,  August  6, 

(^)  1833,  and  was  brought  to  Illinois  by  his 
parents  in  1835.  His  father,  Benjamin  F.  McGee, 
who  at  that  time  brought  his  large  family  to  Illi- 
nois, was  a  native  of  Sumner  Count}',  Tenn.,  in 
which  county  he  was  reared  and  married.  His 
father  was  James  JIcGee,  of  the  .southern  part  of 
Scotland.  His  wife  was  of  Irish  ancestry.  They 
came  to  America  at  a  very  early  day,  and  located 
at  or  near  Charleston,  S.  C,  but  finally  settled  in 
Tennessee,  where  he  died  on  his  farm  at  the  age  of 
about  ninety  3'cars.  He  was  a  planter  and  slave- 
holder, and  reared  a  large  family  of  children. 

Benjamin  F.  McGee  was  married  in  Tennessee 
to  Nancy  Armstrong,  a  native  of  that  State,  whose 
mother  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Aker.  Taking 
his  family  from  Tennessee  to  Graves  County,  K}'., 
he  resided  tliere  for  a  number  of  years,  and  came 
thence  to  Johnson  County,  111.,  by  ox-teams.  The 
point  they  first  selected  is  now  in  Pulaski  County. 
The  father  and  brothers  of  our  subject  first  pros- 
pected in  Sangamon  County,  but  finding  it  too 
malarial  in  its  climate,  decided  on  locating  in  John- 

27 


I  son  County,  then  the  most  improved  count}-  of 
southern  Illinois.  Benjamin  F.  McGee  entered  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  laud,  and  though  he 
had  but  little  cash  capital  and  but  a  small  amount 
of  stock,  horses,  cattle,  etc.,  yet  he  managed  to 
make  a  success  of  his  farming  and  accumulated 
quite  a  neat  property.  He  settled  in  the  heavy 
timber,  and  built  a  small  log  cabin  without  using 
nails,  as  there  were  none  in  the  country  at  that 
time.  At  that  time  the  Indians  had  mostly  left, 
but  wild  animals  were  still  plentiful. 

Though  Francis  M.  was  tiien  but  a  small  boy, 
yet  he  well  remembers  some  striking  incidents,  such 
as  the  crossing  of  the  Ohio  River  and  other  events. 
His  father  cleared  up  a  farm  where  he  first  settled, 
but  some  years  later  he  sold  that  farm  and  bought 
another  piece  of  wild  land  about  five  miles  distant. 
Here  he  cleared  up  another  farm,  and  it  was  upon 
this  that  he  died  of  cholera,  about  1850,  when  he 
was  nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  His  wifesurvived 
him  for  four  or  five  years,  and  died  when  she  was 
more  than  seventy.  While  they  were  not  well 
educated,  yet  they  were  well  informed,  and  Ben- 
jamin McGee  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  for 
several  years,  and  also  filled  the  position  of  County 
Commissioner.  He  drew  up  the  petition  to  make 
Pulaski  a  separate  county. 

Hon.  Francis  M.  McGee  was  one  of  thirteen  chil- 
dren, of  whom  one  daughter,  Polly,  was  drowned 
at  the  age  of  eight  years,  the  rest  arriving  at  the 
age  of  maturity.  He  was  the  tentli  child  and  sev- 
enth son,  there  being  eight  sons  and  fivedaiightei-s. 
He  was  well  educated  in  the  subscription  schools 
of  the  days  of  his  youth,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
three  he  was  attending  school  in  Ceuterville,  Iowa. 
He  worked  hard  on  the  farm  when  a  young  man 
and  up  to  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  he  well  re- 
members the  hardshii)s  of  pioneer  life.  He  was  a 
llalboalman  on  Mie  Ohio,  Mississippi,  Arkans.asand 
Red  Rivers  for  some  years,  and  in  this  way  made 
some  money,  with  which  lie  got  his  first  start  in 
life  financially,  but  the  hard  and  incessant  toil  .and 
exposure  were  very  severe  on  his  health  and  con- 
stituticm.  He  was  married  October  1,  1857,  wlien 
twenty-four  years  of  age,  to  lilizabeth  Peterson, 
daughter  of  Joshua  and  Nancy  (S[)ence)  Peterson, 
who  were  early  settlers  in  Johnson  County.     Her 


496 


I'oirrilAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


fatlier  died  in  this  t'ounty  in  1851,  in  tlic  primeof 
life.  His  son,  Dr.  O.  G.  Peterson,  went  into  the 
Union  army  as  a  driimmor  boy,  wiieii  fourteen 
years  old.  He  is  now  a  prominent  citizen  of 
Springtown,  Tex.,  an  able  i)h3'sician,  and  Com- 
tnander-in-C'hicf  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public of  Texas.  The  venerable  mother  of  Mrs. 
McGee  is  still  living  in  Vienna,  at  her  daughter's 
a  portion  of  the  time. 

Our  subject  h.as  had  a  very  varied  experience  in 
life,  having  been  a  school  teacher,  (latboatmau, 
farmer,  merchant  and  legislator.  He  was  also  a 
peddler  for  a  Dutch  Jew  on  the  river  at  $7  per 
month.  His  first  farm  was  in  Pulaski  County,  and 
contained  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  This  he 
bougiit  in  tlie  '5(ls  for  $1,100.  Though  he  was 
not  a  soldier  in  the  army,  yet  he  was  active  in  as- 
sisting to  send  troops  to  the  front,  and  his  family 
was  well  represented  in  the  army,  there  being  in 
all  sixteen  of  liis  near  relatives  who  wore  the  Union 
blue.  Among  these  were  his  three  brothers,  Will- 
iam McGee  and  two  sons,  Lieut.  I'atrick  Henry 
McGee,  two  sons  of  his  brother  Hugh  McGee;  his 
brother-in-law,  Capt.  J.  F.  McCartnej';  and  his 
brother,  Christopher  Columbus  McGee,  a  lieuten- 
ant; also  his  wife's  three  brothers:  W.  W.,  T.  G. 
and  Owen  Peterson;  and  what  is  a  very  remark- 
able circumstance,  there  was  not  a  casualty  of  any 
kind  occurred  among  all  the  sixteen  persons — not  a 
wound,  nor  a  capture,  nor  a  death. 

Tlie  first  mercantile  venture  of  Mr.  McGee  was 
at  Caledonia,  Pulaski  County,  in  the  year  1855, 
but  it  lasted  for  one  year  only.  In  the  spring 
of  1865  he  sold  his  farm  in  Pulaski  County 
for  |!1,500,  and  established  himself  in  trade  in 
Keynoldsburgh.  While  there  he  was  elected  to 
the  Legislature  from  the  Fifty-first  District,  and 
served  for  two  years.  He  began  business  in 
New  Burnside  in  the  year  1875,  and  has  con- 
tinued there  ever  since.  He  and  his  wife  buried 
two  daughters  and  one  son  in  infancy,  and  they 
have  two  sons  and  two  daughters  living:  William 
J.,  single,  and  a  merchant  at  Helmont,  111.;  Ardana, 
wife  of  W.  H.  Littell,  of  the  medical  college  at 
Cincinnati,  Ohio;  P^lla,  now  in  the  Conservatory 
of  Music  at  Cincinnati.  Ohio;  and  IJenjaniiii  F. 
William  .1.  McGee,  the  eldest  son,  spent  some  time 


in  the  Southern  Illinois  Normal  University  at  Car- 
bondale;  Ardana  went  to  Mclvendree  College  at 
Lebanon,  111.;  Kllaspent  some  time  at  the  Danville, 
at  the  Jacksonville,  and  at  the  Monticello  musical 
colleges,  and  has  made  great  progress,  both  in  the 
science  and  art  of  music.  She  is,  besides,  a  very 
accomplished  young  lady.  The  youngest  of  the 
family',  ]5enjamin,  is  thirteen  years  of  age,  and  is 
living  at  iiome  and  attending  school.  Mr.  McGee 
and  his  family  live  in  a  very  pleasant  home  on  the 
hill  overlooking  the  little  villageof  New  Burnside, 
which  is  nestled  in  the  valley  and  on  the  bluffs- 
The  farm  cottage,  which  the  family  occupies,  is  on 
a  forty-acre  farm,  and  is  most  delightfully  em- 
bowered among  a  variety  of  ornamental  shade 
trees,  and  near  by  is  a  very  pleasant  little  forest. 
No  one  could  be  more  pleasantly  situated  in  his 
declining  days  than  is  Mr.  McGee. 


ylLLIAM  L.  WILLIAMS  was  born  in  Tenn- 
essee August  28,  1848.  He  is  a  son  of 
Levi  and  Nellie  (Howard)  AVilliams,  both 
of  whom  were  natives  of  South  Carolina.  Levi 
Williams  was  a  wheelwright  and  followed  his  trade 
until  1861,  when  his  health  failed.  In  1863  he 
moved  to  Illinois  and  rented  land  in  Pope  County, 
where  he  remained  until  1870,  when  he  removed 
to  Johnson  County,  and  died  therein  1876.  Will- 
iam L.  Williams  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty-two  years  old,  when  he  rented  land  in  Pope 
County,  and  continued  thus  engaged  for  two  years. 
In  1870  he  removed  to  Johnson  County  and  lo- 
cated at  Lincoln  Green,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business  in  a  log  house.  He  was  pro- 
prietor of  a  general  store  from  1871  to  1883,  and 
also  served  as  Postmaster,  having  been  appointed 
in  1880.  In  1883  he  moved  his  stock  of  goods  to 
Belknap,  and  is  now  the  leading  merchant  in  this 
latter  village,  where  he  carries  on  a  general  store. 
In  addition  to  merchandising,  Mr.  Williams 
owns  a  Houring  mill  fitted  up  with  the  roller 
process.     He  is  one  of  the  enterprising  and  wide- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   RliVlEW. 


497 


awake  citizens  of  IJelknap,  and  is  the  present  Post- 
master at  lliis  place,  having  been  appointed  Aug- 
ust 27,  1890.  He  lias  served  as  County  Commis- 
sioner for  four  \"cars,  and  in  every  position  of 
trust  has  proved  tliat  the  confidence  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  was  not  misplaced.  November  3,  1870, 
he  married  Clara  B.  Compton,  who  died  October  3, 
1882.  He  was  next  marrie<l  October  26,  1883,  to 
Alice  Compton,  who  was  horn  in  Harrison  County, 
Ind.,  February  8,  18.52,  and  whose  parents  were  na- 
tives of  Indiana.  Mr.  Williams  has  seven  children, 
three  by  his  fii-st  wife,  namely:  Harrj',  Ida  and 
M^'rtle.  Those  by  his  second  wife  are  Bertha, 
Edith,  Flossie  and  Duncan.  Socially  Mr.  Williams 
is  a  member  of  Hclknap  Lodge  No.  822,  A.  F.  & 
A.  M.,  and  of  Belknap  Lodge  No.  251,  I.  O.  O.  F. 
He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  he  is  a  Republican. 


i>-^^-<i 


]L^()N.  WILLIAM  A.  LOONEY,  M.  D.,aprom- 
iT^jV  inent  physician  of  'V'ienua,  Johnson  County, 
S^^  was  born  in  Ileiir^'  County,  Tenn.,  April  9 
\^  1831.  His  father,  William  E.  Looney,  was 
born  in  North  Carolina,  and  his  father,  Samuel 
I^one^',  was,  it  is  thought,  born  in  Ireland,  of 
Irish  ancestr3'.  He  sjjent  his  last  days  near  Kuox- 
ville,  Tenn.,  dying  at  the  age  of  ninety-six  j'ears. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  E\an,  and  she 
spent  t)ie -latter  years  of  her  life  near  Knoxville, 
Tenn.  William  V^.  Looney  emigrated  from  North 
Carolina  to  Tennessee,  settling  in  the  northeast 
part  of  the  State.  He  resided  there  many  years 
and  removed  thence  to  Henri'  Count\',  Tenn.,  liv- 
ing there  until  1831,  when  he  removed  to  Hinds 
County,  Miss.,  and  resided  there  until  his  death  in 
1836.  He  was  engaged  in  the  live-stock  business, 
and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  in  Vellobushie 
County  with  stock.  His  remains  were  buried  at 
CofTeeville.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Plietna  M.  Frazier,  who  was  born  two  miles  from 
Knoxville,  Tenn.,  and  was  the  daughter  of  Julian 
and  Elizabeth   (McBee)    Frazier.     After   her  hus- 


band's death  she  returned  to  Tennessee  and  mar- 
ried David  T.  Whitnell,  and  removed  to  Ken- 
tucky, where  she  spent  the  last  years  of  her  life, 
dj'ing  in  1852. 

William  A.  Looney  was  two  ^-ears  old  when  his 
father  died,  and  he  lived  with  his  mother  until 
her  death.  She  was  a  well-educated  woman,  and 
after  the  death  of  her  first  husband  she  engaged 
in  teaching  school,  young  William  receiving  his 
first  lessons  from  her.  He  removed  to  Illinois  in 
1855  and  engaged  in  teaching  school  in  Johnson 
County.  He  had  begun  the  study  of  medicine  be- 
fore coming  to  Illinois,  and  his  purpose  in  teach- 
ing in  this  State  was  to  eai'n  the  money  with  which 
to  paj'  his  expenses  while  pursuing  his  medical 
studies.  In  1857  lie  commenced  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  Williamson  County,  and  in  1865  at- 
tended a  course  of  lectures  at  Rush  Medical  Col- 
lege, Chicago,  graduating  there  with  the  Class  of 
'68.  In  1861  he  raised  the  first  company  for  the 
war  in  Williamson  County,  which  became  Com- 
pany C,  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantry.  Of  this 
company  when  it  was  organized  he  was  elected 
Captain.  On  the  7th  of  November,  1861,  he  w.as 
severely  wounded  at  Belmont,  Mo.,  but  rejoined 
his  company  in  time  for  the  siege  of  Corinth,  soon 
after  wliich  battle  he  was  honorably  discharged 
on  account  of  disability  arising  from  his  former 
wounds. 

Returning  to  Williamson  County,  our  subject 
remained  there  until  Jan  uaiy,  1862,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Vienna  and  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
medicine.  In  1861  he  was  elected  to  the  State 
Legislature,  and  had  tlie  honor  of  voting  for  Gov. 
Yates  for  United  States  Senator.  He  was  married 
in  1856,  in  Calloway  County,  Ky.,  to  R.achel  F. 
Caldwell,  who  was  born  in  that  county  in  1838, 
and  died  in  1872.  He  was  married  the  second 
time  in  1871,  to  Maria  Oliver,  who  was  born  in 
Johnson  County,  and  died  in  1884.  His  third 
marriage  occurred  in  April,  1886,  in  Indiana,  to 
Fanny  E.  Whitehead,  who  was  born  in  Vienna, 
111.  By  his  first  marriage  he  had  three  children: 
James  E.,  John  T.  and  Fanny  A.  John  T.  is  a 
graduate  of  Hush  IMedical  College,  and  is  in  prac- 
tice with  his  father.  By  his  third  wife  the  Doctor 
has  two  children,  Esther  and  Josejih.    Dr.  Looney 


498 


I'OlM'lJArr    AM)    IJIOCKAI'llICAL   KKNI  i:\V. 


is  a  member  of  N'iiiina  Post  No.  221,  G.  A.  R.; 
of  the  Soutlieiu  Illinois  Medical  Association;  of 
Vienna  Lodge  No.  150,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  of  Vienna 
Chapter  No.  67,  R.  A.  M.,  and  of  Cairo  Corainan- 
dery  No.  13,  K.  T.  He  w.as  formerly  a  Whig,  but 
has  been  .i  Ropvililleaii  since  llie  founding  of  the 
party. 


-^^l 


l^^ 


SJIIOMAS  150ULDKN  was  born  in  Elizabeth- 
town,  Hardin  County,  111.,  in  1823.  His 
father,  John  Boulden,  was  a  native  of 
Bourbon  County,  Ky.,  having  been  born  near 
Millersburgh  in  1794.  He  was  a  son  of  Thomas 
Boulden,  also  probably  of  the  same  count}',  and 
reared  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  He  was  a 
mechanic  and  well-to-do  for  those  times,  and  died 
in  Millersburgh,  Bourbon  County,  Ky.  The  chil- 
dren of  Grandfather  Boulden  were  Jesse,  John, 
KIphraim,  Nalhan,  Sarah  and  Cassandra. 

John  Boulden,  the  father  of  Thomas,  was  a  tan- 
ner bv  trade,  following  his  trade  during  his  life. 
When  a  young  man  he  removed  to  Indiana  and 
there  he  married  Mary  Benard,  of  Virginia,  in 
which  State  she  was  born  in  1788.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Frederic  and  Dorotha  (Helms)  Ben- 
ard, who  removed  to  Indiana  and  thence  to  Pope 
County,  111.,  in  1817.  They  were  prosperous  farm- 
ers and  reared  two  sons  and  five  daughters.  They 
died  on  their  own  farm,  two  miles  east  of  Edd}-- 
ville.  He  died  at  about  eighty  years  of  age,  and 
she  some  ten  years  afterward,  also  at  about  eighty 
years  of  age.  Mr.  Benard  was  born  in  Germany 
and  came  to  the  United  States  at  an  early  day,  set- 
tling in  Virginia,  where  lie  was  married.  The  par- 
ents of  our  subject  and  one  daughter  came  from 
Indiana  to  Illinois  in  1821,  two  years  after  their 
marriage,  making  the  trip  by  teams.  They  first  lived 
at  Elizabethtown  until  our  subject  was  born,  when 
they  removed  to  Ford's  Ferry,  near  Cave  in  Rock, 
on  the  Ohio  River,  where  the  father  had  a  farm  and 
a  tannery.  He  died  in  October,  1830,  leaving  his 
widow  and    six    children,    three    sons    and    three 


daughters.  Only  two  of  these  six  children  are  now 
living:  Thomas  and  asister,  Sarah,  widow  of  IIarr\ 
Morse,  living  near  by  and  in  her  seventy-third 
year. 

Thomas  Bduldcn  was  reared  to  the  life  of  the 
farm  and  received  but  little  education.  When  he 
was  twenty-one  j'cars  old  he  left  home,  and  in  Oc- 
tober, 1844,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Martha  Tom- 
linson  (Linson,  as  they  call  it  now).  They  liave 
lived  on  their  present  farm  since  March,  1848.  He 
bought  at  first  eight}^  acres  of  Government  land 
at  $1.25  per  acre  in  the  woods,  and  built  a  log 
house,  18x20  feet  in  size.  This  old  relic  is  still 
standing  and  is  used  as  a  hay  barn.  From  time  to 
time  he  bought  more  land,  adding  to  his  first  pur- 
chase until  at  one  time  he  owned  four  hundred 
acres,  but  he  has  deeded  to  his  children,  until  now 
he  owns  but  two  hundred  and  twentj-  acres.  In 
1872  he  built  his  present  laige  frame  house.  He 
carries  on  general  farming,  raising  corn,  wheat, 
oats  and  clover.  He  firmly  believes  in  fertilizing 
his  land  and  also  believes  that  clover  is  the  best 
fertilizer.  He  keeps  a  few  horses  and  mules  for 
his  own  use  and  also  a  few  cattle  and  hogs.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Boulden  buried  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters in  infancy,  and  also  Sarah  Ann,  wife  of  Sam- 
\\e\  Lauderdale,  who  died  at  the  age  of  thirt}'- 
three,  leaving  one  son  and  three  daughters.  The 
children  living  are:  John  H.,  a  widower  with  two 
sons,  living  in  Golconda;  and  Maiy  Elizabeth,  wife 
of  James  McDonald,  a  farmer  on  a  part  of  the  old 
homestead,  and  who  has  three  sons  and  three 
daughters.  Mr.  Boulden  is  a  Mason  of  the  third 
degree  and  is  a  charter  member  of  Edd^'ville 
Lodge.     In  iwlitics  he  is  a  Democrat. 


lEORGE  WILLIAMSON,  a  farmer  residing 
on  section  36,  township  13,  range  6,  is  a 
^^J4J  son  of  John  J.  Williamson,  who  was  a  na- 
tive of  Livingston  County,  K}'.,  and  a  farmer  by 
occupation.     Jolm  J.  Williamson  received  a  fair 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


499 


education,  but  learned  more  by  observation  and 
private  reading  tlian  in  school.  His  fatiier  was 
from  Tennessee,  and  his  mother  from  Soutii  Caro- 
lina. Tlie\'  removed  in  an  early  day  lo  Pope 
County,  111.,  and  died  here.  John  J.  Williamson 
remained  at  home  until  he  was  twenty'  years  of 
age,  when  he  removed  to  Pope  County,  having  a 
half-hrother  here.  He  worked  for  a  year  or  two 
in  a  wood-yard,  and  when  his  father  removed  to 
the  same  county  he  lived  with  him  until  he  was 
married.  This  was  in  December,  1841,  to  Kmeline 
Allen,  a  native  of  Ohio,  who  was  reared  in  her  na- 
tive State,  near  Cincinnati.  Her  parents  moved 
to  Illinois,  resided  here  about  six  years,  and  then 
returned  to  Ohio,  where  the3-  passed  the  rest  of 
their  lives. 

John  J.  and  Emeline  Williamson  were  the  par- 
ents of  nine  children,  namely:  George,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Isaac  IJaker,  liv- 
ing near  Tansill,  Pope  County,  111.;  Eliza,  who  re- 
sides at  15ig  Sandy,  Benton  Count}',  Tenn.;  Alice, 
wife  of  David  Furr,  of  Hot  Springs,  Ark.;  Will- 
iam, living  in  Henr}-  County,  Tenn.;  Fannie,  de- 
ceased, wife  of  Robert  McGown,  of  Golconda,  111.; 
Eflie,  residing  at  Hot  Springs,  Ark.;  John  A.,  liv- 
ing in  Wyoming;  and  Kastus,  who  died  in  infancy. 
The  mother  of  these  children  died  in  1863,  and 
afterward  Mr.  Williamson  married  Sarah  J.  Smith, 
who  was  born  in  Alabama,  removed  thence  to  Tenn- 
essee, and  later  to  Pope  County,  111.  To  this 
marriage  there  were  born  six  children,  namely: 
Estella,  deceased;  Annie,  wife  of  Richard  Galla- 
gher, of  Belknap,  111.;  Minnie,  deceased;  Marlow, 
teaming  in  Metropolis;  and  Charles  and  Lula,both 
in  Metropolis.  Their  mother  is  now  living  there 
with  them. 

George  AVilliamson,  the  eldest  child  of  his  fa- 
ther, was  born  in  Pope  County,  July  2G,  1843. 
He  was  reared  on  the  farm,  and  there  learned  to 
work  hard  and  to  jierform  all  kinds  of  labor  on 
the  farm.  He  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
twent}'  years  old,  having  obtained  a  fair  education 
in  the  common  schools.  In  the  year  18(54  he  en- 
listed in  Company  I,  .Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry,  went 
to  Mississippi,  and  wiis  in  the  battle  of  ICast  Port, 
and  in  numerous  other  battles  and  skirmishes.  He 
was  in  the  service  about   one   vear,  and   iL-tiirninif 


home  with  health  somewhat  impaired,  engaged  in 
farming  in  Pope  County.  He  bought  a  farm,  on 
which  he  lived  six  years,  improving  it  in  the  time 
he  worked  upon  it,  and  then  sold  it.  Later  he 
rented  a  farm  for  two  years,  and  some  time  after- 
.ward  bought  the  place  where  he  now  lives.  This 
farm  consists  of  seventy-six  and  a-half  acres,  and 
w.as  somewhat  improv(!d,  though  it  had  no  build- 
ings upon  it.  Since  his  purchase,  Mr.  Williamson 
has  erected  good  buildings,  planted  an  orchard, 
and  in  every  way  improved  the  farm,  and  has 
made  a  success  of  the  business  of  farming. 

In  1868  Jlr.  Williamson  married  Charlotte 
Spores,  of  Kentucky.  Her  parents  came  to  Illinois  in 
1865,and  since  then  her  father  has  died.  Her  mother 
resides  with  a  daughter  in  Golconda,  I II.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  AVilliamson  are  the  parents  of  nine  children, 
namely:  Clara,  wife  of  George  Settles,  a  farmer; 
Hiram,  at  home;  Einmcline,  wife  of  Henry  Sparks, 
of  Pope  County;  Lillie,  Oscar,  Adolphus,  Lucy, 
Levi  and  Ro\',  the  latter  seven  living  at  home. 
Mrs.  Williamson  died  January  23,  1890,  and  lies 
buried  in  Fairview  Cemetery.  Mr.  Williamson  is 
a  Republican,  and  is  a  member  of  Golconda  Post, 
G.  A.  R.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Christian 
Church,  and  an  active  worker  in  the  Sund.ay -school. 
He  is  a  thorough  believer  in  the  education  of 
3'Outh,  and  is  doing  his  share  toward  the  educa- 
tion of  his  own  children.  A  verj-  popular  and 
pleas.ant  gentleman,  he  has  the  respect  and  esteem 
of  the  commuiiitv. 


^  AMES  K4  FLOYD,  a  farmer  residing  on  sec. 
tion  18,  township  13,  range  7,  east,  in  Pope 
County,  is  a  son  of  David  A.  Floyd,  a  na- 
tive of  Tennessee.  His  father,  Jonathan 
Floyd,  came  from  Tennessee  to  Illinois  by  team 
and  wagon,  bringing  with  him  his  family  and 
household  goods,  in  the  year  1829.  The  coun- 
tiy  was  at  that  time  quite  new  and  wild.  At 
first,  on  account  of  |)overtv,  he  raised  a  crop  on 


500 


I'OUriiMT  AND  liI()(iK.\l'IlI('AI>  HFAIKW. 


rented  land,  and  then  made  a  permanent  home 
fourteen  miles  from  Golconda,  in  Pope  County, 
buying  forty  acres  of  land,  upon  wliich  there  had 
been  made  a  little  improvement.  He  then  com- 
menced pioneer  life  in  earnest,  cleared  land,  worked 
hard,  and  slept  well.  He  was  very  industrious, 
made  many  sacrifices,  and  was  devoted  to  his 
family.  There  were  then  no  schools  nor  churches 
within  miles,  but  these  hardy  pioneers  lived, 
thrived  and  made  liomes  for  tlicir  families  and 
their  descendants. 

David  A.  Flo^'d  was  born  in  liedford  County, 
Tenn..  and  spent  his  youth  upon  the  farm  in  sum- 
mers and  in  school  in  winters,  and  thus  acquired 
some  little  learning  and  knowledge  of  farm  manage- 
ment. When  he  vvas  twent\'  years  old,  in  1832,  he 
was  married  to  Sarah  M.  King,  of  Pope  County,  and 
began  life  for  iiiinself  on  a  forty-acre  tract  of 
Government  land,  adjoining  his  father's  place. 
There  were  no  buildings  on  this  land  until  he 
erected  a  log  cabin,  into  which  he  moved  and  went 
to  work  with  a  will  to  clear  his  land  and  make 
a  farm.  His  disadvantages  were  many,  and  among 
them  was  the  necessity  of  having  to  go  twenty-five 
miles  to  mill  on  the  Saline  Ris^er.  Later  one-horse 
gristmills  came  into  use,  but  their  work  was  ne- 
cessarily slow  and  each  one,  except  those  who  were 
fortunate  enough  to  be  on  hand  very  early  in  the 
morning,  had  to  wait  a  long  time  for  his  turn  to 
come.  Upon  this  farm  thus  selected  and  improved 
he  lived  about  ten  j-ears  and  then  sold  out,  and 
Mrs.  Floyd  having  fallen  heir  to  ninety-two  acres 
on  section  13,  township  13,  range  6,  the  family 
moved  to  that  place.  Here  they  made  valuable 
improvements  and  resided  aljout  fifteen  3-ears.  He 
then  bought  land  on  section  18,  moved  onto  this 
purchase  and  lived  until  his  death,  in  1863,  at  the 
age  of  fifty  years.  Mrs.  Floyd  died  in  1858.  David 
A.  Floyd  and  his  wife  were  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  viz:  .lames  K.;  Jonathan,  deceased;  Mary 
E.,  wife  of  James  Hobbs,  of  Gilroy,  Santa  Clara 
County,  Cal.;  William  S.,  deceased;  Margaret,  wife 
of  Hiram  Wallace,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County;  Sarah 
M.,  wife  of  Charles  Brown,  a  farmer  of  Pope 
County;  Priscilla,  wife  of  David  Trice, of  Webster, 
Rooks  County,  Kan.;  and  one  that  died  in  infancy. 

James  K.,  the  eldest  of  the  family,  was  born  on    \ 


the  old  home  farm  in  the  northern   part  of  Pope 

County,  January  19,  1H33,  and  was  brought  upon 
the  farm, on  wliich  he  had  to  work  all  through  his 
j'Oiith,  although  he  secured  a  fair  education  in  the 
common  schools.  He  was  a  bright  boy  and  readily 
learned  what  he  undertook  to  master.  He  lived  at 
home  assisting  in  the  work  of  the  farm  until  he  was 
twenty -one  years  old,  when  he  started  out  in  life 
for  himself  by  clerking  in  a  store  for  twelve  mouths. 
He  thus  added  to  a  business  education  a  knowledge 
of  the  practical  workings  of  an  actual  business,  and 
then  went  to  Oakland,  Coles  Count}',  where  he  re- 
mained during  the  spring,  summer  and  fall  and 
where  he  learned  the  trade  of  house  and  sign  paint- 
ing. He  then  hired  out  on  a  fiatboat,  floating  pro- 
duce down  the  Mississippi  River  to  Vicksburg.  He 
had  full  charge  of  the  fiatboat,  and  cooked  and  lived 
by  himself  all  the  way  down  to  his  destination. 
After  having  had  suflficient  experience  of  that  kind 
he  returned  home,  and  soon  afterward  went  to 
Golconda,  and  there  engaged  at  his  trade,  that  of 
a  house  painter.  He  continued  thus  engaged  for 
two  years,  when  he  married  Sarah  Hodge,  who  lived 
but  twelve  months,  dying  in  1859. 

Our  subject  was  then  married  to  Sarah  J.  Story, 
also  of  Pope  County,  whose  mother  is  dead,  though 
her  father  is  still  living.  After  his  first  marriage 
he  moved  to  the  farm  where  he  has  lived  ever 
since.  He  has  eighty  acres  of  land,  out  of  which 
he  has  made  a  very  fine  farm,  and  is  now  recognized 
everywhere  as  one  of  the  best  and  most  successful 
farmers  in  this  part  of  the  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Floyd  have  had  eight  children,  viz:  Alonzo  II., 
living  on  the  home  place,  but  farming  for  himself; 
Rosa  E.,  wife  of  AVilliam  Carr,  a  general  merchant 
at  Raum,  Pope  County;  Eugene,  deceased;  Fred- 
erick, a  farmer  in  Pope  County;  Katie,  at  home; 
one  that  died  in  infancy;  and  lU-rtha  and  Loren, 
at  home. 

Mr.  Floyd  is  not  only  a  progressive  fanner  and 
successful  in  his  business,  but  is  also  well  and  fav- 
orably known  throughout  the  county  for  his  gen- 
eral good  qualities  as  a  citizen,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence of  the  high  estimation  placed  upon  his 
character  and  ability  his  numerous  friends  pro- 
vailed  upon  to  become  a  candidate  for  Sheriff  of 
the  county,  and  he  was  triumphantl}'  elected.    He 


« 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


501 


filled  the  ollice  not  only  with  credit  to  liimself, 
but  also  with  satisfaction  to  the  people.  He  has 
always  been  interested  in  educational  matters  and 
has  done  what  he  could  to  aid  in  having  good 
schools  in  the  county.  He  has  been  a  School  Di- 
rector for  twenty  years,  and  takes  great  interest  in 
all  matters  pertaining  to  agriculture,  such  as  the 
improvement  of  stock,  the  best  methods  of  con- 
ducting the  business  of  farming,  etc.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  he  is  President  of  the  County  Agricul- 
tural Societv,  and  while  he  is  capable  of  filling  any 
office  within  the  gift  of  tlie  peojjle  of  the  count\-, 
yet  he  prefers  to  remain  free  from  political  life 
and  strife,  and  to  attend  to  his  own  ])rivate  affairs. 
He  has  a  good  farm,  a  linpi)y  home. and  enjoys  the 
respect  of  the  community  in  wiiich  he  lives,  and  is 
a  Repulilican  in  politics. 


OHX  W.  HEHiEMAN,  general  merchant  of 
Metropolis,  Massac  Count\',  is  a  son  of  Will- 
iam Heidenian,  who  was  born  in  West- 
phalia, Prussia,  and  was  by  trade  a  house 
carpenter.  He  followed  his  trade  in  his  native 
country  until  his  death,  which  occuried  in  1854, 
when  he  was  sixty-four  years  old.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  Germany  and  was  survived  by  his  widow 
about  six  years.  To  their  marriage  there  were 
bfirn  seven  children,  five  girls  and  two  boys,  of 
whom  John  AV.  was  the  fourth  child,  and  was  born 
in  Prussia  .luly  20,  1832.  While  yet  young  he 
learned  the  trade  of  a  miller,  and  also  secured  a 
good  German  education,  attending  school  there 
eight  years.  He  had  determined  to  come  to  the 
United  States  and  had  his  preparations  for  the 
voyage  in  part  made,  when  he  was  compelled  to 
enter  the  army,  much  against  his  will.  He  served 
in  the  Prussian  army  for  three  years  and  became 
thoroughly  conversant  with  array  tactics.  As 
soon  as  possible  after  being  released  from  further 
army  service  lie  came  to  t'.iis  country.  He  started 
on  Mondav   after  lieing   discharged   on   Tliuisday, 


having  been  married  to  Caroline  Arnesman  on 
Sunday,  between  the  two  days  of  discharge  and 
sailing. 

The  newly  married  couple  took  passage  on  a 
sailing-vessel  and  were  eleven  weeks  and  fourdaj-s 
on  the  ocean.  They  finally  landed  at  New  Orleans, 
landing  notonly  withoutcapital,  but  Mr.  Heideman 
was  in  debt  to  his  father-in-law  to  the  amount  of 
$30.  He  lost  no  time  in  finding  work,  arriving  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  being  at  work 
next  da3'  carrying  salt  sacks  on  board  of  a  steam- 
boat. He  next  secured  work  on  a  steamboat  bound 
for  Cincinnati  and  worked  his  passage  to  Cairo, 
where  lie  remained  .seven  days,  and  then  moved 
u|)  Ihc  river  to  Metropolis.  He  arrived  at  this 
point  in  December,  1856,  with  $7  in  money,  and 
immediately  began  choi)ping  firewood,  and  not 
long  afterward  hired  out  to  work  on  a  farm,  on 
which  he  worked  thirteen  months  and  twenty  da3'S 
for  886  in  gold.  He  was  then  able  to  p.a^-  back  to 
his  father-in-law  the  |!30  he  had  borrowed  to  bring 
him  across  the  sea.  He,  however,  worked  too 
hard,  and  the  hard  work  and  exposure  to  which  he 
was  subjected  made  him  sick,  and  he  thought  a 
change  of  location  would  improve  his  health.  He 
therefore  went  to  St.  Louis,  and  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible engaged  in  work  there,  where  he  remained 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 
As  he  had  a  thorough  knowledge  of  army  tjictics 
and  discipline,  his  services  were  in  great  demand 
in  drilling  troops,  and  all  he  needed  to  do  was  to 
learn  the  English  language  so  far  as  to  be  able  to 
pronounce  the  words  of  command.  He  enlisted 
May  11,  1861,  in  Company  D,  Fifth  Missouri  In- 
fantry, and  was  at  first  Sergeant  of  his  company, 
subsequently  being  promoted  to  the  Second  Lieu- 
tenancy. He  was  in  the  service  about  two  years, 
and  was  soon  the  best  posted  man  in  his  regiment 
on  army  affairs,  and  was  of  much  assistance  to  the 
officers.  In  point  of  fact,  he  performed  a  great 
deal  of  work  for  which  the  officers  of  the  regiment 
recctvetl  the  p.ay.  His  characteristic  industry  and 
economical  habits  followed  him  into  the  army  and 
he  saved  his  money. 

Returning  to  Ma.ssac  County  our  subject  bought 
.some  land,  paying  *800  for  eighty  acres  with  but 
little  improvement.     He  inovod   into   a  small   low 


502 


I'OUTlJAir  AM)    lilOCUAlMIICAL    KKXIKW. 


cabin  and  commenced  to  clear  liis  f'aiin,  out  of 
which  he  soon  made  a  prcttv  fair  kiml  of  a  farm, 
adding  to  it  tliirty  acres.  In  tlncc^  years  he 
sold  it  for  |i2,100  and  tlicn  moved  into  Metropolis 
and  started  a  hoardiny:-li<)use  and  saloon.  He 
afterward  sold  out  for  >!l,.'>7.'i  and  bought  a  good 
eighty-acre  fann  for  ^.'i,(l(l(i,  remaining  upon 
that  farm  llirec  years,  lleiiig  popular  and  a  man 
of  good  sense  and  sound  judgment,  the  people 
elected  him  County  Commissioner.  In  1883,  he 
was  chosen  Door-keeper  in  .Springfleid,  and  after- 
ward he  was  appointed  to  a  position  at  the  Chester 
I'enitenti.ary,  where  he  remained  seven  years,  eight 
months  and  fourteen  days.  He  then  returned  to 
Metropolis,  bought  property,  built  houses  and  a 
store,  improved  his  property  generally,  and  has 
since  been  in  Metropolis  in  business,  in  which  he 
has  been  successful.  JNIr.  and  Mrs.  lleideman  have 
had  seven  children:  Henry;  George;  Henry  and 
Amelia,  deceased;  one  th.at  died  in  infancy;  and 
Willie  and  Walter,  deceased.  Politically  Mr.  Heide- 
inan  is  a  Republican,  and  he  is  an  Odd  Fellow  and 
a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 
Religiously  he  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Ciuirch,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  botii  u,seful  and 
honored  meml)ers  of  society. 


\f7  UCAS  TARKKR,  editor  and  proprietor  of 
II  ({^  ^''*^  Egyptian  Democrat,  one  of  the  most 
JjL^^  popular  and  best  conducted  newspapers 
published  in  southern  Illinois,  is  a  young  man  of 
much  ability',  who  has  already  won  an  assured  place 
in  his  profession.  He  is  a  native  and  resident  of 
Johnson  County, and  was  born  on  a  farm  six  miles 
from  Vienna  March  2,  1867,  the  second  son  living 
of  tlie  Hon.  I.  A.  J.  and  Jennie  Parker,  of  whom 
a  sketch  appears  on  another  page  of  this  volume. 
Our  subject  received  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  county  and  assisted  liis  father  on 
the  farm  until  he  attained  his  inajoritj-.  He  then 
abandoned  agricultur.al  pursuits  for  the  editorial 
profession,  buying  the  oflice  and  good-will  of  the 


Egyptian  Democrat,  and  he  has  devoted  himself  to 
the  management  of  the  paper  and  to  general  job 
work  ever  since.  The  Ei/i/ptiau  has  a  well-sustained 
reputation  as  a  well-edited  journal,  is  issued  in 
good  form.  Is  sound  in  principles,  and  wiiile  an 
organ  of  tlie  Democratic  party,  disseminating  its 
policy  with  vigor  and  intelligence,  is  devoted  to 
the  best  interest  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Parker  was  married  in  1888  to  Miss  Delia, 
daughter  of  J.  H.  .ind  Jennie  Clymer,  a  native  of 
this  county,  born  eight  miles  southeast  of  Vienna. 
ThejMiave  an  attractive  home  and  their  little  sons 
Leo  and  Donald  complete  tiieir  household. 


=^^"'^^^~^'         §' 


\Ji  EMIAH  CASPER  was  born  in  North  Caro- 
lina, June  14,  1834,  and  lives  in  Cache 
Township,  Johnson  Connty.  He  is  a  son 
of  Adam  and  Catherine  (Cauble)  Casper, 
the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Penns3'lvania 
and  the  latter  in  North  Carolina.  Henry  Casper, 
father  of  Adam  Casper,  was  also  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Adam  Casper  removed  to  North  Caro- 
lina at  an  early  day,  and  there  followed  farming 
and  stock-raising  in  Rowan  County  for  a  number 
of  years.  In  1850  he  came  to  Illinois  and  bought 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Cache 
Township,  Johnson  County,  where  he  followed 
farming  until  his  death  in  1878.  Jemiah  Casper 
remained  at  home  until  he  was  twenty-five  years 
of  age,  when  he  cleared  a  piece  of  land  for  his  fa- 
ther and  had  the  use  of  the  land  he  cleared  seven 
years  in  compensation  therefor.  At  tiie  age  of 
thirty-two  our  subject  purchased  land  in  Cache 
Township  and  lived  there  about  nine  j-ears,  after 
which  he  then  bought  where  he  now  resides,  on 
section  2,  and  since  his  first  purchase  he  has  added 
from  time  to  time,  until  at  the  present  time  he  has 
five  hundred  and  seventy'  acres, all  in  Cache  Town- 
ship. Here  he  follows  farming  and  stock-raising. 
The  education  he  obtained  in  his  youth  was  very 
limited,  but  by  reading  and  stud^'  since  he  has  ac- 
quired a  valuable  fund  of  practical  information. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


503 


lie  was  married  February  14,  ISfiO,  to  Margaret 
Peeler,  wlio  died  Februar}'  14,  18G2,  and  ou  June 
I,  1865,  lie  was  married  to  Elizabeth  J.  Souris, 
who  was  born  in  Union  County,  III.,  October  4, 
1844.  Her  father  was  from  North  Carolina,  and 
her  mother  from  Tennessee.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Casper 
have  nine  children  living,  namely:  Jessie,  Jacob, 
P>elander,  Calvin,  Delia,  Elizabeth,  Pearly,  Ed- 
ward and  Lulu.  Jlr.  and  Mrs.  Casper  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  he  is  a  Democrat. 


^l-^-«^li^^i 


y;.\LTER  BROS,  are  dealers  in  general  mer- 
chandise in  the  village  of  AValtersburgh, 
^  „  Pope  County,  and  have  conducted  a  gen- 
eral store  here  since  1878.  They  are  both  enter- 
prising business  men,  Henry  AValter  being  the 
senior  and  Adolph  the  junior  member  of  the  Arm. 
They  have  a  large  and  remunerative  trade  in  the 
town  and  surrounding  country-,  and  aim  to  keep 
a  well-selected  and  reliable  stock  of  goods  alwa^-s 
on  hand.  They  are  genial  and  popular,  and  are 
courteous  to  their  customers,  who  feel  that  the 
firm  is  personalU'  interested  in  dealing  in  an  hon- 
orable and  square  manner  with  each  and  all. 

Henry  Waller  was  born  in  Aurich,  Hanover, 
Germany,  February  13,  1844,  and  when  only  ten 
years  of  age  emigrated  with  his  father  and  the 
other  members  of  the  familj'  to  America,  landing 
in  Pope  County  in  the  spring  of  1854.  The  par- 
ents, Henry  and  Alma  (Renkin)  Walter,  were  also 
both  natives  of  Germany,  the  former  following 
the  trade  of  a  shoemaker.  He  was  in  the  German 
anny  for  six  yeai's,  three  years  in  the  common 
array  and  for  the  same  length  of  time  served  .as 
one  of  the  King's  select  soldiers.  This  is  esteemed 
a  great  honor  in  Germany,  as  only  the  best  sol- 
diers, both  as  regards  military-  t-ictics  and  physical 
strength,  are  chosen.  Mr.  Walter  only  lived  a 
short  time  after  removing  to  America,  his  death 
occurring  in  September,  1854,  or  only  about  six 
months   after   his  arrival    in    Illinois.     He    left  a 


wife  and  three  children  strangers  in  a  strange 
land,  and  for  some  j-ears  tluir  lot  was  not  an  en- 
viable one,  the  boys  having  to  work  at  whatever 
they  could  find  to  do  to  support  the  familj-.  Many 
a  day  our  subject  worked  for  the  sum  of  ten  cents, 
and  for  a  long  time  hired  out  at  ^2  per  month. 
The  mother  departed  this  life  Deeeniber  19,  1886, 
at  the  home  pl.ace.  Our  subject  purchased  at  the 
age  of  twentj-three  ytfars  a  tract  of  land  in  Pope 
Count}-,  consisting  of  eighty  acres,  the  same  being 
still  in  his  possession.  Here  he  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  and  stock-raising,  and  has  since 
from  time  to  time,  .is  his  finances  would  per- 
mit, added  additional  land  to  the  original  pur- 
ch.ase,  now  owning  three  hundred  and  twenty-six 
acres,  all  in  this  count}-.  His  farm  is  located  on 
section  17,  township  13,  range  6,  it  being  devoted 
to  the  raising  of  corn,  wheat,  oats  and  general 
farm  produce,  and  affording  pasturage  to  a  large 
number  of  horses  and  cattle. 

Mr.  Walter  was  married  February  21,  1867,  to 
Louisa  Blatter,  who  was  born  in  Pope  County  in 
January,  1846.  and  whose  death  occurred  Fcbru- 
ar}-  6,  1878;  she  was  the  mother  of  three  children: 
Julia  M.,  John  H.  and  Aurilla  S.  Mr.  Walter  was 
united  in  marriage  December  4,  1878,  to  Marj- 
Werner,  who  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  in 
J.auuarjs  1843.  To  them  have  been  born  four 
children,  the  only  one  surviving  being  Charles 
Lewis.  Our  subject  is  a  member  of  Bayard  Lodge 
No.  1,864,  K.  of  IL,  at  Golconda,  and  is  also  an 
active  worker  in  the  German  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  and  Sunday-school.  In  1877  he  was 
elected  Township  Treasurer,  which  position  he 
still  holds,  and  in  1880  was  elected  County  Com- 
missioner, serving  in  that  capacity  for  three  yeai-s. 
Politically,  he  always  voted  the  Rei)ubliean  ticket. 

Adoli)h  W.^  Walter,  a  member  of  the  firm  above 
named,  was  also  born  in  Aurich,  Germany,  March 
2,  1851,  and  when  only  three  j-ears  of  age  crossed 
the  broad  Atlantic  with  his  parents  to  America. 
He  attended  the  county  school,  and  for  about  four 
summers  pursued  his  studies  at  Hodgeville  select 
school.  When  only  twent_v-one  he  engaged  in 
teaching,  his  first  three  terms  being  taught  in  the 
home  district  No.  4,  and  the  succeeding  two  terms 
in  the  adjoining  district.     The  lirsl   institution  of 


504 


I'ORTRArr  AND    15I< )(  ;KA1M1I  C'AL    HKVIKW. 


learning  it  was  his  privilege  to  attend  was  the 
typical  log  pioneer  sclioolhoiise,  with  its  split  logs 
set  on  wooden  pins  for  benclies,  during  tlio  win- 
ter season  the  building  being  heated  by  a  lire- 
place.  In  1878  Mr.  Walter  engaged  in  tiie  mer- 
cantile business  witii  liis  elder  brotiier,  and  is  the 
manager  and  conductor  of  the  general  store  at 
Wallersburgli.  In  1878  he  secured  tlie  establish- 
ment of  a  postotlice  at  this  point  and  was  made 
Postmaster,  a  position  he  has  held  up  to  the  pres- 
ent day.  In  his  youth  he  i)assed  many  a  day  in 
working  hard,  receiving  for  his  only  compensa- 
tion the  sum  of  ten  cents.  It  is  to  liis  own  good 
and  industrious  management  that  he  has  acqun-ed 
his  present  secure  competence  and  prosperous 
business. 

September  13, 1877,  Adolpli  W.  Walter  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Elizabetli  Wagner,  who  was  born  in 
Butler  County,  Pa.,  February  28,  1858,  and  who 
was  called  to  her  final  rest  November  2,  1890, 
leaving  six  children  to  mourn  her  loss.  The_y  are 
as  follows:  Mollie  A.,  Philip  II.,  Ellen  C,  Sophia 
E.,  Adolplius  W.  and  Mamie  C.  Mr.  Walter  is  a 
member  of  Kayard  I^odge  No.  1,861,  K.  of  II.,  and 
votes  the  Republican  ticket. 


SAAC  M.  CHOAT,  a  young,  able  and  enterpris- 
ing business  man  and  prosperous  agriculturist 
of  Massac  County,  III.,  now  residing  in  town- 
ship 15,  range  4,  near  the  thriving  city  of  Metrop- 
olis, is  one  of  the  most  genial  and  popular  citizens 
in  his  part  of  the  State.  His  father,  Levi  Choal, 
was  in  pioneer  days  a  farmer  in  Lane  County,  III., 
and  was  born  of  poor  but  respectable  p.areiitage  and 
enjoyed  few  educational  advantages.  In  tlie  early 
days  of  184.3  he  made  his  home  in  Massac  County, 
and  there  became  the  owner  of  forty  acres  of 
timber  land,  where  he  built  a  log  house  and,  indus- 
triously winning  his  upward  way,  soon  added  forty 
more  acres  to  the  original  amount  of  land.  He 
w.as  married  in  early  life  in  Jefferson  County,  111., 
to  Miss  Marv  Yallard,  a  native  of  Tennessee  and 


a  most  estimable  woman,  a  devoted  wife  and  lov- 
ing mother,  who  passed  away  March  4,  1874.  She 
bore  her  husband  nine  children.  Jane,  the  eldest 
born,  is  dead;  Thomas  Franklin  Is  also  deceased; 
John  P.  resides  upon  the  farm,  and  is  part  owner 
in  company  with  our  subject;  Squire  and  Joseph 
are  deceased;  Alary  Margaret  is  the  wife  of  O.  li. 
Tallcy,  now  in  Missouri;  Amanda  is  with  her 
brothers  on  the  homestead;  Sabcrt  is  also  located 
upon  the  farm. 

Isaac,  the  youngest  of  the  family,  is  a  native 
of  this  county,  and  was  born  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1800.  John  P.,  the  elder  brother  and  business 
partner  of  Isaac,  was  the  third  child  of  the  family, 
and  was  born  in  .Saline  County,  III.,  January  4, 
1840.  The  brothers  were  brought  up  on  a  farm 
and  from  their  earliest  childhood  were  trained  to 
assist  in  agricultural  duties,  enjoying  but  little 
leisure  time  and  having  few,  if  an}%  hours  of 
recreation.  During  the  winter  months  they  at- 
tended the  primitive  school  of  the  district  and  care- 
fully treasured  all  the  book  knowledge  they  thus 
gleaned.  After  the  death  of  the  beloved  mother 
the  family  remained  mostly  together,  sharing  each 
other's  joys  and  sorrows,  and  although  lonely, 
found  much  pleasure  in  their  mutual  companion- 
ship until  the  father  married  his  second  wife, 
when  the  children  left  home.  After  a  time  the 
brothers  secured  the  farm  where  the  unmarried 
sons  and  daughter  now  live  together  in  harmony, 
iindistnrbed  by  strife  or  discord. 

When  the  Civil  AVar  threatened  the  dissolution 
of  our  national  existence,  John  P.  Choat,  then  in 
the  dawn  and  pride  of  early  manhood,  was  filled 
with  eager  enthusiasm,  and  patriotically  enlisted 
in  the  service  of  the  Government  in  18(i3,  joining 
the  ranks  of  the  Thirteenth  Regiment  Illinois  In- 
fantry. After  three  months  of  active  dutj'  he  was 
discharged  from  the  service,  not  then  being  strong 
enough  to  pass  the  required  examination.  Our 
subject  is  a  practical  farmer  of  extended  exper- 
ience .and  excellent  judgment,  and  under  the  pru- 
dent management  of  the  brothers  the  farm  blos- 
soms each  recurring  season  with  a  bounteous 
harvest,  yielding  rich  returns  for  the  time  and 
labor  expended  in  the  fertile  acres.  Lhiited  in 
business  methods  and  ideas,  the  brothers,  John  P. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHIUAL  REVIEW. 


505 


and  Isaac  M.,  are  also  agreed  in  political  allilia- 
tions,  both  being  ardent  advocates  of  the  Rc|)ubli- 
can  party,  and  deeply  interested  in  local  and  na- 
tional issues.  Neither  our  subject  nor  his  brother 
are  politicians  in  any  sense  of  the  word,  but  are 
progressive  and  liberal-spirited  citizens,  anxious 
for  the  preservation  of  the  public  welfare  and  de- 
siring thai  the  offices  of  trust  shall  be  given  only 
to  those  adapted  to  fullill  tlie  requirements  of  the 
positions. 

Isaac  M.  Choat,  growing  up  among  the  associa- 
tions of  his  early  youth,  and  a  man  of  intelligence 
and  ability-,  has  been  identified  with  the  local  im- 
provements and  various  enterprises  of  his  home 
neighborhood  for  many  j'ears  and  is  widely  known 
and  highlj-  respected  by  a  host  of  friends.  The 
father  survived  until  .July  13,  1889,  when  he 
passed  away,  regretted  by  all  who  knew  him.  He 
was  an  honest  man,  of  indomitable  will  and  cour- 
age, .ind  received  the  esteem  of  the  community 
among  whom  his  bus}-  life  was  passed.  Mr.  Choat, 
inheriting  from  his  parents  habits  of  industrious 
thrift  and  sterling  integrity  of  character,  is  on  the 
upward  [>ath  to  assured  [irosperily,  and,  steadily 
pursuing  his  daily  round  of  duty,  a  kind  friend, 
excellent  neighbor  and  honored  citizen,  enj03-s 
the  heart}-  good  wishes  and  entire  confidence  of 
the  general  public. 


>f_^^ENRY  RAMPKNDAIJL,  Sr.,  proprietor  of 
iTjl'  the  stave  factor}-  at  Metropolis,  Massac 
/^^  Count}',  is  a  son  of  Henry  Rainpendahl, 
(^;  who  was  born  in  Prussia,  where  he  followed 
farming  for  a  livelihood.  He  formed  habits  of 
industry  and  economy  early  in  life,  had  a  good 
education  and  was  successful  in  his  calling.  He 
lived  in  the  city  and  had  a  farm  in  the  suburbs, 
as  is  now  customary  in  that  country  among  the 
best  class  of  agriculturists.  He  was  there  married 
to  Anna  Flanchmarii,  who  died  some  years  later, 
and  he  afterward  married  her  sister,  who  is  now 
also  dead.     IJv  his  first  marriage  he  had  five  chil- 


dren, viz:  Henry,  who  died  in  infancy;  Henry, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Emma,  Mary  and  Chris- 
tina, all  three  dead.  Hy  the  second  marriage 
he  had  the  following  children:  William,  deceased; 
Anna,  wife  of  Fritz  Ilaultchamp,  a  farmer  of 
Massac  County;  Jlary,  who  is  married  and  liv- 
ing in  Germany;  and  Christina,  who  died  in  the 
Old  Country. 

Henry  was  the  second  child  by  the  fli-st  mar- 
riage, and  was  born  ]Marcli  16,  1834,  in  Germany. 
His  youth,  up  to  his  nineteenth  year,  was  spent 
mainly  on  the  farm  and  iu  school.  He  thus  re- 
ceived a  good  German  education,  but  being  ambi- 
tious and  desiring  a  wider  and  better  field  for  the 
exercise  of  his  powers  than  that  furnished  by  the 
Old  Country,  he  sailed  for  the  United  States  on 
the  vessel  "Yalafaiit."  The  voyage  proved  a 
stormy  one  and  many  a  time  he  wished  himself 
back  in  Germany.  The  masts  of  the  vessel  were 
torn  away  by  the  storms,  and  the  passengers  were 
reduced  to  one  half-pint  of  water  per  d.iy  for  each 
person  and  provisions  in  the  same  proportion. 
Being  unable  to  keep  on  their  course,  the  ship 
drifted  to  Lisbon,  Portugal.  They  then  took  a 
fresh  start,  but  on  account  of  the  cholera  were  held 
in  quarantine  for  several  weeks,  and  at  length,  after 
a  voyage  of  sixteen  weeks,  landed  at  New  Orleans 
in  January,  1854.  Not  having  much  money,  he 
went  to  work  for  S^IO  per  month  on  a  farm  in  Ohio 
and  thus  continued  to  labor  for  about  two  years. 
He  then  returned  to  Germany,  with  favorable  im- 
pressions of  the  New  Country,  and  concluded  to 
make  this  country  his  permanent  home.  But  the 
king  of  Prussia  thought  he  needed  all  such  able- 
bodied  young  men  in  his  army,  and  young  Rain- 
pendahl had  to  serve  three  years  before  he  could 
get  away. 

At  the  end  of  these  three  yeai-s  our  subject  came 
again  to  this  country,  this  time  by  steamship,  the 
voyage  taking  three  weeks.  He  landed  in  New- 
York,  and  being  of  good  education  and  pleasant 
address  he  soon  found  a  position  as  manager  of  a 
German  orphan  asylum  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  be- 
ing thus  engaged  six  weeks  as  sole  manager,  and 
remaining  there  iu  all  three  years,  performing 
his  duties  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned.  He 
was  then  married  to  Louisa  Mettendorf,  who,  like 


506 


PORTRAIT  AND    lUOGRAl'IlICAL   REVIEW. 


himself,  was  from  Germany,  her  parents,  who 
brought  her  to  this  country,  iiaving  since  died. 
After  llieir  marriage  our  subject  and  his  wife  l<e|)t 
a  boarding-liouse  for  tiiree  ^x^ars  and  tlien,  receiv- 
ingsoine  ^1,G00  from  the  Old  Countr}',  they  started 
West  and  settled  in  Massac  Count}'.  Here  he  first 
bought  eighty  acres  of  land,  which  he  improved 
to  some  extent,  and  later  bought  a  good  two  hun- 
dred acre  farm,  which  was  well  improved,  four 
miles  from  lirooklyn,  Massac  County,  and  this, 
together  with  an  additional  eighty  acres,  he  still 
owns,  and  has  now  one  of  the  best  farms  in  the 
count}'.  He  lived  there  for  two  years  and  then 
removed  to  Metropolis,  where  he  was  the  sole 
.agent  for  AUard  &  Son,  of  Paducah,  Ky.,  buy- 
ing wheat  for  them  in  great  quantities.  Being 
an  expert  wheat  buyer,  he  made  for  that  lirm 
a  large  amount  of  money,  and  as  they  were  very 
highly  pleased  with  his  services  he  remained  with 
them  for  fourteen  years.  Then,  wishing  to  do 
something  for  himself,  he  bought  a  flouring-mill, 
which  he  greatly  improved  and  which  he  man- 
aged for  eight  years,  in  the  meantime  for  six  of 
those  j'ears  buying  nearly  all  the  pork  that  was 
bought  at  this  point.  This  mill,  together  with  the 
improvements,  cost  about  $40,000  but,  unfortu- 
nately for  him,  it  was  burned  down  in  1886.  The 
insurance  on  it  was  but  $14,000  and  on  the  stock 
only  $5,000;  the  loss,  therefore,  was  a  very  heavy 
•  one. 

From  1881  to  1884,  Mr.  Rampendalil  kept  a 
large  commission  house  in  Cincinnati,  on  Walnut 
Street,  handling  mainly  flour  and  produce,  and  in 
1882  he  also  became  connected  with  the  Holmes 
Biscuit  Company,  of  Cincinnati,  having  over  $10, 
000  of  the  stock.  He  was  Secretary  and  Treasurer 
of  the  concern  for  two  ye.ars,  and  then  returned  to 
Massac  County.  By  the  rising  of  the  Ohio  River 
in  1884,  he  lost  some  $5,000  in  the  biscuit  company, 
a  large  amount  in  the  commission  house,  and  five 
hundred  thousand  staves  in  Metropolis,  the  flood 
washing  away  his  cooper  shoj)  willi  all  its  contents. 
He  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  Cincinnati  for  three  years  and  dealt 
extensively  on  'change.  All  these  disasters,  com- 
ing as  they  did  at  once,  were  ahnost  enough  to 
discourage  the  stoutest  heart,  but  Mr.  Rampcndahl 


determined  to  get  out  of  his  financial  troubles  and 
reverses  the  best  wa}-  po.ssible,  and  he  beg;in  again 
to  buy  wheat,  which  he  continued  to  do  for  the 
next  two  years.  He  also  again  started  his  stave 
factory  and  has  had  that  running  ever  since.  He 
is  now  building  up  an  excellent  trade  and  has  all 
the  orders  he  can  fill  from  all  over  the  country, 
sometimes  receiving  an  order  for  a  million  staves. 
He  has  secured  an  ample  supply  of  timber  for  his 
purposes  and  is  now  in  a  fair  way  to  retrieve  his 
fortunes. 

To  his  marriage  with  Miss  Mettendorf  there  were 
born  seven  children,  viz:  Henry,  in  business  with 
his  father;  George,  who  works  in  the  cigar  factor}' 
at  Metropolis;  Willie,  at  home;  and  four  who 
died  in  infancy.  Mr.  Rampendahl  is  a  Thirty- 
second  Degree  Mason,  and  was  Mayor  of  Metrop- 
olis for  two  3'ears,  and  was  for  six  years  a  School 
Director.  He  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  Lu- 
theran Church.  He  has  taken  two  trips  to  Europe 
since  his  second  coming  to  the  United  States,  once 
in  1871  and  once  in  1883,  so  that  he  has  now 
crossed  the  ocean  seven  times. 


m>^^<m^ 


-5— 


DOLPH  .1.  PETTER,  a  plumber  and  heat- 
W'lLM  ing  engineer  of  Metropolis,  111.,  is  a  son 
(i  of  Joseph  Petter,  a  native  of  Germany, 
who  came  to  this  country  when  a  boy. 
He  had  received  in  his  own  country  a  fair  com- 
mon-school education  for  the  time  spent  in  school, 
and  earl}'  in  life  he  decided  to  build  up  a  home 
for  himself,  and  to  better  his  condition  by  com- 
ing to  the  United  States.  He  embarked  on  a  sail- 
ing-vessel, and  after  a  long  and  tedious  voyage 
of  seven  weeks  landed  in  this  country.  He  went 
immediately  to  Paducah,  Ky.,  and,  as  he  had 
learned  how  to  do  all  kinds  of  farm  work  and 
also  had  learned  the  trade  of  shoemaking,  he  first 
followed  the  latter  trade  in  Paducah,  and  when  he 
was  but  eigiiteen  years  old  he  was  married  to  Affa 
Uoalior,  wiio,  like  himself,  w.as  a  native  of  Ger- 
many, and  was  Itrought   to   the   United    States  by 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW.  ' 


507 


her  parents.  After  his  marriage  he  determined  to 
make  a  change  in  his  business  and  engaged  in 
butchering  and  selling  meat,  in  which  he  was  suc- 
cessful. He  continued  in  the  same  line  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  March,  1875.  His  widow 
still  lives  in  Paducah  with  a  daughter.  To  the 
marriage  of  Joseph  Petter  and  Miss  Keaber  there 
were  born  six  children,  viz:  Henry,  who  is  en- 
gaged in  the  storage  business  and  in  dealing  in  ice 
in  Paducah;  Louis,  who  is  engaged  in  the  butcher 
business  in  Paducah;  Adolph  J.;  one  that  died  in 
infancy;  Hattie  M..  wife  of  George  R.  James,  of 
Louisville,  K}'.;  and  Affa  (I.,  living  with  her 
mother  in  Paducah. 

Adolph  J.  Petter  was  born  in  Paducah,  Ky., 
March  25,  1867,  and  was  reared  in  his  native  cit3'. 
When  a  boj'  he  labored  under  some  disadvan- 
tages in  consequence  of  disease,  and  was  not  able 
either  to  do  much  work  or  much  study,  though 
he  did  obtain  a  fair  education.  When  he  was  six- 
teen years  old  lie  began  to  learn  the  trade  of  a 
machinist  in  Paducah,  and  became  quite  proficient 
in  that  trade,  lie  was  a  good  workman  and  me- 
chanic and  earned  good  w.ages,  but  gave  all  tliat 
he  earned  to  his  mother.  He  continued  in  this 
way  for  four  ^-ears  and  three  months,  when  he 
went  to  Memphis,  where  he  worked  for  the  United 
.Slates  Government  for  four  months,  and  then 
went  into  the  machine  shops  at  Memphis,  the 
Livermore  Iron  Works.  He  could  easily  get  work 
anywhere  where  there  was  anytliing  in  his  line  to 
do,  which  may  have  had  something  to  do  with  his 
remaining  only  two  months,  when  he  returned  to 
Paducah,  where  he  worked  in  the  railroad  shops 
for  about  a  year.  He  then  went  to  Little  Rock, 
Ark.,  where  he  worked  for  four  months,  and  then 
he  went  to  Texas  and  the  South  generally,  trav- 
eling to  a  considerable  extent  and  working  in 
various  places.  He  worked  for  a  time  in  Kansas 
City  for  the  I'nion  Pacific  Railroad  Company, 
and  then  went  to  Denver  and  the  Yellowstone 
Park.  At  length  he  returned  to  Paducah,  and 
soon  after  went  to  Jackson,  Ten.n.,  where  he  re- 
mained five  months.  He  then  returned  to  Pa- 
ducah, where  he  remained  until  he  removed  to 
Metropolis,  in  .September,  1892.  Here  he  settled 
down  to  business,  and  intends    to    make  this  city 


his  permanent  home.  He  is  a  good  heating  en- 
gineer, and  is  making  a  specialty-  of  steam  and 
water  heating.  He  has  had  considerable  expe- 
rience, and  is  able  to  give  satisfaction  to  those 
who  need  his  services.  He  already'  has  secured  a 
good  share  of  public  patronage,  of  wliich  he  is 
eminently  worthy.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican, 
and  in  religion  a  Catholic. 


IIJJAM    S.    AVYMORK 


farmer  and 


\^//  stock-raiser  of  Vienna  Township,  Johnson 
V^  County.  His  father.  Dr.  Peter  Wymore,was 
a  son  of  George  Wymore,  a  brick  mason  by  trade, 
who  removed  from  Lexington  to  Calloway  County, 
Ky.,  at  an  early  day  and  there  died.  Peter  Wymore 
was  born  in  Kentucky,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm,  in 
early  life  becoming  inured  to  habits  of  industrj' 
and  economy.  Notwithstanding  the  adverse  cir- 
cumstances of  his  youth,  he  managed  to  secure  a 
good  education  in  the  common  schools;  but  not 
being  satisfied  with  the  small  amount  of  informa- 
tion thus  obtained,  he  studied  various  works,  and 
later  gave  his  attention  to  the  study  of  medicine. 
Still  later  he  attended  the  Louisville  Medical  Col- 
lege, at  Louisville,  Ky. 

For  anumbcr  of  years,  Mr.  Wymore  followed  his 
chosen  profession  in  his  native  .State,  but  desiring 
a  larger  field  for  practice  he  removed,  in  1860,  to 
Johnson  County.  While  [wssing  through  the 
county  in  search  of  a  location  he  camped  under 
an  oak  tree  on  section  25  of  what  is  now  Vienna 
Township.  While  thus  in  camp  he  had  occasion 
to  treat  some  of  the  sick  in  the  vicinity,  and,  be- 
ing a  man  of  abilit^^  and  pleasing  address,  it  at 
once  became  generally  known  that  a  good  |)hysi- 
cian  was  in  the  neighborhood.  He  was  frequently 
called  upon  to  visit  the  sick,  and  a  good  practice 
soon  sprang  up,  which  influenced  him  to  locate  at 
that  place.  He  remained  there  for  four  years,  and 
during  that  time  enjoyed  a  large  practice,  when 
desiring  additional  knowledge  in  surgery,  and  an- 


508 


PORTRAIT  AM)    UK  H'.KAl'IIICAL   REVIEW. 


ticipating  work  in  the  army,  lie  went  to  Cliicago 
and  attended  Rush  IMedical  College  for  the  luu- 
pose  of  i)erfeeting  himself  in  that  particular  branch. 
On  January  8,  1865  following,  however,  he  died 
of  smallpox,  and  his  career  of  usefulness  was  thus 
cut  short.  He  was  married  in  Kentucky  to  Nanc}' 
Peyton,  who  is  still  living  in  Johnson  County. 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Wymore  had  five  children,  viz:  .lames 
A.,  Barbara  A.,  George,  John  and  William  S.  The 
first  four  are  deceased. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Ivontucky,  near  Mt. 
Sterling,  August  30,  1854.  lie  was  nine  years 
old  when  his  father  died,  and  he  afterward  lived 
with  his  mother  and  worked  on  the  farm.  He  se- 
cured a  good  common-school  education,  after 
which  he  continued  his  studies  at  Emory  College 
and  Southern  Normal  College  at  Carbondale  for 
one  year.  He  taught  school  for  four  terms  in 
Johnson  County,  making  his  home  with  his  uncle, 
the  famous  Col.  Wymore,  who  was  a  member  of 
the  legislature  and  a  lawyer  by  profession.  This 
uncle  had  a  very  fine  law  library,  and  was  anxious 
for  William  S.  to  enter  the  legal  profession.  Sub- 
sequently this  librarj'  was  given  to  our  subject, 
but  it  was  most  unfortunately  destroyed  by  fire  in 
his  house.  lie  had  a  medical  library  which  was 
also  burned  at  the  same  time. 

William  S.  studied  law  with  his  uncle  for  some 
time,  but  disliking  the  profession  he  never  entered 
upon  its  practice.  In  1880  he  left  Carbondale, 
and  on  September  8,  1881,  he  was  married  to 
Isabel  Dow,  a  native  of  Vermont.  Her  people 
moved  to  Illinois,  and  are  now  living  in  Dubois, 
Washington  Countj%  this  State.  After  he  was 
married,  Mr.  Wymore  taught  school  that  win- 
ter, and  also  the  succeeding  winter.  He  then 
began  farming  and  also  engaged  in  raising  and 
dealing  in  stock.  In  1882  lie  purchased  the  farm 
upon  which  he  now  resides,  which  happened  to  be 
just  where  his  father  had  camped  years  before,  and 
began  the  practice  of  medicine,  as  narrated  above. 
He  has  continued  to  improve  the  place  and  is  now 
building  a  large,  frame  residence  with  modern 
improvements,  which  is  one  of  the  best  houses  in 
the  county.  The  farm  contains  two  hundred  and 
two  acres  of  land.  Mr.  Wymore  has  been  very 
successful    in    both    farming    and    stock    dealing. 


Notwithstanding  he  was  never  ailniiltcil  to  the 
Bar,  yet  occasionally,  when  calleil  upon,  he  prac- 
tices before  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  is  familiar 
with  the  law,  but  his  work  in  this  line  is  under- 
taken and  performed  merely  as  an  accommodation 
to  his  neighbors. 

The  first  wife  of  Mr.  Wymore  died  in  18.S8. 
Hy  her  he  had  three  children,  viz:  Gertrude,  who 
is  living  with  her  grandfather,  I).  I).  Dow,  at  Du- 
bois; Nellie,  who  is  at  home,  and  Mary,  who  resides 
with  her  grandfather  at  Dubois.  Mr.  Wymore 
was  married  the  second  time,  choosing  as  his  wife 
Miss  S.  A.  Boyt,  of  Vienna,  Johnson  County,  by 
whom  he  has  one  child,  Jessie.  Through  his  stock- 
dealing  operations,  Mr.  Wymore  is  a  very  val- 
uable citizen  to  Johnson  Countj'.  He  deals  in 
cattle,  hogs  and  other  stock.  He  keeps  on  hand 
in  the  winter  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
head  of  cattle,  and  thus  supplies  a  market  for  all 
the  feed  his  neighbors  have  to  sell.  He  also  buys 
their  stock  of  all  kinds,  and  thus  keeps  money  in 
circulation.  He  always  pa3's  fair  prices  for  what  he 
buys  and  thus  a  market  for  all  kinds  of  cattle  and 
feed  is  open  the  whole  year  round.  He  might,  if 
he  chose,  occupy  positions  of  honor  and  trust,  or 
he  might  be  admitted  to  the  Bar  and  practice  law, 
)iut  he  prefers  an  oi)en  air  life  and  freedom  to  con- 
fining work  in  an  office.  He  is  naturally  a  trader 
and  this  is  perhajjs  the  explanation  of  his  choice 
of  occupation. 


IM  ^'.  CLANAHAN,  of  the  firm  of  Craig 
&  Clanahan,  proprietors  of  the  Herald- 
Enterprise,  of  Golconda,  was  born  in  Gol. 
conda  Precinct,  Pope  County,  111.,  Decem- 
ber 8,  1860.  His  father, David  Leander  Clanahan, 
was  born  in  South  Carolina,  as  was  also  his  father, 
William  Clanahan.  The  father  of  the  latter,  Rob- 
ert, was  born  in  England,  and  at  the  age  of  ten 
j'cars  came  to  America  to  meet  a  bachelor  uncle. 
This  was  in  Colonial    times.     He   served    in    the 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


509 


Revolutionary  War  and  afterward  located  in  the 
district  of  Yorii,  now  Yorlc  County.  S.  C.  Tliere  he 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

AVilliani  Clanalian  emigrated  from  Soutii  Caro- 
lina to  Illinois  in  183G,  making  the  journey  by 
team  and  wagon,  the  male  members  of  the  family 
walking  most  of  the  w.ay.  He  remained  some  time 
on  the  Kentucky  side  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  while 
his  family  was  there  he  bought  a  tr.act  of  Govern- 
ment land  iu  Golconda  Precinct,  upon  which  he 
erected  what  was  at  the  time  one  of  the  finest 
homes  in  the  count}-.  It  was  a  substantial  double- 
log  house,  weatherboarded.  The  house  is  still 
standing  and  occupied.  The  lumber  with  which 
the  house  was  weatherboarded  was  sawed  by  his 
sons  with  a  whipsaw.  In  this  house  he  resided  until 
his  death.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Mary 
Glass.  She  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina  and 
died  at  this  Illinois  home  at  the  age  of  eighty-one. 
William  Clanalian  was  a  well-educated  man  for  his 
j-ears  and  he  taught  school  a  portion  of  each  year 
until  his  death.     He  reared  eleven  children. 

David  Leander  Clanahan  was  but  five  years  old 
when  lie  came  to  Illinois  with  his  parents.  He  was 
reared  on  the  farm  and  educated  in  tli«  subscrip- 
tion schools  of  his  time.  He  inherited  the  old 
homestead,  and  with  the  exception  of  two  3-ears, 
during  which  he  was  engaged  in  the  mercantile 
business,  has  here  spent  his  entire  life,  d^-ing 
April  4,  1872.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Eliza  Emma  Adair,  and  she  was  born  in  Tennes- 
see. She  was  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Martha 
(Overton)  Adair,  both  natives  of  Virginia,  and 
of  English  ancestry.  Mrs.  Clanahan  still  survives 
and  is  living  in  Golconda.  She  reared  three 
children,  viz:  Mary,  wife  of  .Josiah  P.  Hodge;  Sim 
v.;  and  Hester,  wife  of  Philip  Craig. 

Sim  V.  Clanahan  received  his  education  in  tlie 
public  schools  of  his  native  county.  He  began 
when  very  young  to  assist  on  the  farm  and  re- 
mained thus  eng.aged  until  1884.  He  then  began 
his  career  as  a  newspaiier  man  as  local  editor  of  the 
Herald.  In  1887  Philip  Craig  started  the  Enter- 
prise, and  in  1889  tlie  Herald  was  purchased  by  Mr. 
Craig  and  the  two  papers  consolidated.  The  Her- 
ald-Eiilirpn'se  is  a  weekly  jiaper  devoted  to  the  in- 
terests of   the  entire  people.     It  is  Republican    in 


politics.  Mr.  Clanahan  was  married  in  1887  to 
Clara  Reinhardt,  who  was  born  in  Golconda  Pre- 
cinct and  is  a  daughter  of  Charles  and  Wil- 
helmina  Reinhardt,  natives  of  Germany.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Clanahan  have  had  one  child,  who  died  when 
one  year  old.  Mr.  Clanahan  has  always  been  a 
Republican  and  is  a  stanch  sii])portor  of  the  princi- 
ples of  that  part}'. 


"^  OHX  BORMANN,  a  farmer  living  on  section 
13,  township  15,  range  4,  M.assac  Count}-, 
is  a  son  of  D.  H.  C.  Bormnan,  a  native  of 
Germany,  who  is  one  of  the  wealthiest  far- 
mers of  this  county.  Forty-five  years  ago  he  crossed 
the  Atlantic  in  a  sailing-vessel,  being  nine  weeks 
on  the  way.  He  left  the  Fatherland  to  seek  a 
home  in  what  was  believed  to  be  a  better  country 
and  succeeded  in  obtaining  all  that  he  sought  and 
much  more.  By  thrift,  industry  and  good  man- 
agement, he  has  accumulated  a  large  share  of  this 
world's  goods  and  is  now  enjoying  the  fruits  of 
his  labor.  He  w.as  married  to  Sophia  Wenthorst, 
by  whom  he  had  ten  children,  six  of  wliom  are 
now  living,  namely:  Christopher  (proprietor  of  a 
flouring  mill  in  Metropolis),  John,  AVilliam,  Annie, 
Benjamin  and  August. 

John  Bormann  was  born  December  .'id,  18GC.  He 
was  reared  upon  the  farm  and  obtained  a  fair  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools.  However,  like  many 
another  young  man,  he  learned  more  outside  of 
school,  than  he  did  while  attending.  It  is  almost, 
if  not  quite,  impossible  to  a|)preciate  the  value  of 
an  education  before  its  necessity  is  forced  upon  us, 
and  then  it  is  too  late  to  learn  as  much  as  we  would 
like.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  bought  a  farm 
of  sixty  acres  and  located  upon  it,  remaining  there 
two  years,  when  he  exchanged  that  faim  for  the 
one  upon  which  he  now  lives,  which  contains  one 
hundred  and  fifty-four  acres  and  is  a  good  farm 
and  in  a  good  state  of  cultivation. 

Mr.  Borniann   is  an  enterprising  and  successful 


510 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


young  farmer,  and  is  already  one  of  the  most  sub- 
stantial citizens  of  the  county.  He  wa»  married  in 
1888  to  Mary  Copland,  a  native  of  Kentucity,  but 
who  was  reared  in  Massac  County.  Her  parents 
removed  to  this  county  wlien  she  was  two  months 
old  and  are  both  now  dead.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  IJormann 
have  one  child,  Sophie.  Politically,  Mr.  Bormann 
is  a  Republican  and  is  a  highly  respected  member 
of  society. 


kli\'I  ^lOUSE,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County,  who 
has  lived  on  his  present  seventy-acre  farm 
on  section  30,  township  11,  range  6,  east, 
for  the  past  seven  years,  was  born  in  Eddy  ville 
Township,  Pope  County,  in  1849.  His  father,  James 
A.  Morse,  is  familiarly  known  as  Armstrong  Morse, 
and  resides  on  his  large  farm  in  Pkldyville  Precinct, 
where  he  has  lived  for  the  past  forty  years.  He 
was  born  in  Pope  County  in  1823.  His  father, 
John  Morse,  was  from  South  Carolina,  and  was  born 
there  probably  in  1772.  He  was  the  son  of  an 
PInglish  farmer,  who  came  to  this  country  about 
1710.  John  Morse,  the  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, married  Amelia  Buckner,  of  Tennessee,  he 
having  removed  to  Tennessee  at  eighteen  years  of 
age.  He  removed  from  that  State  to  Illinois  while 
it  was  still  a  Territory,  bringing  with  him  his  wife 
and  three  small  children.  AVheu  he  removed  to 
this  territory,  he  was  very  poor,  having  no  cash, 
and  only  his  teams  and  household  etfecls.  He  came 
by  means  of  his  teams,  there  being  then  no  other 
way  of  traveling  through  the  country. 

The  grandparents  lived  for  many  years  as  squat- 
ters in  Pope  County,  and  were  compelled  to  make 
many  self-denj'ing  struggles  for  a  livelihood,  and 
to  put  up  with  many  deprivations.  There  was, 
however,  an  abundance  of  wild  game,  and  also  of 
wild  beasts,  which  often  were  a  menace  to  their 
safety.  They  had  to  travel  to  Shawneetown, 
twenty-live  miles  away,  for  groceries  and  sugar, 
and  ten  miles  into  Saline  County  to  get  their  corn, 
rye  and  wheat  ground  at  a  one-horse  mill.     They 


bolted  their  Hour  by  hand.  riioy  had  to  go  to 
Equality,  twenty-five  miles  away,  for  .salt,  as  there 
was  a  salt  spring  there  and  some  |)arties  were  evap- 
orating it  in  a  small  way.  The  early  settlers  pro- 
duced nearly  all  their  food  and  raised  either  in 
flax  or  wool  the  material  for  their  coarse  but  warm 
garments.  The  grandfather  had  a  comfortable 
home  and  good  farm  long  before  his  death.  His 
wife  died  about  1830,  at  thirty-seven  years  of  age, 
leaving  seven  sons  and  four  daughters,  of  whom 
J.  A.  was  the  sixth  child  and  fourth  son.  They 
all  grew  to  maturity  but  one  daughter.  The  father 
of  these  children  died  at  his  son  David's  home, 
when  about  seventy-five  years  old.  Only  three 
of  these  children  are  now  living,  viz:  Celia,  widow 
of  (tus  Henry,  now  living  with  her  grandchild  at 
the  age  of  eighty,  and  having  one  daughter  living; 
Jonathan,  a  farmer  near  by;  and  J.  A.,  the  father 
of  our  subject.  The  latter  married  Miss  Paulina 
Wallston,  daughter  of  Levi  and  Phebe  (Rood) 
Wallston,  the  former  of  whom  was  from  North 
Carolina  and  the  latter  from  Tennessee.  Grand- 
father Rood  came  to  Illinois  in  180.5,  and  lived 
for  some  time  in  a  fort,  as  the  Indians  Vvere  then 
numerous  and  troublesome. 

Levi  Moi'se  is  one  of  twelve  children,  eight  sons 
and  four  daughters,  of  whom  six  sons  and  three 
daughters  are  still  living.  They  all  have  famihes 
of  their  own  but  one.  Levi  is  the  second  child 
and  second  son  of  the  family.  The  names  of  the 
nine  living  are  as  follows:  Jonathan,  Levi,  Philip, 
Louisa,  Lewis,  Sarah,  Malia,  Stephen  and  George. 
The  parents  of  these  children  live  on  their  fine 
farm  a  short  distance  from  the  home  of  »ur  subject. 
The  j^ounger  sons  are  conducting  the  farm  and  the 
others  are  well  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  their 
parents.  Ten  of  their  grandchildren  have  died, 
and  there  are  thirty  living.  Levi  Morse  was  reared 
at  home  on  the  farm,  and  had  excellent  opportun- 
ities to  secure  an  education.  He  left  home  at 
thirty-five  years  of  age,  and  was  married  to  Ellen 
Evans,  who  was  born  in  .Saline  County',  a  daughter 
of  Quibe  Evans.  They  began  life  at  their  present 
home  on  forty  acres  of  land  given  him  by  his 
father,  and  to  that  forty  he  has  added  thirty  acres. 
He  has  forty-five  acres  under  cultivation,  and  on 
these  forty-five  acres  he  raises  corn,  wheat,  oats 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEAV. 


611 


and  general  crops.  The  parents  of  Mrs.  Morse 
came  from  Kentucky  in  1852,  and  settled  in  Saline 
County,  where  tiicy  reared  seven  sons  and  seven 
daughters,  and  of  tliese  fourteen  Mrs.  Morse  is  next 
to  the  youngest.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morse  have  two 
sons  and  two  daughters,  viz:  Ollie,  six  years  old; 
Loren,  five;  .lames  K.,  three;  and  Ina  Etiicl,  an 
infant. 


i-^+^e 


V,,       jfclLLIAM  II.  KRAPKR,  cigar  manufacturer 
''     of  Metroiiolis,  ^Massac  Count3',  is  a  son  of 


AVilliam  F.  Kraper,  who  was  born  in  Osna- 
hruck,  Oermany,  and  when  ten  years  old  his  father 
brought  iiim  to  the  United  States.  The  voj'age 
across  the  Atlantic  was  made  in  a  sailing-vessel 
and  was  a  slow  and  tedious  one.  Arriving  in 
this  country-,  William  F.  was  apprenticed  to  a 
tailor  in  Cincinnati,  where  he  became  a  complete 
master  of  the  trade,  and  where  he  remained  until 
18GG.  He  then  removed  to  Metropolis,  and  en- 
gaged in  his  trade  of  tailoring,  at  which  he  worked 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  January,  1871. 
His  start  in  life  was  made  without  any  capital, 
but  lie  made  a  success  of  his  business  and  accumu- 
lated a  snug  little  fortune.  He  was  married  in 
Cincinnati  to  Wilomena  Wilkins  who  was  of  Ger- 
man ancestry.  She  is  still  living  with  a  daughter 
in  Metropolis.  To  her  and  her  husband  there 
were  born  seven  children,  viz:  Amelia,  wife  of 
William  Koester,  who  works  in  car  shops  at  Mem- 
phis, Tenn.;  William  II.;  Henry  F.,  who  is  working 
for  AVilliam  H.;  Herman,  Charley  and  Fred,  de- 
ceased; and  Louisa,  wiio  is  working  for  William  H., 
and  with  whom  tiie  mother  of  tliese  children  lives. 
William  H.  Kraper  was  born  in  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  September  19,  1859,  and  attended  scliool  in 
that  city  until  lie  was  seven  years  old.  At  four- 
teen years  of  age  he  started  out  in  life  for  himself. 
His  first  position  was  in  a  grocery  store  at  ^13  per 
month,  and  he  boarded  himself.  In  this  place  he 
remained  throe  years,  acrpiiring  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  tlie  business,  and  then  went  to  work  in  the 

28 


spoke  factory  of  Yost,  Higelow  it  Co.,  at  fifty  cents 
per  day.  He  remained  there  two  3'ears,  at  first  in  the 
warehouse  tying  and  shipping.  In  1881  he  went 
to  Cincinnati  and  was  engaged  in  the  commis- 
sion business  two  years.  He  then  bought  a  half- 
interest  in  the  fiour  and  grain  business,  remaining 
thus  engaged  about  six  months.  In  1881,  by  in- 
vitation of  his  brother,  he  returned  to  Metropolis 
and  went  into  business  with  him  as  a  partner  in 
the  manufacture  of  cigars.  He  remained  with 
him  sis  years  and  then  bought  his  interest.  He 
traveled  for  some  time  for  the  factory  and  was  a 
successful  salesman.  His  fine  trade  is  due  to  his 
management  of  the  business.  He  manufactures 
about  one  and  a-half  millions  of  cigars  a  j^ear  and 
has  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  hands  on  the  pay 
roll,  and  keeps  two  men  on  the  road.  His  is  the 
largest  factory  in  the  district  and  is  a  credit  to 
the  cit}'  of  Metropolis.  He  has  a  pleasant  home 
and  is  situated  as  comfortably  as  any  one  needs 
to  be. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  September,  1882, 
to  Carrie  Banmbusch,  a  native  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
who  is  of  German  ancestr3\  Her  father  is  now 
living  in  Cincinnati,  her  mother  having  died  when 
she  was  one  year  old.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kraper  have 
one  child,  Willie,  ten  years  old  in  June,  1893. 
Politically,  Mr.  Kraper  is  a  Republican,  and  he  is 
an  Odd  Fellow  and  a  Knigiit  of  P^'thias.  He  is 
one  of  the  genial,  whole-souled  gentlemen  of  Me- 
tropolis, and  one  whom  it  is  always  pleasant  to 
meet.  He  is  a  successful  business  man,  and  has 
made  what  he  possesses  through  his  own  industry 
and  correct  understanding  of  business  methods. 


^^,EORGK  W.  PATRICK    is   a   son   of   John 

'|(  ,— -,  Patrick,  a  native  of  Burlington  County,  N. 

ill    if/ 

'>^^   J.     He  was  born  in  1828,  and  reared  on  a 

farm  with  but  limited  education.  He  removed  to 
Gallatin  County,  111.,  in  1835,  and  settling  on  a 
farm  remained  there  until  his  death.  He  was  mar- 
ried ill  1818  to  Margaret  Brown,  a  native  of  Ken- 


512 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


tucky,  by  whom  he  had  seven  children,  George 
\V.,  the  subject  of  this  skeleh,  being  the  only  sur- 
viving child. 

George  W.  Patrick  was  born  in  (jallatin  County 
February  23,  18G1,  and  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm,  attending  tiie  common  schools  of  tiie  county 
until  1875.  He  then  went  to  work  on  the  Ohio 
&  Mississippi  Railroad,  remaining  thus  engaged 
onl}'  a  short  lime,  howevei',  when  he  began  at- 
tending .school,  and  attended  at  Springertown, 
Enfield  and  Elizabelhtown.  After  being  in  school 
until  1879,  he  began  teaching  school,  and  while 
thus  engaged  he  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  Bar  in  1892.  He  immediatsly  began  the  prac- 
tice of  law,  is  still  thus  engaged,  and  is  meet- 
ing with  a  fair  degree  of  success.  Mr.  Patrick  was 
married  June  14.  1884,  to  Sidney  J.,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Mary  Thornton,  of  Hardin  County.  111. 
To  this  marriage  there  have  been  born  four  chil- 
dren, namel}':  Adda,  Fannie,  Frankie  and  Gladys. 
Mr.  Patrick  owns  a  fine  little  farm  of  forty  acres 
on  section  6,  township  12,  range  9.  He  is  an  ac- 
tive member  of  the  Democratic  part\-,  and  is  a 
member  of  Lodge  No.  276,  A.  F.  iV  A.  M.,  and  of 
Lodge  No.  54,  I.  O.  ().  F. 


^  ^^  .,>, ,,.  :^!^(^^)i^  .*.  .-.^ 


■#> 


^^EORGE  W.  SHUFFLEBARGER.  Among 
II  __^  the  prosperous  and  leading  farmers  of  Vopa 
'^=Jj^    County  stands  the  gentleman  whose  name 


Jounty  stands  the  gentleman  wliose 
heads  this  sketch,  and  who  has  spent  his  entire 
life  in  this  immediate  neighborhood.  He  is  a 
man  of  upright  character  and  merits  the  high  re- 
gard in  which  he  is  held  by  those  he  has  known 
since  bo3'hood.  As  a  farmer  he  is  enterprising 
and  industrious,  carrying  on  his  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  two  acres,  situated  on  sections  H!  and 
17,  township  12,  range  fi,  in  a  thrifty  and  thor- 
oughly creditable  manner.  Our  subject's  father, 
Abraham  ShulHebarger,  was  a  native  of  the  Old 
Dominion,  and  during  his  entire  lifetime  follovved 
agricultural  pursuits.  When  only  a  boy  he  came 
with    his   parents  to    Illinois,    where  he  grew   to 


man's  estate  and  then  married  Miss  Parmelia 
Whiteside,  a  native  of  this  county.  By  her  he 
had  a  family  of  nine  children,  of  whom  three  are 
now  living.  The  father  was  called  from  this  life 
in  18()2,  leaving  to  his  children  as  their  heritage 
a  good  name,  as  he  was  a  man  whose  life  was  ".is 
an  open  book." 

Our  subject  was  left  an  orphan  at  a  tender  age, 
and,  as  he  was  born  August  17,  1855,  was  only 
seven  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  father's 
death.  He  went  to  live  with  an  uiicic  in  .Johnson 
County,  111.,  remaining  with  him  until  reaching 
his  majority,  and  attending  the  common  schools 
of  the  vicinity.  He  was  an  apt  pupil,  quick  to 
learn,  and  possessed  of  a  retentive  memory,  and 
after  passing  an  examination  creditably,  received 
a  certificate  to  teach.  AVhen  first  embarking  in 
the  actual  business  of  life  for  himself  he  rented 
land  in  Johnson  County  for  two  years,  and  then 
returning  to  this,  the  pl.ace  of  his  birth,  rented  a 
farm  for  a  year.  He  was  frugal,  careful  and  in- 
dustrious, and  by  means  of  these  qualities  was 
enabled  at  the  end  of  that  time  to  purchase  a 
good  farm,  the  one  on  which  he  now  resides.  He 
has  shown  himself  to  be  an  enterprising  agricul- 
turist, who,  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  times, 
is  ready  and  anxious  to  introduce  all  modern 
machinery  and  appliances  for  the  saving  of  labor 
and  the  better  carrying  on  of  farm  work. 

January  19,  1879,  Mr.  Shufflebarger  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Marian  Nicholson,  also  a  native  of 
this  county,  her  birth  having  occurred  Novem- 
ber 30,  1858.  Her  mother  was  born  in  Germany, 
and  emigrated  with  her  parents  to  the  United 
States  at  an  early  da^'.  Her  father,  however,  was 
born  in  Tennessee  and  was  one  of  the  honored 
pioneers  of  Pope  County.  The  union  of  our 
subject  and  wife  has  been  blessed  with  seven  chil- 
dren, who  are  still  living.  The  parents  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  near 
the  old  homestead,  the  same  one  our  subject  has 
attended  from  boyhood.  He  has  served  his  fel- 
low-citizens and  neighbors  in  a  number  of  posi- 
tions of  trust  and  honor,  having  been  School 
Director  for  six  years,  and  for  four  years  having 
made  an  excellent  Road  Supervisor.  He  is  al- 
ways interested  and  active  in  all  measures    insti- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


513 


tilted  for  the  betterment  and  advancement  of  this 
region.  He  casts  his  vote  with  the  Republican 
parly  and  is  a  man  wiiose  word  is  as  good  as  his 
l)ond,  he  liaving  won  a  high  reputation  for  strict 
integrity  and  upright  principle. 


Jl'OHN  F.  D.WJI),  an  energetic  and  prosper- 
ous general  agriculturist  and  successful 
stock-raiser,  residing  upon  section  10,town- 
sliip  15,  range  3,  .loppa,  Massac  County, 
111.,  has  been  intimatcl3'  associated  with  the  grow- 
ing interests  of  this  part  of  the  State  from  early 
childhood,  and,  a  citizen  of  sterling  integrit}-  of 
charactei,  worthih'  commands  the  esteem  of  the 
entire  community  b}-  whom  he  is  surrounded.  Our 
subject  is  the  sou  of  Frederick  William  David,  a 
native  of  Westphalia,  Prussia,  who,  having  spent 
his  earl}- youth  in  his  native  hand,  was  there  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Elizabeth  Rudderaeyer,  with  whom  he 
shortly  afterward  emigrated  to  the  United  States. 
The  3'oung  husband  and  wife  voyaged  to  America 
upon  a  sailing-vessel,  and  experienced  terrible 
storms,  contrary  winds  and  calms,  and  after  being 
tossed  about  on  the  broad  Atlantic  for  tliirteen 
weeks,  finally  landed  in  safety  at  Baltimore,  where 
they  remained  one  j-ear  and  a-half.  They  arrived 
pr.actically  destitute  of  money  in  their  new  home, 
but  without  loss  of  time  Frederick  David  sought 
employment,  and  having  obtained  work,  labored 
unremittingly  for  eighteen  months,  when  he  de- 
termined to  try  his  fortunes  in  Ohio. 

The  next  residence  of  the  family  was  in  Cincin- 
nati, where  Father  David  found  read}-  emplo^-ment 
in  a  cooper's  shop,  and  also  worked  in  a  brick- 
yard, and  was  variously  engaged  for  seven  j-cars. 
An  energetic,  industrious  and  ambitious  man, 
thoroughly  appreciating  the  advantages  offered 
each  law-abiding  citizen  of  the  United  States,  he 
prudently  gathered  a  small  c:ipital,  and  in  1855 
journeyed  to  JIassac  County.  III.,  and  buying  land, 
located  permanently  in  Benton  Precinct.  The 
honu'stead  was  only  slightly  im[)roved.  liaving  an 


old  log  cabin  and  dilapidated  b.arn,  but  in  a  compar- 
atively brief  time  hard  work  and  energetic  thrift 
wrought  a  wondrous  change.  Year  by  year  the 
hitherto  unbroken  prairie  yielded  to  a  high  state 
of  cultivation,  and  for  many  a  changing  season 
the  farm  has  blossomed  with  a  bounteous  harvest. 
Frederick  William  David  and  his  good  wife,  for 
nearly  thirty-eight  years  constant  and  honored 
residents  of  the  David  homestead,  still  live  upon 
the  old  place,  which  sheltered  a  family  of  five 
children,  of  whom  our  subject  was  the  fourth  in 
order  of  birth.  Christine,  the  eldest,  is  now  dead; 
Minnie  lives  with  her  parents;  the  third  child  is 
also  deceased;  John  F.  is  our  subject;  and  Henry 
E.  3-et  remains  with  his  parents. 

John  F.  David  w.is  born  June  6,  1854,  in  Cin- 
cinnati,, and  was  but  a  babe  when  his  parents  made 
their  home  in  Massac  County.  Brought  up  on  a 
farm,  he  was  thoroughly  trained  in  the  duties  of 
agriculture,  and  also  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a 
good  common-school  education  in  the  free  schools 
of  his  home  district.  His  father,  who  was  an  ex- 
cellent scholar,  instructed  him  in  (4erman  and  as- 
sisted him  in  his  various  studies.  Our  subject  re- 
mained with  his  parents  until  thirty-one  years  of 
age,  when  he  bought  one  hundred  and  twent\- 
acres  of  land  and  began  life  for  himself,  at  first 
boarding  near  by  and  working  early  and  late  to 
improve  the  farm  and  prepare  it  for  future  oc- 
cupancy. Upon  February  9,  1888,  Mr.  David  was 
married  to  Miss  Annie  llille,  an  attractive  and 
cultured  young  lady,  whose  parents  are  residents  of 
M.assae  County,  Benton  Precinct,  where  Father 
llille  has  engaged  I'n  agriculture  for  twenty-eight 
years.  After  their  marriage,  our  subject  and  his 
estimable  wife  at  once  made  their  home  upon  the 
farm,  which  Mr.  David  devotes  mostly  to  the  rais- 
ing of  grain.  He  is,  however,  a  successful  stock- 
raiser,  handling  good  grades  of  hoi-ses  and  cattle, 
and  is  thoroughly  at  home  in  each  detail  of  agri- 
cultural pui-suits. 

The  valuable  farm  is  finely  improved  with  a  sub- 
stantial and  commodious  residence  and  a  good  barn 
and  outbuildings,  and  is  one  of  the  best  in  this 
part  of  Mass.ac  County,  its  thrifty  appearance  de- 
noting the  excellent  management  of  the  owner  of 
the  acres.     The  home  of  .Air.   and  :Mrs.   David   has 


514 


I'oinix'Ai  r  AM)  r.iocuAriiicAi.  ui'aikw. 


been  blessed  liy  tlu'  hiith  nf  two  Ijiijjlil  and  in- 
telligent childien:  Henjaniiii  Frederick  .loiiu  :ind 
Alme  Elizabeth  Mary.  Politically  our  .subject  is 
a  Republican,  and  a  strong  advocate  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  platform  of  the  i)arty.  In  religious 
conviction  he  atliliates  with  tiie  Lutheran  Evan- 
gelical Ciiurch,  and  both  he  and  his  good  wife  are 
active  in  the  promotion  of  benevolent  work,  and 
ever  ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand  in  behalf  of  the 
suffering  and  unfortunate.  An  excellent  business 
man,  Mr.  David  is  also  a  public-spirited  citizen, 
and  a  prominent  factor  in  tiie  various  local  enter- 
prises and  improvements  of  his  home  neighbor- 
hood, where  he  and  his  wife  occupy  a  high  social 
position,  and  enjoy  the  confidence  of  a  large  cir- 
cle of  old-titne  friends. 


-^  -^^^>^^<m^-<- 


^^  EORGE  W.  LAIRD,  8r.,  a  prosperous  farmer 
|l[  (— -,  and  highly-respected  citizen,  and  a  native 
*^^jj(  of  Massac  County,  111.,  now  residing  upon 
section  4,  township  15,  range  4,  near  Metropolis, 
has  spent  his  entire  life  amid  his  ju'esent  surround- 
ings and  is  widely  known  as  an  energetic,  indus- 
trio\is  and  intelligent  citizen,  foremost  in  the  pro- 
motion of  local  improvements  and  public  welfare. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  born  in  New  York 
State  and  when  about  twenty-five  years  of  age 
went  West,  and  locating  for  a  short  lime  in  Indi- 
ana, there  was  married  to  Miss  Susan  Barnhardt,  a 
lady  of  German  descent.  AVith  his  wife  James 
Laird  then  came  to  Massac  County,  and  made  his 
home  about  where  Metropolis  now  stands.  The 
surrounding  country  was  yet  in  its  primitive  con- 
dition and  sparsely  settled,  the  rude  cabins  of  the 
pioneers  dotting  the  prairies  at  intervals  of  miles. 
Father  i>aird  at  first  accepted  any  work  he  could 
find,  laboriously  chopping  wood  and  engaging  in 
various  employments.  He  soon  secured  forty  acres 
near  by,  and  meantime  cng.aged  at  fair  wages  in 
farming  duties,  and  being  a  prudent  man  and  good 
manager,  saved  his  money  and  later  entered  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  wild  timber-land,  upon 


wliicii  he  l)uill  a  cabin,  and  with  iiis  good  wife 
entered  into  the  self-sacrificing  experiences  of  the 
early  pioneers  of  civilization. 

At  that  time  churches  and  schoolhouses  of  even 
the  most  primitive  descrijjtion  were  few  and  far 
between,  and  the  only  mills  in  the  State  were  run 
by  horse  power.  Clearing  the  land,  cultivating 
the  soil  and  improving  the  homestead  with  sub- 
stantial buildings,  James  Laird  passed  his  useful 
life  and  remained  upon  his  farm  until  his  death,  in 
l.S7(i.  He  was  eminently  a  self-made  man,  of 
strong  character  and  earnest  purpose,  and  with 
but  the  most  limited  opportunities  for  an  educa- 
tion, improved  himself  bj'  close  observation  and 
commanded  the  esteem  of  all  his  neighbors.  His 
devoted  wife  survived  him  ten  years,  passing  away 
in  1886.  The  thirteen  children  born  in  the  old 
Laird  homestead  were:  John,  who  died  young; 
Henry,  who  lived  to  be  sixty-three;  Mary,  de- 
ceased; James,  a  Massac  County  farmer;  Hiram 
and  Eliza,  deceased;  William,  a  prosperous  agri- 
culturist of  the  county;  Franklin,  also  a  tiller  of 
the  soil  in  Massac  County;  George  W.,  our  sub- 
ject; Sarah  and  Perry,  deceased;  Isaac,  a  farmer 
of  Johnson  County;  and  Susan,  the  youngest, 
wlio  died  when  three  years  old.  Our  subject,  the 
ninth  cliihl,  was  born  in  Massac  County  December 
11,  1835,  and,  reared  to  assist  in  the  hard  work  of 
the  farm,  enjoyed  little  schooling,  but  well  im- 
proved the  brief  time  he  spent  in  the  log  house, 
where  the  scholars  sat  upon  the  primitive  slab 
seats,  supported   with  large  wooden  pins  for  legs. 

Arriving  at  twenty-one  years  of  age,  Mv.  Laird 
left  the  home  of  liis  parents  and  began  life  for 
himself  and  about  this  period  married  Miss 
Amanda  J.  Lemons,  a  Kentucky  lad^',  who  died 
some  quarter  of  a  century  since.  AVedding  a  sec- 
ond time,  our  subject  was  then  united  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Mary  J.  Parker,  of  Tennessee,  who 
passed  away  in  the  spring  of  1883.  Again  marrying, 
our  subject  took  unto  himself  as  wife  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth M.  AVood,  also  of  Tennessee.  By  his  first  un- 
ion Mr.  Laird  became  the  father  of  three  children: 
James,  Nancy  and  Susan,  now  all  deceased.  The 
seven  sons  and  daughters  of  the  second  marriage 
were:  William  and  Mary,  deceased;  Ida,  the  wife 
of  Thomas  Baughn;  Georgic  A.,  of  Paducah,  Kj.; 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


515 


Benjamin  Franklin,  at  liome  with  his  fatlici-; 
Sarah  Fannie,  at  home;  Jessie,  also  at  home.  The 
one  cliihl  nf  the  third  niarriaijo  is  the  bright  little 
(laughter  Sadie,  at  home  witli  her  parents.  Mrs. 
Laird,  a  most  estimable  lady,  is  a  valued  member 
uf  the  Christian  Church,  and  ably  assists  in  the 
good  work  of  that  religious  organization.  Polit- 
ically our  subject  is  a  strong  Democrat  and  a  firm 
supporter  of  the  part^-  of  the  people,  [le  has 
never  been  an  ottiee-seeker  but  has  been  content 
to  do  his  full  duty  at  the  polls,  and,  interested  in 
local  and  national  affairs,  has  ever  given  intelli- 
gent consideration  to  the  vital  question  of  the 
day.  IJeginning  life  on  a  capital  of  about  ^8,  he 
at  first  rented  a  farm,  upon  which  he  remained 
four  3'ears,  and  then  invested  his  savings  in  forty 
acres  of  woodland,  where  he  settled  with  his  fam- 
ily and  having  built  a  cabin  entered  vigorously 
into  clearing  up  the  laml.  wliiili  he  rapidly  im- 
proved and  at  the  expiiatiun  of  seven  years  sold 
at  a  good  piofit.  Mr.  Laird  then  bought  forty 
acre.s  where  he  now  resides  and  to  which  he  has 
since  added  forty  acres.  A  hard-vvorking  and  en- 
terprising man,  he  has  overcome  the  various 
misfortunes  and  trials  which  have  attended  his 
career,  and  has  honorably  won  his  upward  way 
to  an  assured  position  of  induence.  Meantime 
he  has  personally  witnessed  the  wonderful  growth 
and  rapid  advancement  of  the  i)ast  half-century 
and  for  fully  two-score  years  has  been  an  import- 
ant factor  in  the  upward  progress  of  his  home 
locality,  where  he  is  known  to  the  entire  commu- 
nity and  esteemed  as  a  pulilic-spirited  and  upright 
citizen. 


*^^[ 


m^mi 


1^^ 


AMUKL  D.  POOH,  one  of  the  early  settlers 
and  prominent  men  of  southern  Illinois, 
now  living  at  Metropolis,  was  born  in  F'en- 
tress  County,  Tenn.,  April  «,  1827.  His 
father,  Samuel  Poor,  was  born  in  North  Carolina 
and  was  a  hard-working  farmer,  living  for  the 
most  pari  on   rcnliMl    land.     His    familv,  after  re- 


moving from  North  Carolina  to  Tennessee,  lived 
on  the  bank  of  the  Wolf  River  in  a  log  house, 
and  it  was  in  lliis  humlile  alindf  that  Samuel  1). 
was  born. 

In  1835,  the  father  of  our  subject  started  to 
remove  to  Arkansas,  his  entire  wealth  consisting 
of  one  yoke  of  small  steers,  a  blind  .sorrel  mare 
and  about  ¥100  in  cash,  and  his  family  consisted 
of  himself,  wife  and  five  children.  While  passing 
through  Bowling  Green,  Ky.,  he  bought  Samuel 
D.  and  his  brother,  Benjamin  F.,  each  a  pair  of 
shoes,  the  first  pair  either  of  them  had  ever  had. 
This  was  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  and  !»s  the  weatlier 
was  getting  cold  he  concluded  to  remain  in  that 
vicinity  and  go  on  in  the  spring.  The  family 
went  into  camp  near  Friendship  Church,  and  dur- 
ing the  winter  the  journe3'  to  Arkansas  was  aban- 
doned. In  the  spring  of  183G  he  came  to  southern 
Illinois,  settling  in  .Johnson  County  at  a  time 
wluii  there  were  but  five  dwellings  between 
(irantsburg  and  A'ienna.  The  land  was  nearly  all 
owned  by  Government  and  was  selling  at  $1.25  an 
acre,  but  as  Mr.  Poor  had  no  money  then  with 
which  to  buy  he  had  to  earn  some  before  he  could 
make  his  first  entry.  lie  therefore  took  a  contract 
to  cut  out  a  set  of  barn  logs  for  .Joseph  McCorkle 
for  $50,  and  upon  the  receipt  of  this  money  en- 
tered forty  acres  of  Government  land. 

Mr.  Poor  and  his  family  cleared  up  of  this  land 
about  twenty  acres  the  first  year,  and  built  a  fence 
around  it.  About  this  time  he  and  his  daughter 
Nancy  died,  and  for  the  succeeding  two  or  three 
years  his  widow  and  the  rest  of  the  children  got 
along  .as  best  they  could  with  only  the  old  blind 
mare,  the  little  steers  having  been  sold  some  time 
before  in  order  to  buy  soaiething  to  eat.  Then 
Mrs.  Poor  married  again  and  afteratime  separated 
from  her  husband  and  sold  the  property,  after 
which  the  family  lived  for  some  time  on  rented 
land.  .She  soon  after  secured  a  home  for  Samuel 
D.  with  Joseph  McCorkle,  when  he  was  sixteen 
years  of  age,  the  understanding  being  that  he 
should  attend  school  a  part  of  the  time  and  when 
twenty  one  years  of  age  should  receive  a  horse,  a 
saddle  and  a  bridle.  When  he  was  twenty  years 
old,  however,  he  and  Mr.  McCorkle  had  a  inisun- 
derslanding  and  separated,   and  he  went  out  into 


516 


roiiTKAlT  AND  KI()(  J  RAIMIICAL  UKVIKW. 


the  world  for  himself.  His  first  work  was  to  carry 
the  mail  for  N.  15.  .Tinnett,  a  son-in-law  of  Mr.  Mc 
Corkle,  for  JG  per  month,  half  in  monej'  and  iialf 
in  clothes.  While  living  at  Mr.  Jinnctt's  lie  was  at- 
tacked witii  a  fever  of  some  kind  and  was  attended 
b}'  Dr.  Garey,  of  Vienna,  who  gave  liini  plenty  of 
calomel  and  left  strict  inbtractii)ns  that  he  should 
have  no  water  to  drink.  But  when  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Jinnett  were  asleep  he  got  out  of  bed  and  drank 
all  the  water  he  wanted  iind  immediately  began  to 
improve. 

After  terminating  liis  contract  witii  Mr.  Jinnett 
to  carry  tiie  mall,  Mr.  Poor  hired  out  to  a  Mr. 
William  Price  to  run  a  wool-carding  machine, 
which  Mr.  Price  lind  just  set  up  and  which  was  the 
first  machine  of  the  kind  in  southern  Illinois. 
Young  Poor  worked  at  this  business  for  about 
eighteen  months,  and  afterward  worked  land  on 
shares  for  A.  D.  Howell,  he  to  have  one-fourth  of 
the  crop.  He  was  next  occupied  for  six  months 
in  Mississippi,  on  Ozark  Island  No.  75,  cutting 
cordwood,  and  had  a  very  severe  experience  with 
the  floods  of  tiie  Mississippi  River,  and  witii  a 
number  of  liis  friends  had  the  cholera.  Re- 
turning to  Metropolis  riclier  in  experience  but 
poorer  in  purse  than  when  he  went  down  the 
river,  he  again  tried  working  land  on  shares  for 
Mr.  Howell.  He  did  not  meet  with  tlie  most 
gratifying  success,  and  refusing  to  become  clerk 
for  James  Hammonds,  of  Vienna,  he  with  some 
others  went  to  Missouri  and  there  worked  for 
James  Small  at  making  picket  fences  and  cutting 
cordwood.  They  then  worked  for  a  neighbor  of 
Mr.  Small,  and  after  a  time  returned  to  Mr.  How- 
ell's in  Illinois.  Soon  afterward  Samuel  bought 
the  improvoment  already  made  by  Benton  Mod- 
glin,  giving  llOO  for  the  improvement  and  taking 
the  risk  of  some  one  "entering  him  out"  before 
spring.  The  next  year  lie  bought  a  land  warrant 
covering  his  entry. 

When  he  was  twenty-seven  years  of  age  our 
subject  married  Sarah  Jane  Mount,  and  soon  after- 
ward bought  eighty  acres  of  his  father-in-law,  go- 
ing in  debt  for  the  entire  amount,  ii-SOO,  but  by 
the  time  the  war  came  on  he  had  two  hundred 
acres  of  land  all  paid  for.  In  1863  he  began  the 
business  of   mercliandising,   buying   out  a   lot  of 


goods,  including  five  barrels  of  whisky,  and  going 
in  debt  for  the  entire  amount,  ?600.  He  almost  im- 
mediatel}'  sold  tiie  whisky-  for  11(10  and  reduced 
the  indebtedness  to  $200.  In  the  summer  of  1863 
he  began  the  business  of  selling  goods  in  earnest, 
but  after  a  time  sold  out  to  J.  C.  Simpson  and  J.  T. 
Keith  and  again  became  connected  with  merchan- 
dising, continuing  in  tliis  line  until  1882,  when  he 
retired  for  the  purpose  of  settling  up  his  debts. 
In  1884  he  went  into  business  again  in  company 
with  L.  G.  Simmons  and  Nathan  Frizzell,  under 
the  (irm  name  of  S.  D.  Poor  A-  Co.,  which  business 
was  continued  for  some  years. 

Mr.  Poor  was  married  in  May,  1854,  to  Sarah 
Jane  Mount,  a  native  of  Johnson  County  and  a 
daughter  of  William  and  Nancy  Mount,  pioneers 
of  that  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Poor  raised  six 
children,  namely:  Jane,  who  married  Dr.  William 
J.  Fern;  Jasper  Newton;  Sidney,  who  married  L. 
II.  Frizzell,  a  druggist  of  ^'ienna;  Mary,  who  mar- 
ried Pleasant  G.  Burris,  a  merchant  of  Grants- 
burg;  Lizzie,  wife  of  Lewis  G.  Simmons,  a  merchant 
at  Metropolis,  and  Dora,  unmarried  and  living  at 
liome. 

Our  subject,  although  practically  uneducated  in 
his  youth,  is  possessed  of  considerable  literary 
ability,  and  in  1885  published  an  autobiography. 
One  year  later  he  published  a  work  entitled  "A 
Night  in  Dreamland,"  and  in  1889  a  work  en- 
titled '"A  Practical  Talk  on  Christianity  and  Pol- 
itics." 


\I?  AMES  H.  MORRIS,  Sit.,  an  honored  pioneer 
I  settler  of  Illinois  and  for  three-score  years 
^fp^  I  an  eye-witness  of  the  I'apid  growth  and  up- 
ij^//  ward  progress  of  the  State,  has  long  been 
identified  with  the  best  interests  of  Massac 
County,  and,  an  energetic  and  enterprising  citizen, 
has  ably  aided  in  local  advancement,  enjoying  the 
esteem  and  confidence  of  a  host  of  old-time  friends. 
Our  subject  is  a  native  Kentuckian  and  was  born 
in   Livingston  County,  Maroli   11,1824.     His  pa- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


517 


teiiial  grandfather  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
Kentucky  and  a  man  of  indomitable  will  and  cour- 
age, and  was  a  pioneer  compatriot  of  the  famous 
hunter,  Daniel  Boone.  His  son  Alfred,  the  father 
of  .lames  H..  Sr.,  was  born  and  reared  amid  the 
frontier  scenes  and  thrilling  experiences  incidental 
to  life  upon  the  borderland  of  civilization.  While 
a  boy  he  industriously  .assisted  in  the  labors  of  the 
farm  and  when  he  attained  to  his  majority'  re- 
moved to  Livingston  County,  where  he  married 
and  continued  to  engage  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil.  In  1833,  following  the  out-going  tide  of  em- 
igration, Father  Slorris  with  his  family  journeyed 
by  teams  to  Illinois,  and  located  in  that  part  of 
.Johnson  County-  now  included  in  IMassac  County, 
buying  a  tract  of  land  and  also  entering  (Gov- 
ernment land,  lie  built  a  log  house  upon  the 
land  he  had  first  purchased  about  three  miles  from 
Metropolis,  and  resided  there  a  number  of  years, 
finally  removing  to  a  second  homestead  about  a 
(piarter  of  a  mile  distant,  and  in  1850,  respected  by 
all  who  knew  him,  passed  away  in  the  home  of  our 
subject. 

The  wife  of  Alfred  Morris,  in  maidenhood  Miss 
lilizabeth  Iliggs,  was  a  native  of  Kentucky  and  a 
lady  of  ability  and  culture.  A  true  heli)niate  and 
devoted  wife  and  mother,  she  spent  a  life  of  bus}' 
usefulness  and  preceded  her  husband  to  the  better 
land,  dying  in  18-13.  Our  subject  was  but  a  lad  of 
nine  years  when  his  parents  came  to  Illinois,  and 
well  remembeis  the  details  of  the  journey  and 
many  incidents  of  travel.  In  1833  the  country  in 
which  the  family-  located  was  sparsely  settled  and 
most  of  the  land  w.as  yet  owned  bj-  the  Govern- 
ment. Deer  and  wild  turkeys  were  plentiful,  and 
there  were  still  many  Indians  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  home.  Mr.  Morris  attended  the  pioneer  school 
of  the  neighborhood  held  in  a  little  log  house 
without  floor  or  chimney'.  In  cold  weather  a  fire 
was  built  in  the  middle  of  the  structure  and  the 
pupils  were  seated  on  piles  of  rails  laid  upon  blocks 
for  seats.  There  were  no  windows  in  the  little 
cabin  and  the  doors,  made  of  boards,  were  wired 
and  riveted  by  hand  to  the  primitive  building. 
Until  his  marriage  our  subject  continued  to  reside 
with  his  father,  who  gave  him  ftirty  acres  upon 
which  to  begin  life   for    liinisolf.      .M.iking   earnest 


preparation  for  the  future,  he  built  upon  his  tract 
of  wild  timber  land  a  humble  log  cabin  and  was 
then  ready  to  care  for  a  wife. 

Upon  June  8,  1843,  .lames  II.  Morris  and  Miss 
Lucinda  Little  were  united  in  marriage  and  imme- 
diately took  possession  of  the  new  home.  Mrs. 
Morris  was  born  in  what  is  now  Massac  County 
January  22,  182."),  and  is  the  daughter  of  Robert 
Little,  who  was,  it  is  believed,  born  in  South  Car- 
olina and  removed  thence  to  Tennessee,  coming 
from  the  latter  State  to  I  llinois,  and  being  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  the  new  Territory,  which  then  had 
a  large  population  of  Indians  but  numbered  com- 
paratively few  white  residents  within  its  bounda- 
ries. For  some  years  i\Ir.  Little  lived  near  the 
present  site  of  Vienna,  and  finally  locating  in 
what  is  now  Massac  County,  settled  upon  Govern- 
ment land,  afterward  buying  fort^'  acres  near  the 
river,  ten  miles  from  Metropolis,  in  which  pleasant 
vicinity  he  continued  to  make  his  home  until  hi.s 
death.  He  was  a  man  of  native  ability  and  ster- 
ling integrit}-  and  was  well  adapted  to  meet  the 
difficulties  of  pioneer  life.  His  excellent  wife,  Mrs. 
Sarah  (Copeland)  Little,  was  a  native  of  South 
Carolina  and,  highly-  respected,  spent  her  last  days 
in  Massac  County.  There  were  no  railroads  in 
M.assac  County  until  long  after  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morris, and  the  people  lived  frugally 
off  the  products  of  their  land.  The  good  wife  of 
our  subject  used  to  card,  spin  and  weave  and 
dressed  her  children  in  homespun  garments  made 
by  her  own  hands.  The  husband  and  wife  have 
continued  to  be  constant  residents  of  their  home- 
stead through  all  the  changing  years  and  have  now 
one  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  all  under 
high  cultivation.  The  happy  Ikiuic  has  been 
blessed  by  the  birth  of  ten  children.  The  sons 
and  daughters  were:  Alfred  H.,  Albion,  Kathan  E., 
Jeremiah,  Isaac,  James  II.,  Jane,  Alice,  Colfax  and 
Clarinda,  Sarah  died  at  the  age  of  ten  years,  and 
one  child  died  in  infancy.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morris 
have  twenty-five  intelligent  and  promising  grand- 
children and  one  great-grandchild.  Now  nearing 
the  evening  of  his  years  with  calm  serenity,  our 
subject  may  well  rejoice  in  the  contemplation  of 
his  well-spent  life,  and  to  his  numerous  descend- 
ants will  l)e<|ui'ntli    the   memory  of   his    many    vir- 


il8 


POlM'KAir  AND  mOGRAPHICAl.  KKVIKW. 


tiics  and  ii  name  unstained  by  dishonest  word  or 
deed.  A  true  American,  lie  Ii:is  bravely  faced  each 
duty  of  life  uinl  won  lii~:  upward  way  willi  .•^elf- 
reliant  energy. 


r 


^^^EOUOE  OTTO  1500S,  a  citizen  of  township 
II  ^=;  !•'>  range  6,  Johnson  County,  was  born 
^3l  '»  Hat^en,  Germany,  May  12,  IS."??.  His 
father,  George  John  Boos,  was  al.so  bom  in  liaden 
and  was  a  son  of  George  Boos.  The  grandi)arents 
of  (ieorge  Otto  spent  their  entire  lives  in  Germany, 
and  his  father  and  sister  vvere  the  only  members  of 
the  famil}'  that  ever  came  to  the  United  States. 
This  sister,  who  was  named  Mary,  inarried  a  Mr. 
Smith  and  lived  in  Galena,  111.,  some  years.  After 
her  husband's  death  in  Galena  she  went  to  Cali- 
fornia with  her  children  and  died  in  that  State. 
George  John  Boos,  the  father  of  our  subject,  learned 
the  trade  of  a  tanner  and  followed  this  occupation 
in  Baden  until  1842,  when,  with  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren, he  came  to  the  Un  ited  States.  He  sailed  from 
Havre  in  the  winter  season  and  after  a  voyage  of 
ninety  days  landed  in  New  Orleans,  whence  he 
came  up  the  river  to  Louisville,  and  followed  his 
trade  until  the  death  of  his  wife,  after  which  he 
went  to  Golconda  and  spent  the  rest  of  his  days 
with  his  son,  George  Otto.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife  was  Catherine  Steedley.  She  was  born  in 
Baden  and  died  in  I^ouisvillo,  having  reared  six 
children,  namely:  Catherine,  Fanii_y,  Julia,  Charles, 
(ieorge  Otto  and  Amelia. 

George  Otto  was  five  years  old  when  brought  to 
the  I'niled  States  by  his  parents,  and  he  remained 
with  them  until  he  was  thirteen,  when  he  started 
life  for  himself.  He  was  occupied  in  various  kinds 
of  work  for  several  years  and  then  he  became  a  llat- 
boatman  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississiiipi  Rivers,  con- 
tinuing in  this  until  twenty-one  years  of  age,  when 
ho  rented  land  and  engaged  in  farming  one  year. 
He  then  bought  a  tract  of  land  and  followed  farm- 
ing until  18()2,  when  he  removed  to  Golconda  and 


engaged  in  loaming  and  contracting,  making  the 
brick  for  an<l  erecting  the  present  schoolliouse  in 
that  place.  In  1879  he  started  a  grocery  and 
bakery,  which  he  conducted  one  year,  ran  the  ferry 
boat  one  year,  and  then  engaged  in  the  liver^^ 
business,  in  which  he  has  been  engaged  ever  since. 
In  addition  to  this  business  our  subject  operates 
his  farm,  which  lies  adjacent  to  the  city.  He  was 
married  in  1859  to  Mary  Margaret  Plater,  a  native 
of  Pope  County,  and  a  daughter  of  Cliristian  and 
Barbara  Plater,  natives  of  Germany.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Boos  have  ten  children,  namely:  Lizzie, 
George,  Fanny,  Charles,  Annie,  William,  Ellis, 
Guy,  Etlie  and  Ella.  Mr.  Boos  is  a  Democrat  in 
politics,  and  is  an  enterprising,  industrious  and 
honest  citizen. 


llfOSEPH  W.  ISIYRES,  Superintendent  and 
Manager  of  the  Metropolis  Creamery,  is  one 
of  the  prominent  young  business  men  of  this 
^^^i  cit3-.  He  is  the  son  of  John  C.  and  Eliza- 
beth (French)  Myres,  both  of  whom  are  now  de- 
ceased. Their  surviving  children  are  eight  in 
number,  namely:  Thomas  S.,  a  resident  of  Clinton 
County;  William  J.,  who  also  makes  his  home  in 
Clinton  Count}';  Joseph  W.,  of  this  sketch;  John 
C.  and  Madison  D.,  who  reside  in  Iowa;  Rosa  Lee. 
a  missionary  in  Africa,  residing  eight  hundred 
miles  in  the  interior;  Nettie  J.,  who  lives  in  Iowa, 
and  Callie  E.,  Mrs.  Edward  Turner,  of  Shenan- 
doah, Iowa.     Two  children   died  in  infancy. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  notice  was  liorn 
in  Clinton  County,  December  19,  1858, and  passed 
his  boyhood  in  much  the  usual  manner  of  farmer 
lads,  alternating  work  upon  the  farm  with  attend- 
ance at  the  district  schools.  His  mother  died  when 
he  was  twelve  years  old,  and  six  years  later  he  was 
wholly  orphaned  by  his  father's  death,  which  threw 
him  upon  his  own  resources.  After  farming  for  a 
time,  he  embarked  in  the  sawmill  business,  and 
became  familiar  with  the  details  of  that  work.  In 
March,  1878,  he  came  to  Massac  County  and  here 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


519 


engaged  in    the  sawmill   business   until  be   leased 
tlie  creanieiy  on  the  1st  of  January.  1892. 

In  Uecember.  1883,  Joseph  W.  Myres  and  Sarah 
Brown  were  united  in  marriage  in  Perry  Count}'. 
They  have  become  the  parents  of  seven  children, 
whose  names  are:  AVilliam,  Charles,  Mary  and 
Warren  (  twins ),  Andrew,  Laura  and  Lavina 
(twins).  William  and  Andrew  are  deceased;  the 
other  children  are  at  home.  Jlr.  Myres  believes  in 
education  and  is  giving  his  children  ever}-  oppor- 
tunity for  becoming  well  informed  and  intelligent. 
The  business  in  which  he  is  at  present  engaged 
is  one  to  which  he  is  peculiarly  adapted,  and  with- 
out doubt  through  his  efforts  it  will  become  one 
of  the  successful  and  prominent  enterprises  of 
Metropolis.  In  his  political  belief  he  is  a  strong 
adherent  of  the  Republican  party.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Free  Methodist  Church,  while  his 
wife  is  identified  with  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
denomination. 


♦^^l 


1I*N^ 


|>}ILLL\M  M.  LANGE,  an  energetic  and 
prosperous  citizen,  successfully  cultivating 
his  fine  farm  located  upon  section  .35, 
iiiwiiship  15,  range  4,  in  Massac  Count}',  near 
Metropolis,  111.,  gave  faithful  and  gallant  service 
ill  behalf  of  national  existence,  but  is  a  native  of 
Prussia,  Germany,  and  was  born  in  1839.  His 
father,  Christian  Lange,  born,  educated  and  mar- 
ried in  Prussia,  also  farmed  in  the  Fatherland  until 
he  was  fifty  years  of  age,  when  he  decided  to  emi- 
grate to  .\meriea.  lie  had  enjoyed  but  limited  edu- 
cational advantages,  but  was  a  man  of  intelligence 
and  was  well  versed  in  primary  studies.  Finally 
deciding  to  try  his  fortunes  in  the  New  World  be- 
yond the  seas,  he  engaged  p.ass.age  for  himself  and 
family  at  Bremen,  from  which  city  he  embarked 
upon  a  sailing-vessel,  and  after  a  wearisome  voy- 
age of  twenty-five  days,  safely  landed  at  Balti- 
more. Having  sold  his  farm  in  the  Old  Country, 
Christian  Lange  had  still  a  little  money  left  when 
he  reached  port,  and  almost  immediately  settling 


in  Dearborn  County,  Ind.,  there  bought  land,  which 
he  industriously  cultivated  until  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  May.  18G9. 

When  Father  Lange  emigrated  to  the  United 
j  States,  his  family  consisted  of  his  wife  and  six 
sturdy  sons:  Fred,  the  eldest-born,  is  now  de- 
ceased; Christopher  is  an  Indiana  farmer;  Anton 
is  dece.ised;  William  M.  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  and  Henry  and  Charley  also  reside  in  In- 
diana. Three  other  children  came  into  the  home, 
all  of  whom  passed  aw.ay  at  an  early  period.  Our 
subject  was  only  eleven  years  of  age  when  he  ar- 
rived in  this  country,  but  had  already  received  a 
fair  German  education,  afterward  supplemented 
by  instruction  in  English  studies.  He  remained 
upon  his  father's  farm  until  twenty-two  years  old, 
when  came  the  cry  "to  arms,"  and  in  1861  the 
whole  country  was  upon  the  verge  of  most  troub- 
lous times.  Mr.  Lange  appreciated  the  advan- 
tages offered  him  by  our  Republican  government, 
and  loyally  engaged  in  the  defense  of  the  Union, 
enlisting  August  5,  1861,  in  Company  K,  Twenty- 
sixth  Indiana  Infantry,  bravely  serving  until  the 
12th  of  ^larch,  1863,  \vhen  on  account  of  physical 
disability  he  was  honorably  discharged  from  duty. 
He  had  actively  participated  in  numerous  battles 
and  skirmishes,  and  was  wounded  in  the  left  arm 
by  a  gunshot;  in  March,  1862,  he  had  his  right 
shoulder  dislocated  at  Prairie  Grove,  Ark.,  and 
upon  December  7,  1862,  was  removed  to  the  hospi- 
tal at  Fayetteville.  His  shoulder  having  been  dis- 
located ami  broken,  Mr.  Lange  went  home  upon  a 
furlough,  which  lasted  for  two  months.  After  his 
discharge  at  Springfield,  Mo.,  he  returned  to  Indi- 
ana, and  later  was  married  to  Miss  Annie  Nei- 
meyer,  and  renting  a  farm  went  to  work  for  him- 
self. He  engaged  in  the  pui-suit  of  agricultural 
duties  in  Indiana  four  yeai-s,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  time  he  located  in  Massac  County,  III.,  at 
firet  settling  about  eight  miles  from  Metropolis. 

Not  long  afterward,  our  subject  purchased  the 
land  where  he  now  resides,  and  \vhicli  he  has 
brought  up  to  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  improv- 
ing the  farm  with  excellent  and  commodious  out- 
buildings and  a  fine  residence.  Seven  children 
have  blessed  the  home  with  their  bright  and  in- 
telligent presence.     Charley,  the  eldest,  is  now  a 


520 


l'()i:rKAIT  AND    mOGRAl'lUCAL    REVIEW. 


farmer  at  Mansfield,  111.;  William  farms  in  Massac 
County;  Frank  is  a  successful  traveling  salesman; 
Henry  and  George  are  now  deceased;  and  Thomas 
and  Edward  reside  witli  tlicir  parents.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lange  arc  valued  members  of  the  Congrega- 
tionol  Church  at  Metropolis,  and  arc  prominently 
identified  with  the  good  work  and  social  and 
benevolent  enterprises  of  that  denomination.  Po- 
litically, our  subject  is  an  ardent  Republican  and 
a  firm  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  party. 
As  a  friend,  sincere  and  true;  as  a  soldier,  faith- 
ul  in  the  performance  of  each  duty  assigned  him, 
and  as  an  American  citizen,  upholding  truth 
and  justice,  Mr.  Lange  has  worthily  obtained  the 
regard  and  confidence  of  the  general  public,  who 
thoroughly  appreciate  and  respect  his  energetic 
industry  and  sterling  integrity  of  character. 


b<"T">ti 


\I^OBERT  WILLIAMS,  a  farmer  living  on  sec- 
[ts^  tion  26,  townsliip  15,  range  4,  Massac 
*\  County,  and  carrying  on  market  gardening 
to  a  large  extent,  is  a  son  of  Isaac  Will- 
iams, who  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  a  farmer 
living  in  the  vicinity  of  Bowling  Green.  Isaac 
Williams  was  married  there  to  Nancy  Scott,  also  a 
native  of  Kentucky-,  and  to  tlieir  marriage  were 
born  ten  children:  Robert;  Thomas,  John,  Sarah 
and  Mary,  deceased;  Melvina,  wife  of  Peter  Hun- 
gerford;  Elizabeth;  Daniel;  and  two  others  that 
died  in  infancy.  In  the  year  18.36,  the  family 
removed  to  Posey  County,  Ind.,  where  they  rented 
land  two  years,  and  afterward  removed  to  Pike 
County,  of  the  same  State.  There  the}' had  eighty 
acres  of  land,  which  was  given  to  Mr.  AVilliams  b^' 
an  uncle,  and  upon  this  they  located  and  lived  for 
a  time;  but  on  account  of  the  milk  sickness,  they 
were  unable  to  remain,  and  so  were  compelled  to 
give  up  that  place.  In  1838,  they  therefore  re- 
moved to  Greene  Count}',  1 11.,  six  miles  southeast  of 
CarroUton,  where  the}'  squatted  on  land  and  lived 
there  eight  or  nine  years,  removing  thence  to  Jef- 
ferson County,  where  they  laid  a  Black  Il.iwk  land 


warrant  upon  a  tract  of  eighty  acres,  and  remained 
four  years,  improving  the  land  and  hauling  rails 
nearly  four  miles  with  which  to  fence  it.  This 
was  an  unusual  thing  for  them,  as  they  had  al- 
ways lived  on  timber  farms,  and  had  had  plenty  of 
rails  for  fencing.  In  fact,  timber  had  always  been 
very  much  in  the  wa\',  and  having  to  haul  rails  so 
far  was  a  novel  experience  indeed.  They  remained 
on  this  place  and  improved  it,  practicing  the  same 
industry  and  economy  that  had  characterized 
them  always  before.  From  Jefferson  County  they 
removed  to  .lohnson  County,  and  took  up  forty 
acres  of  school  land,  and  commenced  once  again 
to  make  a  farm  and  home.  To  this  end  they  first 
built  a  log  cabin,  moved  into  it  and  began  pio- 
neer life  for  the  fourth  time. 

Mr.  Williams  succeeded  in  making  of  this  land  a 
fairly  good  farm  and  home,  and  remained  there 
until  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1857.  His  widow,  who  as  a  wife  had  divided  his 
sorrows  and  enlianced  his  joys,  subsequentl}'  re- 
moved to  Massac  County  and  died  there  in  18.511. 
Robert  Williams  was  the  first-born  of  the  family, 
and  is  the  only  one  now  living,  so  far  as  is  known. 
He  was  born  in  Hardin  County,  Ky..  August  6, 
1827.  His  youth  was  spent  upon  the  farm,  and 
he  was  in  early  life  inured  to  hard  work.  His 
father's  life  being  that  of  a  pioneer,  and  that  too 
of  a  roving  kind,  young  Robert's  opportunit}' 
for  securing  an  education  was  not  of  the  best, 
even  of  the  kind  that  then  existed.  His  chances 
were  mainly  those  of  hard  work  and  plenty 
of  it.  He  of  course  removed  with  his  parents 
from  place  to  place,  these  journeys  being  made 
mostly  on  horseback,  the  horses  carrying  all  tlie 
household  effects  and  goods  of  the  family.  Wag- 
ons, even  had  the}-  had  them,  would  have  been  for 
the  most  part  useless,  as  there  were  no  bridges 
across  the  streams  that  it  was  frequently  necessary 
to  cross. 

Robert  remained  with  his  parents  until  he  was 
nineteen  years  old,  when  he  started  out  to  begin 
life  for  himself,  having  as  capital  a  level  head, 
willing  hands  and  $1.50  in  money.  lie  first  en- 
gaged to  grub  out  the  timber  of  four  acres  of  land, 
for  which  he  was  to  receive,  if  he  proved  a  good 
hand   to  work,  twenty-five  cents  per  d.ay.     Being 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


521 


very  strong  and  accustomed  to  tliat  kind  of  work, 
he  completed  the  job  in  four  da\-s,  which  so  much 
pleased  his  employer  that  he  paid  him  ^\.2i).  He 
next  engaged  in  work  for  a  farmer  at  ^S  per 
month,  and  remained  there  a  _vear,  receiving  for 
his  year's  services  ^96.  lie  then  engaged  with  the 
same  farmer  another  year  for  ¥120,  and  1)3-  the 
end  of  the  second  year  he  had  saved  a  little  money, 
and  concluding  that  it  would  be  better  for  him 
to  marry  and  to  make  a  home  for  himself,  he  was 
united  to  Adeline  Morris,  a  native  of  Kentuckj'. 
Me  then  rented  a  farm  for  two  years  and  was  suc- 
cessful, but  later  removed  to  Massac  County, 
bought  an  unimproved  farm  of  forty  acres, on  sec- 
tion 21,  township  15,  range  4,  built  a  small  house 
upon  it,  and  went  to  work  for  himself,  clearing 
the  ground,  planting  an  orchard  and  otherwise 
improving  the  place.  lie  lived  there  twelve  yeare, 
then  sold  the  farm  and  during  the  war  moved 
back  to  Johnson  County,  where  he  bought  eight}' 
acres  in  what  is  now  Elvira  Township,  northwest 
from  Vienna  seven  miles,  moved  into  a  log  cabin, 
planted  an  orchard,  made  a  home  and  lived  there 
until  1867.  He  then  sold  that  farm  and  returned 
to  Massac  County,  where  for  three  j-ears  he 
rented  land,  afterward  buying  eighty  acres  of  land 
on  section  21,  township  15,  range  4,  which  was 
without  improvement.  He  built  on  this  land  a 
house  and  barn,  cleared  up  portions  of  it,  and  )-e- 
maincd  upon  it  until  tlie  winter  of  1888,  when  he 
secured  the  place  upon  which  he  now  lives,  which 
consisted  of  twenty  improved  acres,  but  was  not 
in  good  condition.  He  remodeled  and  further  im- 
proved the  premises,  and  made  of  it  a  comfortable  i 
home.  His  first  wife  died  in  18.">G,and  he  was  mar- 
ried the  second  time,  in  the  fall  of  18G0,  to  the 
widow  of  Franklin  Hand,  who  died  in  18G2.  In 
1863,  he  was  married  to  Jane  Kincher  wlio  died  in 
1865,  and  he  was  next  married  to  Amanda  Leek, 
who  died  in  1K85. 

Our  subject  was  married  July  24,  1888,  to  Me- 
lissa J.  Manning,  a  native  of  Meigs  County,  Ohio, 
whose  mother  came  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Mass.ac 
County,  and  is  now  living  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Will- 
iams. By  his  first  marriage  our  subject  had  four 
children:  James,  deceased;  Jerry,  drowned  in 
Cache   Creek;    Robert,   living  in   Metropolis;  and 


Melvina,  who  died  when  young.  By  the  second 
marriage  there  was  one  child,  Ida,  deceased.  By  the 
third  marriage  there  were  three  children:  Grant 
and  Thomas  Benton,  both  living  in  Tennessee; 
and  Marv  Ann,  deceased.  By  the  fourth  marriage 
there  were  born  two  children:  one  that  died  in  in- 
fancy; and  Charlie,  living  at  home.  Politically, 
Mr.  Williams  is  a  Hepiiblicaii,  and  roligioush'  is  a 
member  of  the  Christian  Church. 


^^m^m 


W' 


^('AMES  A.  SIMl'SON,  tonsorial  artist.  Vi- 
enna, devoted  the  opening  3-ears  of  his 
manhood  to  the  service  of  his  country  on 
the  battlefields  of  the  South  during  the 
war,  and  his  courage  and  fidelity  to  the  cause  for 
which  he  fought  are  worthy'  of  all  honor.  He  is 
a  native  of  Johnson  Count}-,  born  in  Simpson 
Township  Jul}-  12,  1841,  and  a  son  of  William 
Simpson.  An  account  of  the  Simpson  family  is 
embodied  in  the  sketches  of  J.  B.  Kuykendall  and 

F.  M.  Simpson. 

AVhen  our  subject  was  five  weeks  old  he  was  left 
motherless,  and  his  sister,  Eliza  Perkins,  reared 
him,  giving  him  a  mother's  care.  He  was  brought 
up  on  a  farm,  and  was  educated  in  the  local  schools 
in  his  native  county.  Me  was  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  when  the  rebellion  broke  out, 
and  in  the  fall  of  that  j-ear  he  joined  the  brave 
boys  in  blue,  becoming  a  member  of  Company  D, 
in  the  famous  regiment  commanded  by  Col.  John 
A.  Logan,  the  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantiy.  lie 
took  an  active  part  in  its  campaigns  until  he  was 
sevcrel}-  wounded  in  the  right  shoulder  b}^  a  gun- 
shot at  the  battle  of  Ft.  Donelsoii,  August  15, 
1862.  This  disabled  him  for  a  lime,  and  he  was 
honorabl}-  discharged,  but  he  was  still  unwavering 
in  his  devotion  to  the  Old  Flag,  and  he  re-entered 
the  army  in  December,  1863,  enlisting  in  Conipan}- 

G,  Fourteenth  Illinois  Cavalr}-.  His  good  soldier- 
ship was  well  tested  in  the  various  skirmishes  and 
engagements  of  his  regiment  with  the  enemy,  and 
he  accompanied  it  on  the  Stoneman  raid,  in  (leor- 


:,-22 


PORTKArr  AND    HIOGRAPinCAI,    KKVIEW. 


giii.  In  an  encoiintc'i-  with  llii'  rebels  his  caplain 
was  wounded,  and  Mr.  Simpson  was  called  to  iiis 
assistance,  and  while  helping  him  was  captured. 
That  was  on  the  3d  of  August,  and  on  the  (ilh  he 
was  ushered  into  tiiat  dreadful  prison  stockade  at 
Andersonville.  He  was  confined  there  until  the 
following  October,  and  was  then  transferred  to  the 
Florence  Prison,  in  South  Carolina,  where  he  re- 
mained until  the  close  of  the  war.  After  being 
liberated  from  his  terrible  confinement,  he  was 
sent  to  Annapolis,  Md.,  and  thence  to  Benton  Bar- 
racks, at  St.  Louis.  There  he  was  given  leave  of 
absence  for  twenty  days,  and  at  the  expiration  of 
that  time  returned  to  St.  Louis,  whence  he  was 
sent  to  Springfield,  and  at  the  Capitol  City  he  re- 
ceived his  discharge,  in  May,  1865. 

A  war-worn  veteran,  though  still  young  in 
years,  our  subject  returned  to  Vienna,  and  for  two 
years  was  unable  to  do  any  labor.  From  that  time 
he  was  variously  emplo3'ed  until  1879,  when  he 
established  himself  in  his  present  business,  at  which 
he  is  doing  well,  having  a  well-appointed  shop 
and  many  patrons.  He  is  a  member  of  Vienna 
Post  No.  221,  G.  A.  R.  In  politics,  he  is  a  con- 
sistent Republican,  voting  as  he  fought. 

Mr.  Simpson  was  happily  married  in  18fi9  to 
Miss  Lulu  Arrison,  and  they  are  blessed  with  seven 
children:  AVilliam  J.,  Polk,  Tliomas,  Fred,  Fannie, 
Ruthie  and  George  W. 


^^ 


^ 


^^,  R.DAVID  O.  MELTON,  veterinary  sur- 
geon. There  are  times  wiien,  glancing 
over  the  life  records  of  persons,  it  seems 
absolutely  necessary  to  use  that  often 
much-abused  phrase  "self-made  man,"  but  this  ex- 
pression is  true  of  Dr.  Melton,  for  when  quite 
young  he  started  out  to  fight  life's  iwttles  for  him- 
self with  no  visible  means  of  support,  and  by  euergj- 
and  determination  bent  the  force  of  circumstances 
to  his  will  and  is  now  possessed  of  a  reasonable 
iiicdMie.  Wilford  Melton,  liis  worthy  sire,  was 
lidiii  in   Indiana,  January  4,  1812,  and  his  youth- 


ful days  were  characterized  b}'  that  hard  work 
which  is  ever  the  lot  of  the  pioneer  farmer's  boy. 
Since  1888  he  has  been  a  resident  of  Kentucky, 
and  there  he  expects  to  spend  the  remainder  of 
his  da^'S.  He  was  married  in  18.35,  to  Miss  Fliza- 
beth  Snider,  of  Indiana,  the  fruits  of  which  union 
are  seven  children:  Jessie  J.  and  Malinda,  de- 
ceased; Isaac  J.,  a  successful  farmer;  Catherine, 
wife  of  I.  G.  Birdwell;  David  O.;  Sid  E.,  a  resi- 
dent of  Indiana,  and  Austin,  who  is  a  medical 
practitioner  of  ability. 

In  the  State  of  Indiana  Dr.  David  O.  Mellon 
first  saw  the  light  of  day  on  the  8th  of  August, 
1847,  .and  there,  like  his  father  before  him,  he  re- 
ceived a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  intricacies  of 
farming  during  the  days  of  his  youth  and  secured 
a  practical  insight  into  the  common-school  branches 
in  the  old-time  log  schoolhouse,  furnished  in  the 
most  primitive  style,  and  which  was  presided  over 
by  the  "Hoosier schoolmaster,"  whose  firm  belief  it 
was  that  "sparing  the  rod  would  spoil  the  child." 
Notwithstanding  the  drawbacks  from  which  the 
youth  of  those  days  were  compelled  to  suffer, 
David  succeeded  in  imbibing  considerable  learning, 
at  any  rate,  a  suflicient  amount  to  fit  him  for  the 
successful  conduct  of  the  affairs  to  which  his  atten- 
tion has  been  given.  At  the  age  of  twenty  years 
he  began  selling  papers  on  the  IMobile  Si  Ohio 
Railroad,  running  into  Mobile,  Ala.,  but  after  a 
time  began  working  in  a  commission  house  in 
Cairo,  III.,  where  he  remained,  faithfully  laboring 
in  the  interests  of  his  employers  until  18G7,  at 
which  time '  he  began  laboring  on  a  farm  in 
Indiana,  and  for  three  years  he  followed  this 
very  healthy  employment.  In  the  year  1871  he  be- 
came a  resident  of  Metropolis,  111.,  bought  a  tract 
of  land  near  the  town  and  since  then  his  time  has 
been  absorbed  in  improving  and  cultivating  his 
land,  which  has  abundantly  responded  to  his  ef- 
forts and  is  one  of  the  admirably  kept  farms  of 
the  county,  yielding  a  reasonable  and  satisfac- 
tory income.  In  1875  he  fitted  himself  for  the 
practice  of  veterinary  surgery,  and  since  that  time 
has  had  a  wide  practice  in  southern  Illinois.  His 
well-established  characteristics  of  industry  and 
])erseverance  have  brought  him  safe  returns,  and 
although  he  is  prudent  in  the  use  of  his  means,  he 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


523 


is  not  at  all  penurious,  and  when  called  upon  to 
do  so  has  given  liberally  of  his  means  to  worthy 
entcr])rises. 

During  the  lamentable  struggle  between  the 
North  and  Soutli,  he  served  in  Companj-  E,  of  the 
'I'liirteenth  Indiana  CavaUy,  for  one  hundred  and 
five  days,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  was  mus- 
tered out  of  the  service.  On  the  10th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1868,  our  subject  was  married,  his  wife 
being  Miss  Emily  J.  Espy,  daughter  of  David 
Esp}-,  of  Indiana,  and  the  result  of  their  union 
is  four  children,  tlic  eldest  of  whom,  Olethie, 
is  deceased.  Emily  E.,  Maud  S.  and  David  O.  are 
at  home.  Mr.  Melton  has  always  been  a  patron 
of  education  and  is  giving,  and  expects  to  give, 
his  cliildren  good  advantages  in  this  respect,  for 
he  is  aware  of  the  fact  that  a  good  education  is 
something  that  can  neither  be  sold  nor  given 
away,  that  it  is  a  liberal  capital  in  itself,  and  is 
like  a  good  name,  "rather  to  be  desired  than  great 
riches."  Mr.  Melton  has  always  been  a  supporter 
of  Republican  principles,  but  is  b3'  no  means  an  ac- 
tive politician. 


'4i^^l^B^ 


WlOHN  S.  GODD.VRD  makes  his  abode  in 
Buruside  Township,  .lohnson  County,  lie 
was  born  in  Williamson  Count}-,  May  10, 
1837.  His  father.  John  C.  Goddard,  was 
b(Mi)  in  Buncombe  County,  N.  C,  September  30. 
1797.  He  was  a  son  of  William  Goddard,  who  was 
a  farmer  of  North  Carolina,  and  his  wife  was 
Nanc}'  Cooper,  who  died  young,  leaving  this  one 
child,. lobn  C.  William  Goddard  was  married  the 
second  time,  to  Miss  Ellen  Cochrane.  They  then 
removed  to  Tennessee,  and  from  Tennessee  the}' 
came  to  Illinois  at  an  early  day,  squatted  on  Gov- 
ernment land,  and  died  in  middle  age,  .Tolin  C. 
fioddard  married  .Susan  Casey,  daughter  of  Levi 
and  Mary  (Sherrel)  Casey.  They  were  farmers  in 
.lohnson  County  on  Government  land,  and  had 
eleven  children,  six  sons  and  five  daughters,  of 
whom  .lohn  S.  w.as  the  seventh  child  and  liflh  son 


in  order  of  birth.  The  father  died  in  185.5,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-eight,  and  his  widow  died  in  1872,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-eight  years.  They  rest  in  the  lit- 
tle graveyard  west  of  Creal  Springs.  Grandfather 
Casey  and  his  family  were  among  the  early  settlers 
in  Bloomtield  Township. 

.John  .S.  Goddard  w.as  reared  at  home  and  to  hard 
work,  and  received  but  limited  education.  He 
lived  at  home  until  his  marriage.  In  the  summer 
of  18G2  he  enlisted  in  Compan}'  F,  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-eighth  Illinois  Infantry,  under  Capt.  51.  R. 
Allen.  He  was  in  the  service  nearly  three  years, 
and  w.as  mustered  out  at  the  close  of  the  war  .as  a 
member  of  the  Nintli  Illinois,  with  which  regiment 
his  was  early  consolidated.  He  served  in  Com- 
panies K  and  B  of  the  Ninth,  and  when  mustered 
out  was  a  Sergeant.  He  was  captured  near  Home, 
Ga.,  and  was  a  prisoner  six  months,  during  which 
time  he  was  a  prisoner  at  Cahaba,  Milan  and  Ander- 
sonville.  Those  six  months  were  worse  than  all 
his  active  service  put  together.  He  was  in  over 
sixty  battles  and  skirmishes,  and  upon  returning 
home  was  in  very  poor  health.  He  lived  a  few 
years  upon  his  mother's  farm  after  his  marriage  to 
Mary  E.  Wood,  of  Pennsylvania,  daughter  of  Will- 
iam C.  and  Phebe  C.  (Frost)  Wood,  who  came  to 
Illinois,  settling  in  Pope  County,  in  18.55,  and 
soon  afterward  to  Johnson  County.  Her  father 
died  on  his  farm  in  Burnside  Township  in  1870, 
at  the  age  of  nft}--five  years.  His  widow  is  still 
living  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goddard,  now  seventy 
years  old.  She  has  buried  ten  children,  three  sons 
and  seven  daughters,  and  Jlrs.  (ioddard  is  the  onl}' 
surviving  child. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goddard  iiave  lived  in  Williamson 
County  most  of  their  married  lives,  but  in  1880 
the}-  removed  from  their  present  home  to  a  forty- 
acre  tr.act  of  land  near  their  present  home.  They 
have  now  two  fortj'-acre  farms.  They  built  their 
large  frame  house  in  1887.  The}-  have  buried 
three  small  children,  and  have  eight  living, 
four  sons  and  four  daughters,  viz:  William  A., 
twenty-three  years  old;  Thom.as  H.,  twenty-one; 
Susan  M.,  nineteen;  Albert  C.,  fourteen;  Frank  C, 
eleven;  Phebe  A.,  nine;  Rachael  G.,  seven;  and 
Ethel  Jlay,  five.  These  children  are  all  at  home 
and    most  of    them  in  school.     Mr.  tioddard  has 


524 


I'OKTUAIT  AND    liKXiRArillCAL    RKVJEW. 


been  a  Demociat  most  of  his  life.  He  bas  served 
as  Scliool  Director  several  years.  He  carries  on  a 
general  fanning  business,  and  lias  a  fine  young  or- 
cliard  partially  surrounded  by  timber,  and  promis- 
ing an  abundance  of  fruit  in  the  near  future. 

Altogether,  our  subject  is  a  man  of  good  busi- 
ness qualifications,  possessing  a  knowledge  of  the 
mode  of  conducting  a  farm  successfully,  and  is  re- 
spected by  all  who  know  liira. 


•^^ 


E^^ 


\f|  OEL  II.  PROCTOR.  Conspicuous  among  the 
I  I  business  men  of  .lolinson  County  stands 
Mr.  Proctor,  who  is  a  successful  merchant  at 
Regent.  He  was  born  in  .Jackson  County, 
'Penn.,  on  the  14th  of  .Tune,  1847.  His  father,  James 
Proctor,  of  the  same  county,  was  a  son  of  Henry 
Proctor,  of  South  Carolina,  and  of  Irish  ancestry. 
He  died  in  Tennessee  in  middle  life,  leaving  a 
family  of  five  sons  and  two  daughters.  James 
was  his  fourth  child  and  second  son,  and  mar- 
ried Frances  Henle}',  daughter  of  Pleasant  and 
IMartha  (Wats)  Ilenlcy,  both  from  South  Carolina. 
The  maternal  grandparents  came  from  Tennessee  to 
southern  Illinois  in  1858,  the  grandmother  dying 
about  1869,  aged  seventy-seven  years.  She  left 
but  one  child,  the  mother  of  Joel  H.  Proctor. 
Grandfather  Henley  survived  until  1888,  and  died 
at  the  home  of  Joel  II.,  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight, 
strong  and  health}-  until  his  last  sickness.  He  left 
an  estate  worth  about  $6,000. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  came  to  southern 
Illinois,  and  settled  in  Union  County  in  1860. 
They  at  first  located  on  fortj'  acres  of  land,  which 
they  sold  ten  years  later,  and  removed  to  Johnson 
Count}',  where  they  bought  one  hundred  acres  of 
improved  land  in  Goreville  Township.  Here  they 
lived  until  1882,  when  they  went  to  Pope  County 
to  live  with  their  daughter,  Mary  King.  The 
mother  died  in  May,  1883,  and  the  father  followed 
in  November,  she  dying  at  tiie  age  of  sixty-five, 
and  he  at  seventy-three.  They  had  buried  two 
children,  one  son  at  one  year,  and  a  daughter,  Mar- 


tha, in  1865,  twenty-two  ycare  old.  The  living 
ones  are  Joel  II.;  Mary,  wife  of  John  F.  King;  and 
Thaddeus  Q.,  a  merchant  of  Elvira  Township. 

Joel  II.  lived  at  home  until  his  marriage  at 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  April  21,  1873,  to  Jes- 
sicfia  Kelle}-,  daughter  of  William  and  Sarah  (Wed- 
del)  Kelley,  who  came  from  Indiana  about  1862. 
lie  died  in  1878,  aged  si. \tv- three;  his  widow  is 
still  living.  Mrs.  Proctor  has  three  brothers,  John 
R.,  Isaac  N.  and  Calvin,  all  farmers  of  John- 
son County.  Mr.  and  iVIrs.  Proctor  have  buried 
two  infant  sons,  and  have  one  daughter  living, 
Daisj',  Mrs.  John  A.  Gresham,  who  is  eighteen  years 
old.  Mr.  Proctor  followed  farming  until  Decem- 
ber, 1884,  when  he  sold  the  one  hundred  acres 
bought  of  the  heirs  of  his  father,  and  removed  to 
Regent,  where  he  bought  a  one-half  interest  in  the 
general  merchandising  business  of  W.  D.  Toler. 
Three  years  later  he  bought  the  reniainingone-half 
interest,  and  has  since  conducted  the  business  alone. 
He  was  appointed  Postmaster  in  1888,  and  though 
a  Republican,  he  took  the  place  vacated  by  his  part- 
ner under  Cleveland.  He  li.as  been  a  Notary  Pub- 
lic for  the  past  three  years.  He  is  a  well-informed, 
well-balanced,  genial  gentleman,  and  attracts  peo- 
ple to  him,  niakiug  them  lasting  friends. 


HARLES  MARSHALL, a  well-known  citizen 
of  Cache  Township,  Johnson  County,  was 
born  in  Kentucky,  September  17,  1863.  lie 
is  a  son  of  Robert  M.  and  Eliz.abeth  (Foreman) 
Marshall,  both  natives  of  Kentuck}'.  Robert  M.  Mar- 
shall was  the  son  of  Martin  P.  and  Eliza  Marshall, 
the  former  a  native  of  Virginia  and  the  latter  of 
Kentucky.  Martin  P.  Marshall  was  a  lawyer  and  a 
farmer,  and  wiis  successful  in  both  callings.  At  his 
death,  in  1881,  he  was  eightj^-six  j-ears  old.  Rob- 
ert M.  JMarshall,  father  of  Charles,  was  a  graduate 
of  Yale  College,  and  also  studied  law.  He  located 
in  Rock  Island,  111.,  and  practiced  there  a  number 
of  years.  From  Rock  Island  he  went  to  Kentucky 
and  purchased  land  in  Mason  County,  near  Mays- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


525 


ville,  tlie  coiintN'  seat.  He  now  has  a  tract  of  nine 
hundred  acres  there,  and  follows  agriculture  and 
stock-raising. 

Charles  Marshall  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
twent3'-one  years  old.  He  is  a  graduate  of  the 
Lebanon  Normal  College,  in  Warren  County,  Ohio, 
where  he  was  a  student  for  three  years.  He 
learned  civil  engineering,  but  on  account  of  failing 
liealth,  decided  on  a  change  of  occupation.  Will- 
iam Foreman,  his  grandfather  on  his  mother's  side, 
owned  a  large  tract  of  land  in  Illinois,  and  young 
Marshall  came  to  this  State  to  take  charge  of  the  farm 
and  conduct  the  business.  This  he  did  in  a  most 
satisfactory  manner  for  six  years,  and  in  1892  he 
purchased  the  entire  tract,  consisting  of  eleven  hun- 
dred and  eight3'-flve  acres,  all  in  Johnson  County. 
His  house  is  on  section  36,  Cache  Township,  and 
is  one  of  the  best  in  the  community-.  Here  he  fol- 
lows agricultural  pursuits,  making  a  specialty  of 
thorough-bred  horses,  cattle  and  hogs.  His  favorite 
breed  of  cattle  is  the  Durham,  and  he  has  a  very 
fine  herd  of  this  kind  of  animals.  Mr.  INIarshali 
is  a  courteous  and  genial  gentleman,  and  though 
yet  a  young  man,  he  is  one  of  the  most  progressive 
and  successful  farmers  in  tlie  county.  He  was 
married  February'  21!,  1890,  to  Effle  Williams,  who 
was  born  in  Johnson  County,  October  20,  1870. 
Her  parents  were  both  natives  of  Illinois.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  JLarshall  have  two  children,  Elizabeth  F.  and 
Robert  M.  Mr.  Marshall  is  a  Democrat  and  an 
Odd  Fellow.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


•Sj^SJNOCH  1'.  .\Nl)ERSOX  was  born  in  .M.assac 
lU  County,  111.,  April  21,  1834.  He  isasonof 
/I I — ^  Thomas  F.  and  Milielia  (Logan)  Anderson, 
both  natives  of  Tennessee.  The  parents  of  Thomas 
F.  were  Enoch  and  Elizabeth  .Vndcrson,  natives  of 
North  Carolina.  Thom.as  F.  Anderson  w.asa  farmer, 
who  came  to  Illinois  at  an  early  day,  and  pur- 
chased Government  land  in  Massac  Countv.     The 


trip  was  b^^  wagon,  and  after  a  delay  of  sometime, 
caused  by  the  sickness  of  the  father  of  tlie  family, 
they  at  length  crossed  the  Ohio  River  at  Padncah, 
settled  in  Massac  County,  and  lived  there  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  March  30,  1839. 

E^noch  P.  Anderson  remained  at  home  until  he 
was  seventeen  years  of  age,  assisting  in  the  care  of 
the  family,  on  account  of  which  he  received  but 
little  education.  He  began  life  for  himself  b}' 
working  out  by  the  month,  and  afterward  went 
into  the  poultry  business.  New  Orleans  was  his 
main  market,  and  when  he  had  collected  together 
a  big  lot  of  poultry,  he  shipped  them  down  the 
river,  going  with  the  boat  himself,  and  doing  his 
own  selling.  He  remained  thus  engaged  about 
three  years,  and  then  bought  Government  land  in 
Massac  County,  a  tract  of  fort3'  acres  in  township 
14,  range  5,  east.  This  he  afterward  sold,  and 
took  up  forty  acres  in  the  same  township,  to 
which  he  added  other  tracts  from  time  to  time,  un- 
til finallj'  he  had  one  hundred  and  si.\ty  acres,  upon 
which  he  lived  until  1860,  when  he  sold  out. 

Our  subject  then  rented  land  about  four  j'ears, 
then  trading  for  an  eighty-acre  tract,  on  which 
he  lived  until  1874,  when  he  traded  for  land  in 
lower  Massac  County,  in  township  14,  upon  which 
he  resided  until  his  death,  in  1891.  He  then  sold 
this  farm  with  the  exception  of  eighty  acres,  which 
he  owns,  in  township  14,  range  5,  and  bought  one 
hundred  and  forty  acres  on  section  33,  township  13, 
in  Johnson  County,  where  he  lives,  and  follows 
farming  and  stock-raising  He  makes  a.  specialty 
of  running  horses,  of  which  he  has  some  fine  spec- 
imens. He  w.as  married  January  28,  18.5.5,  to  Pru- 
dence A.  Wilkins,  who  was  born  August  30,  1836, 
in  Indiana,  and  died  November  2ti,  1876.  He  was 
married  next  to  Louisa  Thompson,  April  27,  1879. 
She  was  born  in  Illinois,  and  died  April  15,  1886. 
He  was  married  the  third  time,  to  Matilda  E.  My- 
rick,  August  30,  1887.  She  was  born  in  Kentucky, 
IMarch  8,  1864,  her  father  being  a  native  of  Ten- 
nessee, and  her  mother  of  Kentucky.  Mr.  Ander- 
son has  eight  children  living,  viz:  AInrtlia  E., 
Joshua  T.,  Nancy  J.,  Joseph,  William  and  Ishain 
by  the  first  wife,  Sidda,  by  his  second,  and  Botell, 
by  his  third.  He  enlisted  in  Com|)any  H,  One 
Hundred  and  Thiity-first  I  llinois  Infantry,  in  1862, 


;')'2(; 


I'OK'rUAri'   AM)    IIIOCRAI'IIICAI,    I!K\IKW. 


at  Metropolis,  was  First  I>ieutenant  of  the  com- 
pany, and  has  not  yet  been  discharged.  IIo  is  lib- 
eral in  his  religious  views,  and  is  a  member  (if  the 
Democratic  party. 


j^EORCE  HRATTON,  M.  1)..  one  of  the 
[  ,_— ,  most  prominent  and  successful  physicians  of 
^yj)  Johnson  County,  111.,  was  born  in  Adams 
County,  Ohio,  March  9,  1832.  His  father,  James 
Bratton,  was  also  born  in  Adams  County,  March 
21,  1808,  and  his  father,  Jacob  Hratton.  from  the 
best  information  obtainable,  was  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania. He  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  in 
Adams  County,  where  he  secured  a  tract  of  Gov- 
ernment laud,  and  upon  this  farm  spent  his  last 
years.  James  IJratton  was  an  iron  master,  and 
owned  an  interest  in  a  foundry  in  Lawrence 
County,  where  he  lived  during  the  latter  portion 
of  his  life.  He  died  April  19,  1846.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Charity  Hoop,  and  she  was 
born  in  Highland  County,  Ohio,  March  3,  1809. 
Her  father  was  born  in  Germany,  and  the  name 
was  originally  spelled  Hoeppe.  She  died  in  Law- 
rence County  January  22,  1848,  after  rearing 
three  children,  George,  Jacob  and  John. 

George  received  his  English  education  at  Tur- 
lington Academ3-,  and  afterward  at  Ilillsboro  Col- 
lege, from  which  latter  institution  he  graduated 
when  but  seventeen  years  old.  He  then  returned 
to  Burlington,  and  began  the  stud}-  of  medicine  . 
with  Dr.  Camillus  Hall.  He  attended  medical  lec- 
tures at  the  Western  Reserve  Medical  College,  at 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  later  he  entered  the  Star- 
ling Medical  College  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  graduat- 
ing from  this  latter  institution  when  he  was  twenty 
years  of  age.  Under  the  laws  of  tiie  State  he  could 
not  receive  a  diploma  at  that  age,  but  he  received 
a  certificate  from  the  President  of  the  college,  set- 
ting forth  what  he  had  accomplished.  He  then 
entered  a  medical  college  at  Philadelphia,  and 
graduated  from  that  institution  March  9,  18.53. 
He  immediately  established  himself  in  the  practice 


of  medicine  at  Vienna,  and  has  been  engaged  there 
ever  since.  His  practice  is  very  large,  and  he  is 
one  of  the  leading  physicians  in  the  county. 

Dr.  Bratton  was  married  in  1858  to  Elizabeth  J. 
Bridges,  who  was  born  in  Vienna  and  who  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  David  V.  and  Lucretia  (Cliapman)  Bridges. 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Bratton  have  three  children  living, 
viz:  Suda,  William  Harvey  and  Bertie.  Charlie 
M.,  the  first  child,  met  his  death  accidentally  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one.  Mrs.  Bratton  is  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  Church,  and  Dr.  Bratton  is  a  member  of 
the  Southern  Illinois  Medical  Society,  and  of  Vi- 
enna Lodge  No.  l.")0,  A.  F.  and  A.  M.  He  is  also 
a  member  of  Vienna  Chapter  No.  67,  R.  A.  M.;  of 
Gethsemane  Commander}'  No.  41,  K.  T.;  of  Vesta 
Lodge  No.  340,  I.  O.  ().  F.;  and  of  Vienna  En- 
caniriment  No.  .53. 


-^^- 


!*  I^;ILLIAM  P.  WALKER,  an  enterprising 
\/iJ//  ^'^''^^i'  of  Massac  County,  was  one  of  the 
W^  valiant  soldiers  who,  during  the  Civil  War, 
left  home  and  friends  to  fight  in  the  defense  of  the 
Old  Flag.  He  is  the  son  of  David  AValker,  of 
Tennessee,  who  died  when  William  P.  was  a  mere 
child.  The  latter  was  reared  to  manhood  on  a 
farm  and  obtained  a  fair  education  in  the  sub- 
scription schools  of  the  county.  He  was  born  No- 
vember 19,  1842,  and  had  therefore  scarcely  at- 
tained maturitj'^  when  in  August  of  1863,  he 
enlisted  in  the  United  States  arm}-,  becoming  a 
member  of  Company  D.  Thirteenth  Tennessee 
Cavalry. 

It  was  during  the  engagement  at  Ft.  Pillow 
that  Mr.  Walker  had  his  arm  broken  and  one  e3-e 
shot  out,  and  so  desperate  were  his  injuries  that  he 
was  left  on  the  battlefield,  his  friends  supposing 
that  he  was  dead.  When  it  was  discovered  that 
his  pulse  was  still  beating,  he  wascared  foratonce 
and  was  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Mound  City,  111. 
His  wounds  were  of  so  serious  a  nature  as  to  totally 
incapacitate  him  from  active  service  and  he  was 
tiierefore  honorably  discharged  December  17, 1864. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


527 


Mr.  Walker  came  to  Massac  County,  111.,  and 
settled  on  .i  farm  in  1873.  From  here  he  removed 
to  Texas  and  spent  one  year  in  that  State,  but  not 
liking  tiie  climate  or  the  countrj-,  he  returned  to 
Massac  Count3'  and  purchased  a  tract  of  land  lo- 
cated in  theniidstof  tlie  woods.  From  the  wilder- 
ness he  evolved  a  finely  improved  farm,  where  he 
now  makes  his  home.  His  farmini;  operations  liave 
been  conducted  in  a  skillful  and  judicious  manner 
and  .as  a  result  he  has  accumulated  a  competency 
;uid  attained  a  place  among  the  representative  and 
successful  citizens  of  Massac  County.  As  might 
be  supposed,  he  is  actively  connected  with  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  and  holds  member- 
ship in  Post  No.  3-15. 

.Alarch  29,  1871,  Miss  Alice  A.,  daughter  of 
Richard  Peters,  of  Kentucky',  became  the  wife  of 
our  subject.  Two  children  came  to  bless  their 
home:  Annie,  now  the  wife  of  Reuben  Adcock; 
and  Richard,  who  is  engaged  in  teaching  school  at 
Dexter,  Mo.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peters  have  taken  into 
their  home  and  are  tenderly  caring  for  a  bright 
and  intelligent  child,  named  Dottic  Peters,  whose 
home  was  formerly  in  the  State  of  AVashington. 
In  their  religious  connections,  Mr.  Walker  and  his 
family  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Church  and 
are  active  in  their  support  of  religious  causes. 


.€i^£Of''<^|]^''i 


bllO.MAS  II.  CALIIOOX  resides  in  Goreville 
Township,  Johnson  County,  and  was  born 
in  Williamson  County, Tenn.,  in  1831.  His 
father,  Jacob  J.  Callioon,  was  born  in  the  same 
county,  about  179 1,  to  George  Calhoon,  who  was 
a  mechanic,  and  followed  blacksmithing  most  of 
his  life.  He  was  one  of  tlie  pioneers  of  that  part  of 
Tennessee,  having  emigrated  fi'om  North  Carolina 
when  a  j'oung  man.  He  married  Miss  Patsy  Ju- 
lian, of  North  Carolina.  The  grandparents  of 
Thomas  H.  reared  six  sons  and  one  daughter,  of 
whom  Jacob  J.  was  the  first-born.  One  son,  H.ayes, 
died  wlien  a  young  man.  George  Calhoon  died 
in    1813.  when  about  seventy  years  of  age.     His 

29 


wife  survived  him  some  seven  years  and  died  in 
Johnson  County,  when  about  seventy -six  years  of 
age. 

Jacob  .1.  Calhoon  was  reared  to  farm  life,  and 
had  a  very  good  education  for  that  day.  He  was 
married  in  Tennessee,  at  the  age  of  twent3'-two, 
about  1825,  to  Miss  Rebecca  McCall,  of  Tennessee. 
He  followed  farming  on  his  own  farm  in  Tennes- 
see until  1852,  when  he  sold  out  and  removed  to 
this  county,  making  his  first  permanent  settlement 
on  about  eight  hundred  acres  of  land,  a  part  of 
which  was  taken  up  upon  land  warrants  received 
for  services  in  the  .lackson  and  Mexican  Wars. 
The  removal  was  made-  by  means  of  a  four-horse 
and  a  two-horse  team  in  large  covered  wagons,  the 
regular  emigrant  or  Tennessee  wjigon,  known  oth- 
wise  as  "prairie  schooners."  The  six  horses  were 
fine  large  Tennessee  horses,  well  broken  and  trained 
to  the  one  line  and  the  word.  They  were  some 
weeks  on  the  road  at  the  time  of  the  election  of 
Franklin  Pierce  as  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  after  stopping  two  weeks  on  the  way,  arrived  in 
Johnson  County  in  December.  There  were  twelve 
children  then,  seven  sons  and  five  daughters,  one 
young  son,  Samuel,  having  died  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  years.  The  father  of  this  family  died  on 
the  farm  first  selected  in  1856,  aged  sixty-two 
years,  a  victim  of  malarial  fever,  then  so  prevalent 
in  this  part  of  the  State.  The  mother  survived 
him  some  years,  and  died  in  1869,  at  the  age  of 
seven t3'-two.  Of  her  thirteen  children  there  arc 
now  living  five  sous  and  four  daughters,  of  whom 
the  youngest  is  about  forty-eight  3-ears  of  age. 
The  brothers,  with  one  excei)tion,  are  farmers  in 
Johnson  County,  and  that  one  is  a  farmer  in  Ar- 
kansas. Their  names  are  as  follows:  William,  in 
Arkansas;  J.  F".,  Thomas  H.,  Charles  D.  and  G.  J. 
The  daughters  are  Mary  A.,  wife  of  James  Rob- 
inson, of  Johnson  Count}';  Rebecca,  wife  of  James 
V.  Cunii,  in  Missouri;  Frances  A.,  wife  of  William 
Allen, of  Washington,  D.  C;  and  Sarah  .1.,  wife  of 
Isn.ac  Lovelace,  of  Johnson  County. 

Tliom.as  H.  Calhoon  was  brought  upon  the  farm 
and  his  education  was  received  in  the  subscription 
schools,  or  select  schools.  He  lived  at  home  with 
his  parents  until  after  his  majority,  coming  with 
them  tolllinois,  and  assisting  them  to  start  in  this 


528 


roiri'liAir  and    liKXIKAl'IIRAL    HKVIKW. 


State.  He  then  returned  to  Tennessee,  where  lie  was 
married  to  Mary  Jane  Robinson,  m  March,  1854. 
.She  was  the  daughter  of  William  Robinson  and  his 
wife,  Patsy  Robinson,  a  cousin.  Two  years  after 
their  marriage  they  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  at 
his  present  home,  on  eighty  acres  of  land,  on  which 
his  father  had  located  a  land  warrant.  This  land 
was  then  in  a  state  of  nature,  except  that  there 
was  a  small  house  in  the  woods.  The  first  house 
was  18x20  feet  in  dimensions,  one  and  a-half 
stories  high,  of  large  hewed  logs,  which  would  face 
a  foot.  He  roofed  it  himself  with  hard-wood 
shingles,  and  built  a  good  stone  chimney,  and  put 
in  a  good  hard-wood  floor  of  six-inch  plank.  This 
house  sheltered  his  family  from  1860  to  1887,  when 
he  built  his  present  frame  house  or  cottage,  32x32 
feet  in  size,  with  six  large  rooms  and  hall.  This 
house  has  twent^'-five  fine  large  glass  windows,  the 
first  having  but  one,  of  8x10  inch  glass,  and  that 
was  for  a  long  time  tlie  best  dwelling  for  miles 
around. 

Mr.  Calhoon  has  now  one  hundred  and  eighty 
acres  of  land,  having  fallen  heir  to  twenty  acres- 
He  bought  eighty  acres  early  in  the  '70s  for  §9  per 
acre  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company,  and 
he  was  some  seven  years  paying  for  it.  This  rail- 
road company  was  always  very  lenient  and  kind 
to  a  purchaser,  never  dunning  a  man  with  his 
axe  or  grub  hoe  on  his  shoulder.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Calhoon  buried  four  infants,  sons,  and  reared 
eight,  five  sons  and  three  daughters.  These  chil- 
dren are  as  follows:  Martha  A.,  wife  of  William 
V.  Thornton,  a  farmer  living  near  her  parents,  and 
who  has  three  sons  and  one  daughter;  William  M., 
a  farmer  in  the  same  vicinity,  having  a  wife  and 
one  son;  James  A.,  who  has  a  wife  and  one  child; 
Sarah  F.,  wife  of  Charles  Grissom,  a  farmer  near 
by,  and  who  has  one  daughter;  Charles  R.,  resid- 
ing on  the  home  farm,  having  a  wife  and  one  son; 
Susan  E.,  a  young  lady  at  home,  and  keeping 
house  for  her  father;  Jacob  J.,  a  young  man  of 
twentj'-one,  at  home  on  the  farm;  and  George  B., 
a  youth  of  seventeen,  at  home.  These  children 
are  all  fairly  well  educated,  and  the  younger  one 
especially,  who  purposes  fitting  himself  for  a 
teacher. 

Mr.  Calhoou  lost  his  wife  in  1877,  when  she  was 


forty-one  years  old.  He  has,  however,  been  fort- 
unate in  iii>  cliiidren,  the  daughters  taking  the 
place  of  thi'ir  iiiolher  in  managing  the  domestic 
affairs  of  the  houseiiold.  lie  was  a  remarkably 
strong  and  healthy  man  up  to  .Inly  1,  181)2,  when 
he  was  strangely  attacked  by  what  the  doctors 
called  sunstroke,  and  when  he  came  to  pay  their 
bills  he  thought  he  was  struck  by  a  financial  cy- 
clone. He  was  unconscious  for  eight  weeks,  and 
when  he  regained  consciousness,  concluded  that 
his  great  necessity  was  rest.  He  has  always  car- 
ried on  mixed  farming,  and  has  served  the  town- 
ship as  Trustee  and  School  Director  many  years. 
He  has  always  been  a  Democrat,  and  has  no  ex- 
pectation of  changing  his  i)olitics. 


''    '    ^S- 


E^^ 


<MI  ABEN  W.  MURRI E, a  leading  citizen,  pros- 
I  ^  perous  business  man  and  successful  general 
jl^Vj  agriculturist  and  stock-raiser,  cultivating 
his  fine  farm  located  on  section  2,  township  1.0, 
range  4,  is  also  profitably  engaged  in  handling 
merchandise  in  Round  Knob,  a  village  in  the  same 
section,  Massac  County,  III.  A  native  of  the  State 
and  count}', our  subject  is  widely  known  and  highly 
esteemed  as  an  enterprising  citizen  of  sterling  in- 
tegrity of  character.  His  father.  Green  L.  Murrie, 
an  earl}'  settler  of  Illinois,  was  born  in  North  Car- 
olina in  1832,  and,  brought  up  on  a  farm,  worked 
hard  from  his  boyhood.  Removing  to  Tennessee 
with  his  parents  he  received  a  rudimentary  educa- 
tion, but  spent  the  most  of  his  time  in  farming  and 
experienced  the  privations  of  pioneer  life.  The 
family  finally  removed  to  Massac  County,  111., 
where  Grandfather  Murrie  entered  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  land.  Father  Murrie  re- 
mained with  his  parents  until  he  had  attained  his 
majority,  when  lie  was  married  and  settled  in  a 
home  of  his  own. 

The  mother  of  our  subject  was  in  girlhood  Miss 
Melinda  Walton,  a  Kentucky  lady.  She  died  in 
1861,  and  some  time  after  the  father  contracted  a 
second  iflairiage,  with  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Smith. who 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


529 


is  also  deceased.  When  first  married  Green  L. 
Murrie  bought  a  farm,  the  soil  of  which  he  con- 
teiilcdly  tilled  twelve  j^ears,  when  he  sold  out  and 
went  to  western  Kansas,  thinking  the  climate 
would  be  beneficial  to  the  health  of  the  family-. 
The  new  homestead  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  was  located  in  Ottawa  Count\'  and  was  prai- 
rie land,  i)artly  improved  and  a  violent  contrast  to 
the  timber  land  hitherto  owned  by  him.  After  a 
number  of  3'ears  sjjent  in  this  part  of  the  State,  the 
father  of  our  subject  removed  to  Mitchell  C'ount.y, 
and  having  previously  sold  out  his  late  homestead 
bought  an  unimproved  farm,  broke  the  land,  built 
a  house  and  barns  and  made  a  comfortable  home,  but 
was  seized  with  the  spirit  of  unrest  and  removed 
to  Ozark,  Mo.,  where  he  purchased  land  and  re- 
>ided  for  the  four  succeeding  years.  At  the  expi- 
ration of  that  time  he  removed  to  Indian  Terri- 
tory- and  dwelt  in  the  Choctaw  Nation,  where  lie 
leased  land  and  farmed  until  his  death  in  1891. 
He  was  a  remarkable  man,  of  excellent  business 
ability  and  intelligence,  but  j)referred  a  life  upon 
the  frontier. 

By  his  first  marriage  (Jreeii  L.  Murrie  became 
the  father  of  four  children:  Dora,  deceased;  Eliza- 
beth, wife  of  Lee  FauUiaber;  Jennie,  deceased;  and 
Laben  M.,  our  subject.  The  children  of  the  sec- 
ond marriage  were  William,  located  at  Ft.  Smith, 
Ark.;  Martha  J.,  deceased;  Marv,  wife  of  C.  M. 
Dowell,  Indian  Territory;  Ilattie,  wife  of  J.  llpton, 
a  Baptist  minister  of  Indian  Territory-.  Laben  M., 
the  fourth  child  of  the  first  marriage,  was  born 
in  Massac  County  August  20,  18.')9.  He  was  reared 
upon  a  farm  and  accompanied  his  father  to  Kan- 
sas, but  when  thirteen  years  old  he  returned  to 
Massac  County, and,  thrown  entirely  upon  his  own 
resources,  worked  upon  farms,  a  portion  of  the 
time  being  in  the  employ  of  his  brother-in-law, 
who  lived  upon  the  old  homestead  of  Grandfather 
Murrie.  Our  subject  received  a  primary  education, 
and  through  close  observation  fitted  himself  for 
the  battle  of  life.  At  twenty-two  jears  of  age  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  A.  May,  of  Massac 
County,  a  most  estimable  lady  and  a  true  help- 
mate, whose  parents  yet  reside  in  the  vicinity  of 
her  home.  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Murrie  rented 
a  farm  for  one  year  and  at   the   expiration  of  a 


twelvemonth  received  forty  acres  from  his  grand- 
mother's old  place,  and  buying  twenty  acres  more, 
made  his  home  there  for  four  years, when  he  sold  out 
for  ¥1,500  and  purchased  the  valuable  homestead 
where  he  now  resides.  The  ninet3'-four  acres  were 
then  almost  unimproved,  but  our  subject  and  his 
wife  made  their  home  in  a  humble  little  log  cabin 
on  the  place,  and  with  stout  hearts  courageously 
toiled  until  the  land  was  brought  up  to  a  high 
state  of  cultivation  and  excellent  buildings  had 
replaced  the  rude  structures  of  early  days.  The 
home  residence  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  in 
this  locality  and  the  farm  is  one  of  the  best  in  this 
portion  of  the  State.  Mr.  ]\Iurrie  is  a  self-made 
man,  who,  having  energetically  won  his  upward 
way,  is  fully  entitled  to  the  respect  now  paid  to 
his  business  ability.  He  has  been  successful  in  all 
his  undertakings  and  seems  especially  adapted  to 
the  requirements  of  general  merchandising,  whicli 
prospers  under  his  skillful  care.  One  child,  a 
daughter,  Effie,  has  blessed  his  marriage  and 
brought  yet  more  sunshine  into  the  pleasant  home. 
Financially  prospered,  ISIr.  Murrie  is  politically  a 
Democrat  and,  a  liberal-spirited  and  progressive 
citizen,  is  ever  ready  to  do  his  full  share  in  mat- 
ters of  public  welfare,  having  long  iieen  accounted 
an  important  factor  in  local  enterprises  and  im- 
provements. 


■  URTON  S.  HARGKR,a  resident  of  townshij) 
1 1,  range  6,  of  Pope  County,  w.as  born  in 
Pope  County  in  1856,  and  is  a  son  of  Noah 
S.  Barger,  a  farmer  living  near.  Our  sub- 
ject is  the  second  child  and  son  of  a  family'  con- 
sisting of  eleven  children,  only  six  of  whom  are 
living,  lie  was  reared  at  home  to  farm  life  and 
labor,  and  when  still  young  received  a  fair  educa- 
tion. He  remained  at  home  until  his  marriage,  at 
the  age  of  nineteen,  in  November,  1875,  to  Martha 
P.  Smith,  of  Alabama,  daughter  of  Bradford  and 
Nancy  (Finney)  Smith.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Barger 
died  in  Alabama,  in  the  prime  of  life,  leaving  hi§ 


530 


I'ourijArr  and  i;i()(;kai'iii('al  kkvjkw. 


widow  witli  two  sons  and  one  daughter,  and  a 
good  estiite.  But  tliroiigli  the  war  and  a  dishonest 
administrator,  she  lost  imicii  of  it,  and  came  to 
Illinois  the  last  year  of  the  war  a  refugee,  her  fa- 
tiier,  Norman  Finney,  then  a  resident  of  Illinois, 
going  to  Alabama  for  her,  and  bringing  her 
through.  She  was  afterward  married  to  James 
Williams,  to  vviiom  she  bore  two  sons  and  one 
daughter,  and  died  in  November,  1884,  aged  fifty- 
four  years. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harger  began  their  married  life  at 
their  present  home,  where  they  have  one  hundred 
and  forty  acres  of  land,  one  hundred  acres  of  which 
are  under  cultivation.  They  raise  mostly  corn  and 
wheat,  selling  the  wheat  and  feeding  the  corn  to  the 
stock.  lie  raises  each  ^-ear  from  twenty-five  to  thir- 
ty hogs,  and  works  horses  and  mules,  raising  some 
of  both  kinds  of  animals  for  the  market.  He  also 
keeps  cattle  and  sheep,  his  preference  being  the  Cots- 
wolds  and  Southdowns.  Our  subject  is  a  stanch 
Republican  in  politics,  and  a  member  of  the  Social 
Brethren  Church,  while  his  wife  is  a  member  of  tiie 
Cumbeiland  Presbyterian  Church.  Narcissa  Smith, 
a  maiden  aunt  of  Mrs.  Barger,  who  is  seventy-one 
years  old,  makes  her  home  with  tbem.  Our  subject 
and  his  wife  have  buried  two  infant  sons,  and  have 
seven  children  living,  viz:  Almeda,  a  miss  of  four- 
teen years;  Arthur,  twelve  years  old;  Cordelia,  nine; 
Hillus.  eight;  Noah,  six;  Julius,  three,  and  an  infant 
not  yet  named.  The  children  are  all  receiving 
much  attention  in  educational  matters,  their  par- 
ents being  desirous  of  filly  prei)aring  them  for  life's 
struggles. 


KNRY  MILLER,  a  prominent  farmer  resid- 
ing on  section  24,  township  1;"),  nmge  4, 
Massac  County,  is  a  son  of  William  Miller, 
who  came  to  the  United  States  from  Ger- 
many about  ISoT.  He  took  passage  in  a  sailing- 
vessel  and  was  six  weeks  on  tiie  ocean,  the  ship 
finally  casting  anchor  in  New  Orleans.  After- 
ward he   came    to   Illinois,  where  he   located    in 


Massac  County,   and  bought  land  as  ^oon  as  he 

could,  but  being  very  poor  got  along  slowly  at 
first.  He  and  his  wife  both  died  in  Massac  County, 
leaving  five  children,  viz:  Sophie,  wife  of  Ilirani 
Lang,  of  Warsaw,  Ind.;  Mena,  widow  of  Charles 
Fairbaugh;  William  C,  a  merchant  of  Metropolis; 
Henry,  and  Conrad,  deceased. 

Henry  was  the  third  child  and  was  born  in  Han- 
over, Germany,  September  9,  1837.  He  worked 
on  the  farm  in  tlie  Old  Country,  and  spent  con- 
siderable of  his  time  herding  cattle  and  sheep, 
that  part  of  the  farm  labor  seeming  to  fall  natur- 
ally to  him.  In  his  native  country  he  seemed  a 
good  Gierman  education.  Having  heard  much  of 
tlie  United  States,  lie  determined  to  try  his  fortune 
in  this  country,  and  left  home  when  lie  was  but 
seventeen  years  old,  taking  passage  on  a  sailing- 
vessel,  and  after  a  voyage  of  six  weeks  landed  in 
Baltimore.  This  w.as  before  his  parents  came 
from  home,  and  when  he  arrived  in  Baltimore  he 
had  but  #3  in  liis  pocket  with  which  to  commence 
life  in  a  new  and  strange  country.  But  he  was  a 
determined  sort  of  boy,  and,  having  some  rela- 
tives in  Massac  County  (one  a  brother-in-law),  lie 
made  for  that  portion  of  the  West. 

Upon  reaching  Illinois,  Mr.  Miller  worked  for 
a  farmer  for  one  year  for  $6  per  month,  and  after 
the  first  year  received  88  per  month.  He  worked 
steadily,  saved  some  money,  and  at  length  rented 
land,  finally  securing  eighty  acres  at  a  cost  of 
$335  .  He  afterward  sold  the  place  for  *2,000, 
and  then  bought  for  $4,000  the  place  on  which  he 
now  lives,  and  which  consisted  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  acres  of  improved  land.  Locating 
on  this  farm,  he  furnished  the  house,  built  large 
barns,  and  added  to  its  acres,  until  he  now  owns 
three  hundred  and  forty-nine  acres  of  good  land, 
comprising  one  of  the  best  farms  in  the  county. 
In  Massac  Count)-,  when  twenty-one  jears  old, 
Mr.  Miller  married  Mena  Thein,  a  native  of  Ger- 
man)', who  died  in  1879,  leaving  seven  children, 
viz:  William,  George,  Henry,  Andrew,  Benjamin^ 
Simon  and  Nora.  He  afterward  married  Loui 
M.  Winnaker,  who  is  also  of  German  parentage. ' 
and  by  her  he  has  four  children:  Albert,  Oscar, 
Agnes  and  Isaac. 

Politically,  Mr.  Miller  is  a  Republican,  and  re- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


531 


ligiously  is  :i  mcmltcr  of  tlif  Metliddisl  Episcopal 
Church.  It  ma3-  be  truly  said  that  he  is  a  con- 
spicuous oxample  of  what  iuclustrv  and  econ- 
omy, coupled  with  good  sense  and  sound  judg- 
ment, can  accomplish  in  such  a  country  as  that 
which  we  possess.  Coming  to  the  United  States 
when  young,  and  with  no  money,  only  his  own 
willing  hands  and  his  good  calculating  mind,  he  has 
worked  and  planned,  and  h.as  succeeded  in  accu- 
mulating property,  until  now  he  is  worth  |!30,000. 
He  is  not  only  one  of  the  best  farmers  in  Massac 
County,  but  also  one  of  its  best  citizens,  always 
ready  and  willing  to  assist  in  anything  that  is 
calculated  to  benefit  his  fellow-men,  by  all  of 
whom  he  is  held  in  the  highest  esteem. 


•{••{••{••i-F 


"lI'OIlN  i;.  UAUr  was  born  in  Itedford  County, 
Tenn.,  February'  10,  1854,  and  now  makes 
his  home  in  township  11,  range  7,  Pope 
Count3-.  His  father,  Martin  M.  Hart,  was 
born  in  the  same  county,  and  was  a  farmer  by  oc- 
cupation, as  was  also  his  father,  Heniy  Hart,  who 
was  born  on  the  line  between  2sorth  and  South 
Carolina,  and  was  married  to  Nancy  Rainy,  of 
South  Carolina.  They  emigrated  to  Tennessee 
early  in  life,  and  reared  there  a  family  of  fourteen 
children,  seven  sons  and  seven  daughters,  of  whom 
Martin  was  the  sixth  son,  and  one  of  the  3'oungest 
of  the  famil}'.  Henr^-  Hart  died  in  Tennessee 
when  about  seventy  3'ears  of  age,  and  his  widow 
died  in  Pope  County  when  ninety  years  of  age, 
about  the  year  1867.  The  pioneers  of  this  family 
in  coming  to  Uliiiois  were  .James  and  .John  Hart, 
and  in  18.o4  the  parents  of  our  subject  came.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  was  Mary  Morris,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Samuel  Morris,  of  Tennessee.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hart  came  to  Illinois  with  their  own  teams,  and 
were  in  humble  circumstances  at  the  time. 

.John  15.  Hart  is  the  fifth  child  and  fourth  sou  of 
a  family  of  seven.  All  are  living.  Tlie  fatlier  died 
January  1,  18G3,  in  the  prime  of  life,  his  widow 
living  until    1871,  and   dying  at   tlie   farm    home 


aged  sixty  years.  Tlic  names  of  the  seven  chil- 
dren are  as  follows:  Ilcniy,  a  farmer  of  Pope 
County;  Samuel  P.,  a  physician  at  Kddyville; 
William  .J.,  a  i)lij'sician  of  (iolconda;  Aggie  K., 
wife  of  A.  K.  Wasson,  a  farmer  of  Pope  Count}-; 
John  15.;  James  I).,  a  physician  of  Dongola,  111.; 
and  Jesse  M.,  residing  at  Metropolis.  John  B. 
Hart  was  reared  to  farm  life  and  received  a  fair 
common-school  education.  He  left  home  in  1872, 
at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and  was  a  salesman  for  pat- 
ent medicines  for  eight  years.  He  was  married  at 
the  age  of  twenty-six  to  Mary  M.J)ixon,  daughter 
of  James  and  Elizabeth  (Hedrick)  Dixon,  of  East 
Tennessee,  who  came  to  Illinois  about  1852,  before 
Mary  was  born.  Mr.  Hart  and  his  wife  began  life 
on  his  farm  in  Pope  County  and  at  their  present 
home.  He  commenced  on  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-five acres,  and  he  has  since  bought  and  sold 
different  amounts,  having  at  the  present  time  two 
hundred  and  ninet}'  acres,  of  which  he  cultivates 
over  one  hundred  acres.  He  carries  on  general 
farming,  and  also  carries  on  merchandising,  open- 
ing a  store  at  Grand  Pier  in  1890,  though  he  had 
been  engaged  in  merchandising  somewhat  before, 
opening  his  first  store  in  1888.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hart  have  buried  one  infant  daughter  and  one 
son,  Clement  E.,  three  years  old.  They  now  have 
three  sons  and  two  daughters:  Adie  E.,  twelve 
years  old;  Ethel, seven;  15yron  E.,  five;  Nellie  1)., 
three;  and  John  R.,  one.  Mr.  Hart  is  a  Democrat 
and  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  United 
Baptist  Church.  They  are  good  people  and  liighlv 
respected  by  all. 


e^+^4 


EWTON  FII.KEKSON  was  born  in  Pope 
Couiily,  111.,  in  1857.  He  is  a  son  of  .1.  F. 
Fulkcrson,  who  was  born  in  Kentucky  in 
The  latter  was  a  farmer,  as  was  also  his  fa- 
J.  F.  Fulkerson  had  two  brothers  and  three 
sisters, he  being  the  eldest  of  the  family.  Hecaine 
to  Illinois  a  young  man,  and  was  married  in  18;)2 
to    Priscilla    Floyd,  of    Tennessee,  a  daughter   of 


1808. 
ther. 


532 


I'OIM'KAJI'  AM)   UlOCKAl'lllCAL  UKVIEVV. 


Jonathftn  Floyd,  who  came  to  Illinois  in  1828, 
when  she  was  but  eleven  years  old,  and  at  fifteen 
slie  was  married.  They  bejjan  tlieir  married  life 
as  squatters  on  new  wild  land  near  Oolconda,  but 
some  years  later  they  entered  and  deeded  from  the 
Government  four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of 
land  at  a  "bit"  per  acre.  On  this  they  made  a 
permanent  liome  and  here  Mr.  Fulkerson  died  in 
1874,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years.  lie  iiad  lost 
one  daughter  at  two  years  of  age,  and  one  son, 
Jonathan,  in  1870, at  the  age  of  thirty-eight.  He 
left  eight  children,  five  sons  and  three  daughters, 
all  still  living  but  one,  Mary,  wife  of  Jacob  S.  Bar- 
ger,  who  died  in  1886,  at  the  age  of  fort}'-two 
yeai-s,  leaving  ten  children.  The  mother  is  sev- 
enty-five years  old.  Her  seven  ciiildren  are:  Rich- 
ard, a  farmer  of  Pope  Count}';  William  B.,  an 
hotel-keeper  in  Kansas;  Julia,  widow  of  G.  B. 
Hart,  living  on  her  farm  in  Pope  County;  James 
L.,  a  farmer  living  near  the  old  homestead;  Amer- 
ica, wife  of  A.  J.  Blackman,  a  farmer  of  Saline 
County;  and  Jasper  and  Newton  (twins),  the 
former  a  farmer  and  lumberman  living  near  by. 

Newton  Fulkerson  was  reared  to  habits  of  in- 
dustry and  began  following  the  plow  when  seven 
years  of  age,  lie  and  his  twin  brother  plowing 
with  one  horse,  one  riding  the  horse,  tlie  other 
holding  the  plow.  His  educational  advantages 
were  very  limited,  yet  he  learned  to  read  and  write, 
and  to  understand  arithmetic  to  some  extent.  He 
remained  at  iiome  until  his  marriage,  March  1, 
187C,  when  he  was  nineteen  years  old,  to  Luverba 
Blackman,  who  was  born  in  Saline  County,  111., 
and  is  a  daughter  of  William  and  Julia  (Mar- 
graves) Blackman,  both  of  Illinois.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fulkerson  began  their  married  life  on  the  farm 
which  his  father  owned  at  the  time  of  his  death,  and 
lived  there  until  1886,  when  they  removed  to  their 
present  home,  the  farm  upon  which  they  now  live 
containing  two  hundred  and  twenty-nine  acres, 
and  being  on  section  23,  township  11,  range  6. 
They  have  one  hundred  acres  under  cultivation, 
on  which  he  raises  corn,  wheat,  oats  and  hay,  his 
wheat  yield  being  from  four  hundred  to  five  hun- 
dred bushels,  and  his  corn  about  three  hundred 
bushels.  He  keeps  horses  for  working  and  raises  a 
few  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs  for  the  market. 


Our  subject  has  served  as  Commissioner  of 
Highways  and  as  School  Trustee.  In  politics  he 
IS  a  Democrat,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Regular  Bai)tist  Church.  Their  seven  children 
are  all  still  living,  six  daughters  and  one  son,  viz; 
Julia,  a  young  lady  of  fifteen  years;  Delia,  thir- 
teen; Willie,  ten;  Ethel,  eight;  Priscilla,  six;  Ella, 
three;  and  Rista,  an  infant.  They  are  all  in  school 
but  the  three  youngest, and  are  making  commend- 
able progress  in  their  studies.  Mr.  Fulkerson, 
like  most  of  his  family,  is  about  six  feet  high  and 
strongly  built.  Like  his  twin  brother  he  is  a  farmer, 
a  lumberman  and  mauufactiirer  of  staves,  and  does 
much  hard  work.  They  are  typical  frontiersmen, 
industrious  and  honest,  and  are  of  excellent  char- 
acter and  citizoiishi|i,  hiving  the  respect  of  the 
entire  community. 


lENJAMIN  BENDER,  baker  and  grocer 
of  Metropolis,  Massac  County,  is  a  son  of 
l^JjUJ  Jacob  Bender,  who  lived  and  died  in  Ger- 
many and  was  a  baker  by  trade.  He  mar- 
vied  Elizabeth  Miller,  by  whom  he  had  eight 
children:  Thewald,  who  was  killed  in  the  army  in 
North  Carolina;  Paul,  who  died  in  St.  Louis;  Pe- 
ter, a  farmer  of  Saline  County,  III.;  Jacob,  Cather- 
ine and  Eva,  all  three  of  whom  died  young;  one 
that  died  in  infancy;  and  Benjamin,  who  was  born 
in  Germany,  January  1.3,  1847,  and  when  a  boy 
had  to  go  to  work  at  the  trade  of  his  father.  He 
received  at  the  same  time  a  fair  German  education, 
and  remained  with  his  parents  until  1864,  then  go- 
ing into  the  army.  He  was  Sergeant  of  his  com- 
pany, had  considerable  experience  in  thearm^'and 
was  wounded  at  Sedan.  Hoping  to  better  his  con- 
dition in  life,  he  came  to  the  United  States  in  1874 
by  steamship,  landing  in  New  York. 

When  he  came  here  our  subject  had  $700  in 
money,  and  losing  no  time  he  commenced  work  at 
the  baker's  trade,  which  he  had  thoroughly  learned 
under  his  father's  instructions.  He  worked  in 
various  cities,  among  them  Chicago,  New  Orleans, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


533 


Cairo,  \'icksburg,  etc.,  and,  industrious  find  eco- 
nomical, saved  up  what  lie  earned,  and  at  length 
located  in  Metropolis  in  1888, and  bought  property 
where  he  is  now  in  business  and  where  he  has  suc- 
ceeded in  building  up  a  good  trade.  He  was  mar- 
ried first  in  1871.  to  Charlotte  Craff,  who  was  of 
CJerman  extraction,  and  died  March  5,  1885.  He 
was  married  the  second  time,  to  Mary  Hletsenger, 
December  5,  1885.  By  his  first  marriage  he  has 
four  children:  Jacob,  a  baker  at  home  with  his  fa- 
ther; Charlotte,  Family  and  Lizzie;  and  by  his  sec- 
ond marriage  he  has  two  children:  Lena  and  Ben- 
jamin, both  at  home.  Mr.  Binder  is  a  strong 
friend  of  the  education  of  the  young.  Politically 
he  is  a  Democrat,  and  is  an  Odd  Fellow  and  a 
Knight  of  Pythias.  He  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Both  are  highly  re- 
spected as  good  German-American  citizens. 


=^>^^<^-=- 


AWRKNCK  W.  COPLAND,  general  merch- 
.^  ant,  livery  stable  and  hotel  keeper  of  Me- 
^  tropolis,  Massac  Count}-,  is  a  son  of  Joshua 
iS.  Copland,  who  came  from  Tennessee  with  his  fa- 
ther when  four  years  old.  The  grandfather  was 
a  slave-holder  in  Tennessee,  and  when  he  came  to 
Illinois  brought  his  slaves  with  him  and  gave 
them  their  liberty  in  this  State.  The  slaves,  how- 
ever, had  no  desire  to  leave  him,  and  all  remained 
with  him  while  he  lived.  Grandfather  Copland 
settled  in  Johnson  County  at  an  early  day,  long 
before  the  admission  of  the  State  into  tlie  Union. 
This  settlement  was  made  in  a  wilderness,  and  was 
one  of  tlie  earliest  settlements  in  southern  Illinois. 
He  came  in  a  flatboat,  and  made  his  start  in  this 
new  country'  in  1808.  The  condition  of  things  at 
that  time  can  be  readily  imagined;  all  the  woods 
were  filled  with  Indians  and  all  kinds  of  wild  an- 
imals, and  there  wore  no  white  men  for  miles 
around. 

Joshua  S.  Copland,  the  father  of  our  subject, 
w.is  reared  in  this  wilderness,  assisting  as  soon  as 
able   to  clear  the  land  :ind  bring  it  under    cultiva- 


tion. When  he  grew  up  he  became  engaged  to 
some  extent  in  merchandising,  although  his  prin- 
cipal business  was  that  of  farming.  He  settled 
where  he  now  lives,  in  what  is  now  Massac  Count}', 
having  secured  there  some  unimproved  land,  which 
he  purchased,  and  which  at  the  time  had  half 
an  acre  cleared.  At  the  time  when  he  commenced 
life  for  himself  he  had  a  casli  capitjil  of  ^5.  He 
was  married  to  Klizalieth  Axley,  whose  people  were 
also  early  settlers  in  this  part  of  Illinois.  She  died 
in  October,  185G.  Mr.  Copland  was  married  the 
second  time,  to  Caroline  E.  Evers,  of  Graves  County, 
Ky.  By  his  first  marriage  he  had  ten  children, 
namely:  Robert  Van  Buren,  <leceased;  Mary  J., 
wife  of  Thomas  Parker,  of  Vienna,  111.;  James 
Franklin,  who  died  in  1862;  Samuel  L.,  who  en- 
listed in  Company  K,  Twenty-ninth  Illinois  In- 
fantry, served  through  the  war,  and  was  .accident- 
ally killed  by  the  explosion  of  the  steamboat  "Cum- 
berland" in  1868;  John  S.,  who  enlisted  in  the 
same  company  on  the  same  day  with  his  brother, 
Samuel  L.,  was  discharged  after  the  battle  of  Cor- 
inth, and  died  four  days  after  reaching  liome; 
Simeon  J.,  who  died  in  1862;  Lawrence  W.;  Me- 
lissa, who  died  in  1868;  and  Joshua  and  William 
Riley,  both  deceased.  By  the  second  marriage  he 
had  the  following  children:  David, deceased;  Liz- 
zie, wife  of  Thomas  Stark,  a  farmer  living  near  the 
old  place;  ]\Iattie  and  Maggie,  twins,  the  former 
the  wife  of  James  Clark,  of  Fresno,  Cal.,  and  the 
latter  the  widow  of  James  McNana,  who  died  at 
New  Grand  Chain,  Pulaski  County,  III.;  Charles 
M.;  AUie,  at  home;  and  Sallie,  the  wife  of  Jesse 
Hawkins. 

Lawrence  W.  Copland  was  born  on  the  home 
farm  in  Massac  County  Februar}-  18,  1847.  He 
was  reared  to  hard  work  on  the  farm  and  received 
his  education  in  the  common  schools,  but  he  has 
learned  more  b}'  actual  experience  and  contact 
with  the  world  than  he  learned  in  school.  Being 
a  bright  boy,  the  life  of  the  farm  was  to  him  some- 
what irksome,  and  when  quite  3'oung  he  yearned 
for  a  different  kind  of  life.  He  had  a  natural  de- 
sire for  and  inclination  to  trade  and  barter,  and 
was  .always  on  the  lookout  for  some  chance  to  make 
a  little  money  in  this  way.  In  1863,  when  but 
sixteen  years  old,  he  wanted  to  enlist  in  the  army. 


534 


PORTRAIT  AM)    I'.KM  ;UA1'II1(AL  KKVIKW. 


but  met  with  tlie  decided  opposition  of  his  par- 
ents. Detc-rmined  to  go  anvw.iy,  he  inn  nway 
from  lioine  and  entered  the  uriuy,  Imt  liis  father 
followed  him  and  compelled  liim  to  return  liome. 
In  the  spring  of  1864  he  made  another  attempt  to 
join  the  Union  forces,  and  enlisted  in  Company  K, 
One  Hundred  and  Thirty -seventh  Illinois  Infantry, 
at  Memphis,  Tenn.  He  was  a  good  soldier,  saw 
considerable  service,  and  remained  in  the  army 
until  the  expiration  of  his  term,  returning  home 
in  the  spring  of  1865.  He  then  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany F,  Seventh  Illinois  Cavalry,  and  was  in  the 
service  until  December,  1865,  being  mustered  out 
at  Isashville,  Tenn.  During  this  term  of  service 
he  was  taken  quite  sick  with  the  measles,  but  re- 
fused to  go  to  the  hospital,  and  so  was  taken  there 
under  guard.  At  length  he  returned  home  and 
went  to  farming,  renting  a  place  of  his  father  and 
keeping  bachelor's  hall,  raisinga  crop  of  cotton  and 
of  corn   during  the  season  of  1866. 

This  kind  of  life  not  being  satisfaetor3-,  our  sub- 
ject was  married  in  the  spring  of  1867  to  Laura 
J.  Hitchcock,  a  native  of  Massac  County,  but  whose 
parents  were  from  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  and  are  now 
both  dead.  He  raised  a  crop  in  each  of  the  years 
1867  and  1868,  the  last  of  which  he  sold  in  the 
field.  Farming  being  still,  as  in  his  youth,  very 
monotonous  to  him,  he  determined  to  enter  the 
business  of  trading,  and  he  exchanged  an  old  blind 
mare  for  a  flatboat,  and  a  mule  for  a  stock  of 
goods,  put  the  goods  on  the  boat,  and  after  straight- 
ening up  his  affairs  he  found  that  he  had  left 
$37.  50  in  cash.  With  this  money  he  bought  more 
goods  and  started  out  as  a  merchant.  He  was 
well  adapted  to  this  business,  worked  hard,  traded, 
saved  and  accumulated  some  means.  In  1872  he 
moved  his  wife  to  shore,  she  having  been  with  him 
during  the  time  spent  on  the  boat,  helping  him 
in  all  sorts  of  ways.  Taking  in  two  partners,  he 
loaded  the  boat  with  crockery  and  pottery,  and 
went  down  the  river.  At  Xew  Madrid  the  boat 
sank  to  the  bottom.  They  cut  off  the  cabin  and 
fished  out  the  goods,  raised  the  hull,  repaired  the 
leak,  loaded  the  goods  back  on  the  boat  and  con- 
tinued on  the  trip  down  the  Mississippi.  Upon 
reaching  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Francis  River,  they 
traded  off  liie  boat  and  (virgo  for   property    near 


l'^v:uis\  iilc,  1  nd.,  taking  obligations  for  the  differ- 
ence between  the  value  of  the  boat  and  lior  cargo 
and  the  property. 

Mr.  Copland  at  length  returned  home,  having 
owned  during  the  time  of  his  absence  fourteen 
different  boats.  He  then  bought  another  llathoat 
and  stock  of  goods,  but  in  the  fall  of  1872  sold 
out  and  went  to  Kansas,  remained  there  a  month 
and,  thinking  he  would  like  that  countiy.  returned 
to'llliuois  for  his  famil}'.  On  his  way  to  the  new 
State  he  had  reached  Cairo,  when  the  river  froze 
over.  His  father  not  approving  of  the  move, 
overtook  him  at  Cairo  and  persuaded  him  to  re- 
turn home,  and  he  moved  into  the  house  in  which 
he  was  born.  In  the  spring  of  1873  he  bought 
another  boat  and  another  stock  of  goods,  moved  his 
family  to  Joi)pa,  III.,  and  again  started  down  the 
Mississippi.  He  sold  out  his  boat  and  goods,  and 
returned  to  Joppa,  bought  a  house  and  lot,  and  en- 
gaged  in  general  merchandising  at  that  point.  He 
commenced  in  a  small  way,  but  as  his  business 
increased  he  had  to  build  an  addition  to  his  store, 
and  he  continued  to  add  to  it  until  he  had  a  large 
establishment,  made  of  rough  lumber,  with  a  low 
ceiling.  He  secured  the  establishment  of  a  post- 
otlice  at  Joppa,  and  was  himself  the  postmaster. 
He  also  owned  there  several  shingle  machines,  and 
engaged  extensivel}'  in  the  buying  and  manufac- 
ture of  shingles,  for  some  time  buying  on  an  aver- 
age thirty  thousand  per  day,  and  manufacturing 
about  thirty-five  thousand  per  day.  A  portion  of 
the  time  he  had  on  hand  as  many  as  nineteen  hun- 
dred thousand  shingles.  These  he  sold  by  the 
boat-load.  He  also  engaged  in  various  other  en- 
terprises, buying  a  steam-threshing  outfit,  steam 
sawmills,  etc.  At  one  time  he  employed  eleven 
clerks,  and  did  all  of  the  business  in  his  part  of  the 
country.  In  1888  he  removed  to  Metro|<olis,  and 
bought  the  property  where  he  is  now  located. 

Mr.  Copland  has  added  to  the  hotel  and  other 
buildings  and  now  has  a  valuable  property.  He 
owns  considerable  in  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Metropolis,  has  been  a  very  successful  business 
man  and  has  accumulated  a  competence.  He  has 
owned  steamboats  and  now  has  a  pilot's  license. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Copland  have  eight  children,  viz: 
Uello,  wife  of  John    Sliipman,  a  painter  and  paper 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


535 


hanger  of  Metropolis;  John  L.,  a  partner  with  his 
fallier  in  the  livery  business;  Samuel,  who  works 
in  the  store;  Estella,  Ernest,  Augustus,  Tony  and 
Hilda,  all  at  home.  Politically  Mr.  Copland  is  a 
Republican,  and  fraternally  he  is  a  Mason  and  an 
Odd  Fellow.  He  is  also  a  member  of  Tom  Smith 
Tost  No.  845,  G.  A.  R. 


J/OHN  H.  JONES,  a  resident  of  Goreville 
Township,  Johnson  County,  was  born  in 
Middle  Tennessee  in  1849.  His  father,  L.  M. 
Jones,  is  of  the  same  part  of  Tennessee  and 
is  a  son  of  Samuel  Jones,  of  East  Tennessee, who  was 
a  farmer  and  reared  a  large  family  of  children,  of 
whom  L.  M.  Jones  was  the  fourth.  The  grandfather 
died  aged  about  seventy.  L.  M.  mai-ried  Sarah 
Hall,  of  West  Virginia,  and  came  with  her  to  south- 
ern niinois  about  1852,  settling  first  in  Massac 
County.  He  then  removed  to  Union  County  and 
is  living  there  at  the  present  time.  His  wife 
died  there  in  1883,  aged  fifty-four  years,  having 
borne  her  husband  five  children,  three  sons  and 
two  daughters,  viz:  James  I.,  a  carpenter  living  in 
Missouri,  who  has  a  wife  and  children;  John  H.; 
Ruth  A.,  wife  of  Joseph  "Walker,  of  Tunnel  Hill 
Township;  William  L.,  a  farmer  of  the  same  town- 
ship; and  Lovina,  wife  of  Thomas  Rushing,  also  of 
this  township. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  on  the 
farm,  receiving  but  a  limited  education.  Though 
his  father  was  a  well-to-do  farmer  and  a  practicing 
physician  with  a  practice  wo'tli  ^5,000  per  year,  and 
the  schoolhouse  was  near  by,  yet  his  children  were 
kept  at  work  and  only  learned  to  read  and  write. 
Mr.  Jones,  seeing  the  value  and  even  the  necessity 
of  education, is  giving  his  cliildren  the  best  educa- 
tional facilities  to  be  had.  He  left  home  in  his 
twenty-second  year  and  was  married  August  6, 
1871,  to  Mary  E.  Walker,  of  Johnson  County, 
a  daughter  of  Sherman  and  Emily  ((irahain) 
Walker.     Tlu-v    bei.'an    life   on  a   fortv-acre    farm 


and  have  now  eighty-three  acres,  where  they  have 
resided  twelve  j'ears.  In  1887  they  built  their 
present  neat,  cozy  cottage.  Tlieir  three  children 
are  all  living,  viz:  John  G.,  a  3'oung  man  of 
twenty  and  a  promising  student  in  the  district 
school;  Sarah  E.,  eighteen,  and  Haley  A.,  a  ^oung 
girl  of  twelve,  both  in  school  and  making  satisfac- 
toiy  progress  in  their  studies.  The  two  elder  ones 
are  nearly  prepared  to  teach.  Mr.  Jones  has  been 
a  School  Trustee  of  Goreville  Township  three 
years.  He  is  an  elder  in  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian Church. 

Our  subject  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  but  he  fa- 
vors the  temperance  cause.  He  h.as  been  a  most 
successful  farmer  for  a  young  man  and  carries  on 
mixed  fanning.  His  father  at  sixtj'-seven  3'ears  is 
still  active  and  well,  and  as  he  has  plenty  of  means 
is  living  in  retirement,  though  he  still  practices 
on  the  call  of  some  of  his  friends,  lie,  like  his 
son,  is  a  Democrat  in  politics. 


\|[  A>H':S  A.  ADAMS,  who  was  born  in  Lyon 
County,  Ky..  August  9,  1841,  is  a  citizen 
of  Cache  Township,  Johnson  County.  He 
is  a  son  of  John  W.  and  Nancy  (Bridges) 
Adams,  both  of  the  same  State.  John  W.  Adams 
was  the  son  of  Robert  and  Elizabeth  Adams.  He 
was  a  farmer  and  removed  to  Illinois  at  an  earl3' 
day,  coming  to  this  State,  as  all  pioneer  emigrants 
did  at  that  time,  b}'  team  and  wagon.  He  purchased 
land  in  Cache  Township,  Johnson  County,  cleared 
up  his  farm,  erected  his  own  buildings,  and  after 
living  there  about  eight  years  he  died.  James  A. 
Adams  remained  at  home  and  assisted  in  the  sup- 
port of  his  mother  until  her  death.  He  attended 
school  in  Kentucky  about  six  months  and  after 
cftming  to  Illinois  he  attended  only  three  days,  so 
that  his  early  education  was  sadly  neglected. 
After  his  mother's  death  he  purchased  the  interest 
of  his  sister  in  the  old  farm  of  forty  acres  and  he 
eonliuuod  to  farm   thcie    until    he   sold   out.     He 


536 


rOUTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   RKVIEW. 


then  purchased  where  he  now  resides,  in  1882  He 
h.'id  then  one  liundred  and  ten  acres  on  sections 
1  and  2,  Csiche  Townsliip,  and  to  this  lie  lias  since 
added  eighty  acres  on  section  11.  lie  has,  liowever, 
sold  a  portion  of  the  farm  and  novv  has  fifty-two 
acres  on  section  1.  He  was  burned  out  in  1881, 
and  afterward  erected  new  buildings  as  soon  and  as 
fast  as  he  was  able.  For  the  most  part  he  has  been 
engaged  in  mixed  farming,  but  for  a  year  and 
a-lialf  lu-  was  also  engaged  in  mercantile  business, 
selling  out  in  1883. 

Mr.  Adams  was  married  May  17,  1869,  to  Luvi- 
cey  Cochran,  who  died  April  20,  1883.  He  was 
married  the  second  time,  to  Mary  H.  Cochran,  No- 
vember 6,  1884.  She  was  born  in  Arkansas  Au- 
gust 1),  1867.  INIr.  Adams  has  three  children,  viz: 
.Tames  M.  and  .Julia  ,J.  by  his  first  wife  and  Toddy 
Klizabeth  by  the  second.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adams  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
he  is  a  member  of  the  order  of  Knights  and  Ladies 
of  Honor,  and  is  a  Democrat.  After  the  death  of 
his  father  our  subject  and  his  mother  returned  to 
the  old  home  in  Kentucky,  luit  they  came  back 
in  1863  to  Illinois. 


,^^  HAKLKS  C.  ROSE, 
^^^  a  son   of    Henry 


HARLES  C.  ROSE,  a  fnrmer  living  on  section 
range  7,  Pope  County,  is 
Rose,  who  was  born  in 
Hardin  County,  III.  Henr^'  Rose  was  a  son  of 
Albert  Rose,  originally  from  Virginia,  and  a  sold- 
ier in  the  Revolutionary  army.  He  was  a  man  of 
sterling  character,  of  strong  will,  a  typical  Virgin- 
ian, and  a  prominent  man  in  the  coinmuuit3'  in 
which  he  lived.  He  removed  from  his  native 
Slate  to  Kentucky,  and  afterward  to  other  States, 
and  in  all  of  them  was  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil. 
Henry  Rose  had  the  best  opportunities  for  secur- 
ing an  education  the  countrj'  then  afforded,  but 
they  were  very  meagre  compared  with  what  they 
arc  at  the  present  day,  and  there  is  still  room  for 
imprnvemeiit.      He  secured  liy   far  the   better  part 


of  his  education  after  leaving  school,  by  reading, 
observation,  and  the  practical  application  of  what 
he  learned  to  the  affairs  of  life.  He  worked 
on  a  farm  when  a  boy,  clearing  land,  chopping 
wood,  making  rails  and  assisting  generally  until 
he  was  twenty-one.  He  then  married  Elizabeth 
Whitesides,  who  was  born  near  Eddyville,  Pope 
County, and  whose  parents  are  now  deceased.  Mr. 
Rose  secured  eighty  acres  of  land,  to  which  he  sub- 
sequently added  two  hundred  and  fortv  acres  in 
the  northwest  corner  of  Hardin  County,  all  tim- 
bered land.  Clearing  up  this  farm  he  continued 
to  live  upon  it  until  1867,  when  he  bought  near 
Elizabethtown  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  which  was  somewhat  improved,  and  for 
which  he  paid  $3,200.  Five  years  afterward  he 
sold  the  old  place.  To  the  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  he  has  since  added  one  hundred  acres  more 
and  has  made  a  splendid  farm  of  it  all,  and  now 
lives  upon  it. 

Henry  Rose's  first  wife  died  in  1872,  and  he 
afterward  married  Nancy  Holt,  the  widow  of  a 
Methodist  preacher.  She  died  about  1882.  He 
was  married  the  third  time  to  Mary  Erwood.  B^' 
his  first  wife  he  had  thirteen  children,  viz:  Cath- 
erine, widow  of  B\  M.  Thomas,  of  Ilarrisburgh; 
John  C,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County;  Albert  G.,  en- 
gaged in  the  livery  business  in  Harrisbui'gh,  111.; 
Sarah  E.,  wife  of  Alfred  Anderson,  of  Ilarrisburgh; 
James  H.,  a  ph^'sician  and  surgeon  of  Ilarris- 
burgh; Indiana,  deceased;  "William  A.,  living  in 
California;  George  W.,  living  at  Arbuckle,  Cal.; 
Jane,  deceased;  Charles  C:  Marian,  deceased;  Ad- 
die,  wife  of  John  Coker,  who  is  engaged  in  the 
dry-goods  business  in  Ilarrisburgh,  III.;  and  one 
that  died  in  infancy.  By  the  second  wife  he  had 
one  child,  Lelia  M.,  living  at  home,  and  hy  the 
third  wife  he  has  tvvo  children.  His  third  wife  by 
a  former  marriage  has  two  children,  John  and 
Bessie. 

Charles  C.  Rose  was  born  in  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  Hardin  County, on  the  old  farm,  November 
22,  1858.  He  was  reared  on  the  farm  and  re- 
ceived a  fair  common-school  education.  He  re- 
mained at  home  until  he  w.as  twenty-one  j'ears  old, 
and  was  afterward  for  some  time  variously  occu- 
pied without  .accomplishing  aii3'thing  worthy    of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


537 


note,  lie  was  married  t<»  Graeie  Ellis,  whose  par- 
ents were  from  Oiiio,  but  she  was  born  and  reared 
in  Pope  County,  111.  Her  fatlier  is  dead,  but  her 
mother  is  still  living.  After  his  marriage  he  went 
to  Evansvillc,  and  remained  there  in  business  one 
year.  He  then  returned  to  Pope  County,  and  was 
engaged  in  farming,  accumulating  land  little  by 
little  until  he  was  in  comfortable  circumstances. 
He  then  bought  a  farm  in  section  16,  townsliip  12, 
range  7,  in  Pope  Count}',  having  previousl}-  owned 
one  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  wliich  he  had 
sold.  lie  has  liad  two  children  by  his  marriage  to 
Miss  Ellis,  viz:  John,  deceased,  and  Katie  Eliza- 
beth, at  home.  Mr.  Rose  was  a  Republican  until 
the  rise  of  the  Populist  party,  and  since  then  he 
has  been  a  member  of  tlie  new  party.  He  is  a  man 
wiio  has  many  warm  friends,  and  is  a  higiily  re- 
spected citizen. 


-^"^^l 


^  ESSE  A.  ORR,  M.    D.,  a  leading  physician 
11    of  Metropolis,  Massac   County,  is   a  grand- 


I 

^^1  son  of  Hewey  Orr,  wlio  was  born  in  Ireland 
^5^^  and  emigrated  to  this  country'  with  his  fa- 
ther and  settled,  it  is  believed,  in  Virginia.  He 
was  a  saddler  by  trade,  and  had  three  sons  and 
one  daugliter.  Both  he  and  his  wife  died  in  Ken- 
tuck}',  of  which  State  tliey  were  early  settlers. 
One  of  those  three  sons  was  William  M.  Orr,  who 
was  born  in  Caldwell  County,  Ky.,  in  1811,  when 
everything  in  that  State  was  extremely  new  and 
wild.  He  was  brought  up  on  the  farm,  and  ac- 
quired of  his  father  some  knowledge  of  the  sad- 
dler's trade.  He  also  acquired  a  little  knowledge 
of  the  common  branches  of  an  English  education, 
such  as  it  was  possible  to  get  under  the  circnni- 
sLances  by  which  be  was  surrounded.  He  reniained 
at  home  until  he  was  about  twenty-two  years  of 
age,  when  he  began  life  for  himself. 

As  the  initial  step  to  independence,  the  father 
of  oiu-  subject  was  married  to  Xancy  M.  Adams, 
a  native  of  Kentucky,  whose  parents  removed  to 
Soutli   Carolina   before    .Mrs.  Orr  was  born.     'I'licv 


I  were  farmers  and  both  died  in  Kentucky.  Will- 
iam M.  Orr  after  his  marriage  bought  some  tim- 
ber land  in  Kentucky  and  proceeded  to  improve 
a  farm,  upon  which  he  erected  a  log  cabin,  and  be- 
gan hard  work  in  earnest.  Most  of  the  timber  cut 
was  rolled  into  piles  and  burned  to  get  it  out  of 
the  way,  though  he  made  a  little  lumber  with  the 
whipsaw.  At  this  time,  though  the  country  was 
ver}'  sparsel}'  settled,  j'et  he  was  not  without  com- 
pany, the  woods  being  full  of  deer,  turkeys, 
wolves,  wild  cats  and  an  occasional  panther.  Thus 
he  lived  exposed  to  dangers  and  suffering  the 
privations  incident  to  pioneer  and  frontier  life, 
until  he  had  cleared  and  improved  his  farm  and 
made  for  himself  and  famil\'  a  (;omfortable  home. 
Upon  this  farm  he  lived  until  1888,  when  lie 
died,  on  August  22,  his  widow  still  surviving  and 
living  with  a  daughter  and  son-in-law. 

To  the  marriage  of  William  M.  Orr  and  Nancy 
M.  Adams  there  were  born  eleven  children,  viz: 
Mary,  wife  of  Crockett  Moore,  a  farmer  of  Hazle- 
wood,  Ballard  Count}',  Ky.;  Joseph,  who  died 
on  the  old  Kentucky  homestead;  Lucy,  wife  of 
John  W.  Stone,  living  on  the  home  pl.ace,  and 
her    twin    brother,    who    died    in    infancy;    War- 

.  ren,  who  also  died  in  infancy;  Caroline,  wife  of 
G.  W.  Morris,  of  West  Plains,  Ky.;  Jesse  A.  and 
James  C,  twins,  the  latter  of  whom  is  p.astor  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Collinsville, 
111.;  Benjamin  F.,  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Prince- 
ton district  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
of  Princeton,  Ky.;  John  C,  a  farmer  of  McCracken 
County,  Ky.;  .and  Ilor.ace  L.,  a  contractor  and 
builder  and  local  preacher  of  Mayfield,  Ky. 

Jesse  A.  Orr  was  born  in  (Jraves  County,  Ky., 
March  28,  184.'),  and  wsis  brought  up  on  the  old 
homestead,  up(m  which  he  worked  in  summer 
and  attended  school  in  the  winter  time.  The 
schoolhouse  was  of  the  primitive  style,  built  of 
logs  and  furnished  with  the  same  material.  This 
kind  of  life  he  led  until  1862,  when,  with  the 
patriotism  and  enthusiasm  characteiistic  of  youth, 
he  enlisted  in  Company  E,  Eifteenth  Kentucky 
Cavalry,  and  served  the  cause  of  the  I'nion  for 
seventeen  mouths,  rushing  aliout  from  place  to 
l)lace,  and  engaging  in  guard  duty,  skirmishing 
and  liuhling  with  guerrillas  and  bushwliackers,  the 


538 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOORAPIIICAL    RKVIKW. 


Iwiidi'st  and  worst  kind  of  service  U>  wliicli  the 
!4c)Uliers  of  llie  army  were  subjected.  He  was  en- 
gaged in  most  of  tlic  Souliiern  Stales,  but  was 
most  of  the  time  in  Mississippi,  Tennessee  and 
iviMitiicUy.  lie  was  on  special  duty  about  half 
of  the  lime,  and  came  out  of  the  service  without 
a  scratch  and  without  an  accident,  except  that 
his  shoulder  was  injured  by  the  fall  of  his  horse, 
wiiich  disabled  him  for  some  time.  He  was  mus- 
tered out  at  I'aducah,  and  returned  home  with 
health  somewhat  impaired,  in  consequence  of 
which  he  was  not  then  fit  for  hard  labor  of  any 
kind,  and  his  father  sent  him  to  school  for  one 
year,  during  which  time  he  made  some  little  prog- 
ress in  learning.  Having  now  acquired  a  fair 
education,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  study  of 
int'dicine,  for  which  he  had  a  natural  aptitude 
and  inclination.  It  was  the  desire  of  his  mother 
that  he  should  enter  the  ministry,  like  a  number 
of  her  other  sons,  but  he  much  preferred  the  med- 
ical profession.  As  his  father  could  not  afford 
to  bear  the  expense,  it  devolved  upon  him  to 
carry  his  project  of  becoming  a  physician  through. 
While  he  had  not  been  brought  up  to  the  cari)en- 
ter  trade,  our  subject  took  naturally  to  the  use  of 
tools,  got  a  few  of  them  together,  and  went  to 
work  as  a  car[)enter,  in  this  way  earning  some 
numey  with  which  to  buy  books — medical  works — 
Dr.  J.  A.  Rybur  kindly  advising  him  what  works 
to  buy.  AVork  and  private  study  occupied  his 
lime  and  aUenlion  three  years,  during  which 
time  he  acquired  considerable  knowledge  of  medi- 
cine. In  1872  he  entered  Dr.  Rybur's  office  as  a 
student,  and  remained  with  him  as  a  student, 
at  the  same  time  practicing  medicine  to  some  ex- 
lent,  until  1874.  On  January  28  of  that  year  he 
came  to  Illinois  and  began  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine on  his  own  responsibility  at  Pellonia,  re- 
maining there  until  September,  1877,  and  meeting 
with  gratifying  success.  He  then  went  to  the 
l-'.cleclic  Me<lical  Institute  at  Cincinnati,  Oiiio, 
graduating  in  .Tanuary,  1878,  when  he  resumed  his 
practice,  which  assumed  much  larger  proportions. 
He  has  been  a  very  successful  physician,  and  his 
practice  extends  over  a  wide  scope  of  territory. 
In  October,  1892,  desiring  a  more  central  loca- 
tion, Dr.  Orr  removed   to  Metropolis,  and  is  here 


engaged  at  the  present  time,  where  his  ahiiity  is 
recognized  by  the  i)rofe.ssion.  He  was  appointed 
bj'  President  Harrison  to  a  position  on  the  board 
of  examining  surgeons,  which  position  he  still 
holds.  Politically,  the  Doctor  is  a  Republican, 
and  also  a  Mason.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcoj)al  Church  and  of  Tom  Smith  Post 
No.  345,  G.A.  R.,of  which  he  is  Past  Commander. 
He  was  married  March  11,  1875,  to  Mary  Hender- 
son, of  Massac  County,  whose  parents  were  from 
Virginia  and  Illinois  respectively,  but  were  mar- 
ried in  the  latter  Stale,  and  who  are  now  deceased. 
Dr.  Orr  now,  in  addition  to  his  professional  work, 
owns  and  manages  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  which  is  well  stocked  and  under  a 
high  state  of  cultivation.  He  is  a  genial,  whole- 
souled  gentleman,  highly  respected  by  the  entire 
community  and  very  popular. 


\t  OHN   HENRY    PETERSHAGEN,  a  young, 
j  I    ambitious,    intelligent    and    representative 

d,  general  agriculturist,  was  born  in  Massac 
,^^'/'  County,  111.,  .lanuary  10, 1865,  and  growing 
up  to  honored  manhood  amid  the  associations  of 
his  early  youth,  is  now  engaged  in  the  cultivation 
of  the  fine  homestead  located  upon  section  11, 
township  15,  range  4,  and,  widely  known,  com- 
mands the  esteem  of  a  large  circle  of  sincere 
friends.  The  father  of  our  subject,  John  Henry 
Petershagen,  was  a  native  of  Oldenburg,  Germany, 
and  was  born  October  13,  1819.  At  thirteen  years 
of  age  he  came  with  his  parents  to  America,  and 
was  eight  weeks  in  crossing  the  Atlantic  in  a  sailing- 
vessel.  The  emigrants  landed  at  Baltimore,  and 
went  by  stage  to  Cincinnati,  arriving  in  the  latter 
city  with  l)ut  very  little  money,  but  possessing  a 
large  fund  of  courage  and  energy.  Both  father 
and  son  sawed  wood,  worked  upon  the  steamboat 
landing,  and  did  anything  their  hands  could  find 
to  do.  After  a  time  the  father  of  our  subject,  who 
had  received  a  good  (ierman  education,  and  who 
had  perfected  himself  as  best  he  could  in   liie   En- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


539 


glisli  language,  received  a  position  on  the  steam- 
boat "Cyrus,"  as  second  steward.  He  later  worked 
at  blasting  rock,  and  remained  there  thirteen 
years,  meantime  practicing  rigid  economy  and 
carefully  saving  money  witli  tlio  inirpose  of  later 
owning  a  home  of  his  own. 

Father  Petersliagen  was  married  in  Cincinnati, 
March  18,  1854,  to  Miss  Lena  Deeding,  born  in 
(k'rmany,  January  25,  1825.  Her  parents  died  in 
the  Old  Country, and  she  came  with  friends  to  the 
United  Suites.  The  father  and  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject remained  for  a  time  in  Cincinnati,  and  then 
came  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Massac  County,  where 
Mr.  Petersliagen  and  his  venerable  mother  now 
live.  The  homestead  originally-  contained  but 
eighty  acres  of  unimproved  land,  upon  which  was 
speedily  built  a  log  cabin,  into  which  the  family- 
removed.  The  farm  is  now  one  hundred  and  fortj' 
acres  in  extent  and  linelv  cultivated,  and  is  further 
improved  with  an  attractive  and  commodious  resi- 
dence, substantial  barns  and  outbuildings.  The 
father  remained  upon  this  place  until  his  death, 
October  7,  188.>,  and  the  mother  has  alwajs  clung 
to  the  old  homestead,  which  holds  for  her  so  many 
memories  of  the  past.  Of  the  eight  brothers  and 
sisters  who  once  gathered  together  about  the  fam- 
ily hearth  an  unbroken  circle,  four  survive:  JIary 
is  the  wife  of  George  Henne,  of  Massac  County; 
Maggie  is  at  home;  John  Henry,  the  seventh  child, 
is  our  subject;  and  Susie,  a  bright  j'oung  lady  of 
sparkling  intelligence,  resides  at  home  and  teaches 
school.  Those  deceased  are  Lizzie,  Fred,  Harmon 
and  one  who  died  in  iufancv. 

Our  subject,  reared  upon  his  father's  farm, 
and  thoroughly  trained  in  every  detail  of  agri- 
cultural duty,  was  well  fitted  to  receive  charge  of 
the  homestead,  which  he  now  practically'  manages. 
Remaining  always  with  his  parents,  he  received  a 
good  common- school  education,  and  after  the 
death  of  his  father,  at  once  assisted  his  mother  in 
the  cares  which  devolved  upon  her.  As  the  3'ears 
passed  on  she  found  her  son  full}'  able  to  control 
and  manage  all  the  interests  of  the  homestead,  and 
was  glad  to  be  relieved  of  future  care.  The  fam- 
ily all  occupy  positions  of  usefulnessand  intluence, 
and  are  all  membei-sand  attendants  of  the  German 
Lutheran  Church,  and  active  in  the  religious  work 


and  social  and  benevolent  enterprises  of  that  or- 
ganization. Politically,  Mr.  Petershagen  is,  as  was 
his  father  before  him,  a  strong  Democrat,  and  ear- 
nest advocate  of  the  "party  of  the  people."  He  is 
intelligently  informed  upon  the  vital  questions 
of  the  da}',  and,  a  progressive  citizen,  has  a  bright 
future  before  him,  and  cannot  fail  to  win  assured 
success  and  lasting  prosperity. 


•'•^^•f— 


«^'  NDREW  J.  MARTIN  was  born  in  John- 
(@A-'[j    son   County   February  26,  1827,  and  now 

llj  It  resides  in  Cache  Township,  of  the  same 
<^  county.  He  is  a  son  of  Obadi.ih  and  Nancy 
(Carter)  Martin,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in 
Tennessee  and  the  latter  in  South  Carolina.  Oba- 
diah  Martin  came  to  Illinois  at  an  early  day,  and 
settled  in  Johnson  County  on  Government  land. 
He  married  soon  afterward,  and  it  was  on  this  farm 
that  Andrew  J.  was  born  and  reared.  Obadiah 
died  when  Andrew  J.  w.is  ten  years  old,  and  he 
being  the  only  child  had  to  remain  at  home  to 
aid  in  supporting  his  mother,  working  at  what  he 
could  find  to  do.  His  father  had  not  purchased 
any  land,  and  the  young  boy  had  a  difficult  part 
to  perform,  and  his  education  was,  of  course,  neg- 
lected. What  little  schooling  he  was  enabled  to 
secure  was  in  a  log  schoolhouse  of  the  most  prim- 
itive kind,  without  any  floor  or  windows.  It  had 
logs  stretched  on  stringers  for  seats,  and  a  fire  in 
the  middle  of  the  house  or  room,  around  which 
the  children  gathered.  In  the  wild  woods  at  that 
time  deer  ran  in  droves  like  sheep,  and  wolves, 
wild  turkeys  and  wild  beast<  of  all  kinds  were  plen- 
tiful. 

After  his  muther's  <lcatli,  when  our  subject  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  purchased  land  in 
Cache  Township,  Johnson  County,  and  located 
on  section  7,  where  he  now  resides.  He  has 
sixty-four  acres,  for  which  he  gave  ^1.25  per  acre. 
He  was  married  June  30,  1850,  to  Arminda  Os- 
borne, a  native  of  Johnson  County,  ■(vhose  par- 
ents   were    from    North    Carolina.     She    died    in 


540 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


Septeinbci',  1K81,  and  lie  was  married  again,  June 
■>(),  1882,  to  M;s.  Sarah  Melissa  (Miiikey)  Carter, 
wiio  was  born  in  Franklin  County,  111.,  October 
17,  18."{G,and  whose  parents  were  natives  of  Ten- 
nossee.  Mr.  Martin  has  one  child  living  by  his 
lirst  wife,  viz:  .lohn,  who  lives  near  the  old 
h(ini(>  .■111(1,  like  his  father,  follows  farming.  Mr. 
Maitiii  :iii(l  liis  wife  are  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Kiiiscopal  Church,  and  he  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  lie  enlisted  August  13.  1862,  at  Vi- 
enna, in  Company  C,  One  Hundred  and  Twen- 
tieth Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  in  the  battle  of 
Guntown  and  in  that  at  East  Port,  on  the  Ten- 
nessee River.  He  w.as  an  active  and  faithful  sol- 
dier all  through  the  war,  and  w.as  honorably  dis- 
cliargcd  at  5Ieni]ihis,  Tenn.,  September   10,  1865. 


'  OHN  A.  WASSON,  a  [irominent  practicing 
])hysician  of  southern  Illinois,  was  born  in 
Ivast  Tennessee,  March  21,1820.  His  father, 
John  Wassou,  was  also  a  native  of  East 
Tenuessee.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  was  in  comfort- 
able circumstances.  His  wife  was  Vesta  England, 
of  Tennessee.  To  them  were  born  ten  daughters 
;uid  seven  sons,  the  Brst  being  born  in  1802,  and 
the  Last  in  1833.  Of  the  seventeen  children,  all 
grew  to  adult  age  but  two,  and  the  Doctor  is  no 
doulit  the  last  surviving  member  of  the  family, 
.lohn  Wasson  was  born  in  1769  and  died  in  1847, 
his  widow  surviving  him  about  two  years,  and  d}'- 
ing  at  sixty-five  years  of  age.  Polly,  the  first-born, 
was  the  wife  of  Landy  Rector,  and  died  in  1880. 
Edward,  the  first  son,  was  born  in  1803,  and  died 
in  Tennessee  in  18.59.  He  was  a  wealth^'  and  in- 
lluential  planter  and  merchant,  and  was  also  promi- 
nent in  public  affairs,  owning  large  landed  es- 
tates and  niills,  and  a  fine  sulphur  spring,  which 
liecame  a  very  popular  resort.  He  left  a  family  that 
is  still  prominent.  .Sally  w.is  the  wife  of  a  Mr. 
Eerguson,  and  died  in  ^Missouri.  Melinda  was  the 
wife  of  the  Rev.  Burton  Holloway,  and  the  mother 
of  the  HoUoways  of  Pope  County.     She  died  in 


Illinois  at  the  .age  of  eighty  years.  Washington 
died  when  a  child.  Alexander  died  in  the  prime 
of  life,  leaving  a  wife.  .Joseph,  who  was  a  soldier 
with  our  subject  in  the  Florida  War,  died  in  July, 
1891,  aged  seventy -eight,  in  Barry  County,  Mo. 
Betsy,  the  widow  of  Thomas  Atchley,  was,  when 
last  heard  from,  in  1886,  living  on  licr  farm  in  Mis- 
souri. Louisa  died  about  1870.  Dr.  John  A.  was 
the  next  in  order  of  birth.  Caroline  died  in  Texas, 
about  1865,  aged  forty-two.  JMira,  wife  of  Rufus 
CrewSjdied  in  Missouri  in  middlelife.  Franklin  died 
a  young  m.-iii  about  1847.  William  came  to  Illinois 
in  1862,  and  died  near  Eddyville  in  1882,  .aged 
fifty-four.  Vesta,  if  living,  is  in  East  Tennessee. 
Manila,  born  .Inly  6,  1833,  died  in  the  bloom  of 
j'oulh. 

Dr.  John  A.  Wasson  grew  up  a  farmer  bo}-  until 
seventeen  years  of  age,  acquiring  in  the  meantime 
some  little  education.  At  that  age  he  w.is  placed 
in  college,  and  one  year  later  he  left  college  for 
the  Seminole  AVar.  He  helped  to  gather  up  the 
Ridge  party  of  Cherokee  Indians  for  their  new 
homes  in  the  West.  At  nineteen  he  was  married  to 
P^lizabetli  M.  Nelson,  of  East  Tennessee,  in  January, 
1839.  She  bore  him  four  children,  sons,  two  dying 
in  infancy.  The  mother  of  these  children  died  in 
Miiy,  1847,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four.  Her  two 
sons  that  survived  are  Alexander  Elihu  and  John 
Franklin,  both  residents  of  Illinois.  John  resides 
in  Harrisburgh  and  has  a  family.  He  is  a  farmer 
and  stock  dealer.  Alexander  is  also  a  farmer,  liv- 
ing near  his  father.  Dr.  Wasson  w.as  married  the 
second  time,  to  Martha  Hall,  of  Wayne  County, 
HI.,  December  29,  1848.  To  this  marriage  there 
have  been  born  thirteen  children,  seven  sons  and 
six  daughters.  One  sou  and  one  daughter  died  in 
infancy,  and  Columbus  died  in  October,  1875,  in 
his  twenty-seventh  3'ear.  The  living  are  as  follows: 
Elizabeth,  widow  of  Mr.  Mott,  residing  in  the  vi- 
cinity; William  C,  a  farmer  of  Polk  Precinct; 
Charles  F.,  a  farmer  of  Saline  Count}';  Sarah,  wife 
of  Jeremiah  Williams,  of  Kentucky;  Julia,  wife  of 
John  Gibbons,  of  Saline  County,  111.;  A.  J., at  home 
on  the  farm,  and  having  a  wife  and  two  sons; 
Clement  Leonid.as  Vallandigham,  recently  married 
and  at  home  on  the  farm;  Amanda  J.,  wife  of  Rob- 
ert Williams,  of  Saline  County;  David  Mc,  a  farmer 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOCRAl'lllCAL    REVIEW. 


541 


with  a  family  of  three  sons  and  one  daughter; 
and  Lora  E.,  a  j-oiing  lad^'  at  liome.  The  Doctor 
has  been  a  fanner  and  physician  all  liis  life,  but  is 
now  practically  retired  from  active  labor  of  all 
kinds,  but  even  at  liisage  of  seventy-tliree  j-ears,  he 
IS  obliged  occasional!}^  to  respond  to  calls  for  med- 
ical assistance  by  some  of  his  old  patrons.  He  is 
a  Master  Mason  and  a  Democrat.  He  and  Ids  wife 
are  Social  Brethren,  but  were  formerly  Methodists. 
He  has  been  an  exhorter  in  the  church  some  years, 
and  has  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  has 
lifty-uinc  grandchildren  and  eighteen  great-grand- 
children. 


=-^-^+^1=- 


^OHN  D.  BRIDGES,  proprietor  of  a  livery 
stable  at  Vienna,  is  a  j'oung  man  of  much 
business  ability  and  enterprise,  who  bids 
fair  to  become  one  of  the  solid,  substantial 
business  men  of  this,  his  native  county.  He  is  of 
the  old  pioneer  stock  of  Johnson  County,  and  was 
born  on  the  old  family  homestead  August  10,  186,5. 
His  paternal  grandfather  was  a  prominent  man  in 
Johnson  Countj-  in  his  day.  He  was  possessed 
of  considerable  wealth,  which  he  acquired  by  farm- 
ing and  in  the  mercantile  business,  having  a  store 
in  Elvira  Township  for  the  sale  of  general  mer- 
chandise. He  died  on  the  farm  that  was  the  birth- 
place of  the  father  of  our  subject,  and  where  his 
family  now  resides. 

John  Bridges,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer  on  the  farm  where 
he  was  born,  and  early  in  life  formed  habits  of 
industry.  He  obtained  a  fair  education  in  the 
schools  of  the  time,  and  added  to  his  knowledge 
by  observation  and  experience  as  he  grew  older. 
When  about  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Caroline  Gore,  who  is  also  a  native 
of  this  county.  He  had  a  good  start  in  life,  hav- 
ing had  the  wherewithal  to  bu}-  a  farm  four  miles 
west  of  N'ienna,  which  was  unimproved  when  it 
came  into  his  possession.  He  lived  on  it  four 
years  and  then  exchanged  it  for  another  in  Elvira 


Township,  which  was  a  good  place,  but  had  been 
run  down.  By  careful  cultivation  and  judicious 
improvement  he  brought  it  back  to  its  former 
condition,  and  then  disposed  of  it  at  an  advanced 
price.  Ilis  next  purchase  was  known  as  the  Russ 
Farm,  and  comprised  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land.  He  added  to  its  improvements, 
and  at  length  traded  it  for  the  Weaver  Farm, 
in  the  same  township.  He  tilled  its  one  hundred 
and  eighty  acres  of  fertile  soil  with  success  until 
he  exchanged  it  for  the  Russ  Farm,  for  which 
he  had  previously  traded  it.  He  took  up  his  resi- 
dence on  that,  bought  adjoining  land,  built  ad- 
ditional houses,  making  many  substantial  im- 
provements, and  had  a  line  place  of  three  hundred 
and  twelve  acres,  which  was  his  home  until  death 
closed  his  career  December  28,  188.3,  and  the  town- 
ship and  count}'  lost  a  citizen  of  much  enterprise 
and  a  practical,  wide-awake  farmer. 

Mr.  Bridges  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife, 
from  whom  he  was  divorced,  is  living  in  Moscow, 
I'nion  County.  By  that  marriage  there  were  born 
three  children,  viz:  Jlelinda  J.,  who  is  deceased; 
John  D.,  our  subject;  and  Ida,  wife  of  B.  M. 
Adams,  a  farmer  of  Elvira  Township.  Mr.  Bridges' 
second  marriage,  which  occurred  November  10, 
18G8,  was  to  Sarah  Ragans,  who  was  born  in  El- 
vira Township  October  21,  1851.  Her  i)aternal 
grandfather  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Union 
Count}',  where  he  had  a  farm,  but  his  last  days 
were  spent  in  Johnson  County.  Her  father,  Jo- 
seph R.agans,  was  lx)rn  in  Saratoga,  Fnion  Count}-, 
and  was  brought  up  on  a  farm.  In  early  man- 
hood he  bought  a  tr.act  of  timbered  land  in  this 
county,  upon  which  he  built  a  log  house,  the 
same  in  which  Mrs.  Bridges  was  born,  and  worked 
hard  to  reclaim  a  good  farm.  His  last  years 
were  passed  in  Bloomfield  Township. 

The  mother  of  Mrs.  Bridges  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Mary  McGinnis,  and  she  was  born  in  one 
of  the  pioneer  homes  of  Union  County,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Rich  and  Melvina  McGinnis.  Mi-s.  Bridges 
remained  with  her  parents  until  her  marri.age, 
and  lias  always  lived  in  her  native  county.  She 
attended  the  district  schools  in  her  girlhood, 
and  the  first  that  she  went  to  was  a  typical  pio- 
neer schoolhouse,  with  rough,  home-made  furni- 


542 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


lure — benches  wiUioiit  backs,  and  no  desks  in 
front.  Her  mother  carded,  spun  and  wove  all  the 
clothes  worn  by  her  children,  and  was  an  adept 
at  cooking  before  an  t)[)en  fireplace.  Mrs.  Hridges 
has  live  children  living:  David  (<.,  .loscijhine, 
Laura,  Narvisa  and  Sudua  Belle. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  second  child 
born  to  his  parents.  lie  was  a  bright,  energetic 
boy,  and  managed  to  obtain  a  very  good  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools,  remaining  with 
his  father  until  his  removal  by  death.  He  was 
then  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  the  next  year 
he  s|)('nt  in  Tennessee,  working  on  a  farm.  Re- 
turniuij;  to  .lolinson  County,  he  hired  out  by  the 
j-ear  on  a  farna,  and  was  found  to  be  an  active, 
steady,  trusty  workman.  During  the  two  years 
that  he  was  so  employed  he  saved  some  inonej-, 
which  was  encouraging,  as  he  had  but  fifty  cents 
to  his  name  when  he  left  home.  His  next  venture 
was  to  engage  in  bujing  cattle  with  an  uncle  and 
driving  them  to  market,  and  he  made  that  busi- 
ness pay,  too.  He  then  rented  a  farm,  cultivat- 
ing it  for  one  year,  and  after  that  rented  another 
farm  for  a  like  length  of  time.  He  subsequently 
moved  onto  the  old  homestead,  repairing  a  log 
house  to  live  in,  and  reaped  a  good  harvest  at  the 
end  of  the  season.  He  continued  to  till  the  soil, 
and  also  worked  for  his  stepmother. 

In  1890  our  subject  went  to  Tennessee  again, 
remained  there  a  year  and  then  returned  to  the 
old  place.  He  next  rented  a  farm  and  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits  for  a  while,  and  finally' 
rented  a  small  place  to  live  on  and  engaged  in 
hauling  ties,  etc.  Not  long  after  he  bought  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  twentj'  acres  in  Elvira 
Township.  It  was  in  a  bad  condition,  and  he 
moved  onto  it  and  energetically  set  about  the 
work  of  repair  and  improvement.  He  so  increased 
its  value  that  he  was  enabled  to  sell  it  at  the  end 
of  seven  months  for  *1, 160,  having  paid  $1,000 
for  it  and  having  secured  a  good  crop  from  it  be- 
sides. Renting  a  large  farm  of  three  hundred  acres, 
he  raised  a  good  crop  of  corn  and  hay,  and  then 
came  to  A^ienna  to  engage  in  the  livery  business. 
He  has  a  well-ordered  and  well-conducted  estab- 
lishment, supplied  with  a  good  cl.ass  of  horses 
and    turnouts,   and,   as   he    is  reasonable    in    his 


charges,  fair  and  square  in  his  dealings,  is  build- 
ing up  a  good  business,  and  is  worthy  of  a  liberal 
patronage.  He  is  a  genial,  whole-souled  young 
man, gentlemanly  and  accommodating,  and  stands 
well  with  the  people  among  whom  his  life  has 
been  principally  passed.  In  politics  he  is  a  loyal 
supporter  of  the  Republican  party.  Our  subject 
and  his  estimable  wife  are  the  parents  of  two 
children,  Bessie  Ellen  and  Einih-  I'earl. 


/^EORGE  W.  LAUDERDALE,  of  New  Burn- 
Ill  (-—  side,  was  born  in  Pope  County,  111.,  .June 
%^i  16,  1842.  His  father  was  Jacob  Laudei'- 
dale,  born  in  East  Tennessee  December  6,  1809, 
and  a  farmer  by  occupation,  whose  father,  Will- 
iam Lauderdale,  was  also  a  farmer  of  East  Ten- 
nessee, and  was  of  German  descent.  William  was 
the  father  of  a  large  family  and  died  on  his  fine 
farm  in  the  Elk  River  bottom  at  the  age  of  about 
sixt3--flve  j'ears.  He  was  married  twice  and  Jacob 
was  the  youngest  son  b}-  the  first  wife.  Jacob 
Lauderdale  was  married  twice,  his  first  wife  dying 
earl}-  and  leaving  no  children.  His  second  wife 
was  Mary  Ann,  daughter  of  Charles  and  Sarah 
Ann  (Powell)  Price.  They  were  married  in  Pope 
County,  TIL,  about  1832.  He  came  to  southern 
Illinois  in  1828,  when  nineteen  years  old,  his 
brother  John  having  come  a  few  years  previously. 
Like  the  most  of  the  pioneers  he  had  but  little 
cash  capital,  and  so  was  compelled  to  make  his 
fortune  by  his  labor.  He  at  first  located  in  Pope 
County,  township  12,  squatting  on  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  land,  on  which  he  made  his 
permanent  home  and  to  which  he  obtained  a  title 
from  the  Government.  He  built  a  typical  pioneer 
log  cabin,  which  in  the  course  of  years  vvas  super- 
seded by  a  good  hewed-log  house. 

Jacob  Lauderdale  had  a  family  of  six  sons  and 
four  daughters,  namel^y:  Mar^'  Jane,  who  became 
the  wife  of  George  Grisham,  and  who  died  at 
about  the  age  of  twenty-eight  years;  John  L.,  a 
farmer  of  Pope  County;  Charles  AV.,  a  farmer  of 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOCiUAl'IIICAL   REVIEW. 


543 


Johnson  County;  Jacob  S.,  who  was  a  farmer  of 
Pope  County,  and  wlio  died  on  his  farm  at  the 
age  of  forty  years;  Stephen  F.,  now  living  at 
Dixon  Springs,  I'opc  County,  a  retired  farmer,  a 
lawyer,  Townsiiip  Treasurer  and  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace;  (Jeorge  W.;  David  Olivet,  who  was  a  vol- 
unteer in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  a  member  of 
Battery  K,  First  Illinois  Ligiit  Artiller}-,  and  who 
served  one  j"ear  and  died  iu  a  hospital  at  Evans- 
ville,  aged  twenty-three;  Sarah  Elizabeth,  the  wife 
of  D.  W.  Franklin,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County; 
Eliza  Ann,  wife  of  Abraham  Bailey,  a  farmer  of 
Pope  County;  and  Martha  C,  wife  of  William  W. 
Whiteside,  for  whose  grandfather,  Whiteside 
County,  111.,  the  onl}'  countj'  in  the  United  States 
of  that  name,  was  named.  Mr.  and  Jlrs.  White- 
side reside  in  Georgia. 

George  AV.  Lauderdale  was  not  well  educated  in 
his  boyhood,  but  was  brought  up  to  plent}'  of  toil 
and  trouble  on  the  farm.  He  left  home  at  the  age 
of  twenty  and  volunteered  as  a  member  of  the 
One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  as 
did  also  his  brother  S.  F.,  who  was  then  twenty- 
Iwo  years  old.  They  were  both  in  Company  E  of 
that  regiment.  George  W.  was  in  the  service  but 
nine  months  when  he  was  discharged  on  account 
of  disability.  His  brother  served  through  the  war 
and  came  out  at  the  end  .as  a  non-commissioned 
officer  and  without  wounds.  George  W.  returned 
to  his  father's  home,  and  one  year  later  liis  health 
was  so  much  improved  that  he  was  able  to  attend 
school.  He  attended  school  four  months,  and  then 
taught  school  for  some  tin)e.  He  was  converted 
in  18G9  to  the  Methodist  faith  and  was  soon  en- 
gaged as  an  exhorter,  and  was  for  the  succeeding 
ten  years  a  local  preacher  and  farmer.  His  first 
regular  pastorate  was  in  1886  at  Belknap,  .Johnson 
County-,  an<I  he  was  then  on  the  Metropolis  Cir- 
cuit two  years,  at  the  Broughton  Mission.  The 
work  has  alwa\-s  prospered  under  iiis  ministry. 
He  was  married  September  17,  1867,  to  Miss  Viola 
.\.,  daughter  of  Ilenr^-  and  Martha  (Stogdon) 
Baker,  both  of  whom  were  from  the  South,  he 
from  North  Carolina  and  she  from  Tennessee, 
where  Mrs.  Lauderdale  was  born.  Mr.  Baker  was 
born  in  1798,  and  was  a  son  of  a  Revolutionary 
soldier.     Mr.   and    Mrs.   Lauderdale  have  buried 

30 


two  children,  one  an  infant  son  named  Henry  C, 
and  one,  Oscar,  who  died  October  1,  1892,  in  New 
Burnside,  aged  twenty-four  years.  He  was  an  in- 
telligent and  bright  young  man,  and  had  taken  a 
partial  college  course;  he  was  also  a  music  teacher 
and  a  fine  bass  singer.  This  was  a  heavy  loss  to 
his  parents,  and  especially  to  the  mother.  The}' 
have  four  daughters,  namely':  Emma  Jane,  a3'0ung 
lady  at  home,  who  had  attended  Howard  College; 
Pauline  W.,  Georgie  1).  and  Bertha  Ann,  all  at 
home  and  the  two  youngest  in  school.  Mr.  Laud- 
erdale takes  an  interest  in  the  political  issues  of  the 
day  and  votes  the  Prohibition  ticket. 


|>-^<| 


^  OSIAH  THRt)Gj\IORTON,  a  Director  in  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Vienna,  Johnson 
County,  was  born  in  Union  County,  111., 
July  24,  1828.  His  father,  Joshua  Throg- 
mortou,  was  born  in  Virginia,  and  removed  from 
that  State  to  North  Carolina,  where  he  married. 
He  then  removed  to  Kentucky  and  thence  to  the 
Territory  of  Illinois,  becoming  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Union  Count}'.  He  there  secured  a 
tr.act  of  Government  land  and  improved  a  farm, 
upon  which  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  days.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  w.as  Fannie  Stokes.  She 
was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  died  on  the 
home  farm  in  LTnion  County.  Her  father,  Will- 
iam Stokes,  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Union  County. 

Joshua  Throgmorton  and  his  wife  reared  four 
children:  JIary,  Patsy,  Elizabeth  and  Josiah.  The 
last-named  w.as  reared  and  educated  in  his  native 
county.  The  earl}'  schools  were  taught  on  the 
subsci'iption  plan,  the  schoolhouses  being  of  the 
most  primitive  kind.  The  seats  were  made  of 
puncheon,  with  wooden  pins  for  legs.  There  were 
no  backs  to  the  seats  nor  desks  in  front  of  them. 
Holes  were  bored  in  the  logs  at  the  sides,  in  which 
pins  were  driven,  and  upon  these  pins  was  laid  a 
piece  of  puncheon,  which  served  as  a  desk  for  the 
larger  scholars  to  write  upon.     Young  Tluogmor- 


544 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


ton  split  rails  to  earn  the  money  with  which  to 
pay  his  tuition  for  the  last  term  he  attended 
school.  Me  was  thirteen  years  old  when  his  father 
died,  and  seven  years  later  his  raotlier  passed 
away.  He  commenced  life  for  himself  working  on 
the  farm  at  ^10  per  month. 

There  being  no  railroads  in  this  part  of  the 
country  at  that  early  day,  the  towns  along  the 
Ohio  and  Mississii)pi  Rivers  were  the  markets  for 
the  interior.  Having  accumulated  a  little  capital, 
Mr.  Thrograorlon  became  a  dealer  in  poultry,  eggs 
and  produce,  buying  in  Union  County  and  taking 
his  produce  down  the  Mississippi  River  to  New 
Orleans.  This  course  he  followed  a  portion  of  tlie 
time  for  two  or  three  3'ears,  when  he  purchased  a 
steam  sawmill,  and  eng.aged  in  the  lumber  business. 
This  proved  a  failure  and  he  lost  all  his  money  and 
became  involved  in  debt  besides.  In  1858  he  re- 
moved to  Vienna  and  became  interested  in  a  grist- 
mill. This  mill  he  continued  to  operate  until  1861, 
when  he  enlisted  in  Company  K,  Sixtieth  Illinois 
Infantry.  He  was  soon  appointed  Commissary 
Sergeant,  which  position  he  held  while  in  the  ser- 
vice. He  was  with  Sherman  in  the  Atlanta  cam- 
paign, and  went  with  him  to  the  sea,  and  thence 
to  Fayetteville,  N.  C,  where  he  was  honorably 
discharged  in  March,  1865.  Returning  home,  he 
resumed  his  milling,  which  he  continued  until 
1884.  He  has  also  been  engaged  in  buying  and 
shipping  grain,  and  in  farming, and  has  continued 
in  both  these  lines  until  the  present  time.  In 
1891  he  became  interested  with  P.  T.  Chapman  in 
a  steam  saw  and  planing  mill,  etc.,  and  since  then 
he  has  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  the  supervis- 
ion of  these  mills. 

November  10,  1853,  Mr.  Throgmorton  married 
Abigail  Musgrove,  a  native  of  Union  County,  111., 
whe  was  born  there  January  11,  1828.  Her  father, 
Caleb  Musgrove,  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  and 
moving  from  that  State  to  Illinois,  became  one  of 
the  pioneer  settlers  of  Union  County.  He  im- 
proved a  farm  and  resided  upon  it  until  his  death. 
The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Throg- 
morton was  Clarkey  Cox;  she  was  born  in  North 
Carolina  and  died  in  Union  County,  111.  Mrs. 
Throgmorton  was  reared  in  her  native  county. 
In  her  youthful  days  her  mother  used  to  card  and 


spin,  and  she  learned  both  arts  from  her  mother. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Throgmorton  have  one  daughter 
living,  Fanny,  who  is  the  wife  of  Thomas  H.  Sher- 
idan. In  his  political  sympathies  our  subject  is  a 
Republican.  In  his  religious  belief  he  is  a  Uni- 
versalist.  He  is  a  member  of  Vienna  Lodge  No. 
150,  A.  F.  ife  A.  M.;  and  of  Vienna  Chapter  No. 
67,  R.  A.  M.  He  has  served  as  High  Priest  of  the 
Chapter  several  times  and  has  been  a  representative 
to  the  Ck'and  Lodge  at  Chicago. 


<Tl  ITIIKK  F.  JACOBS  was  born  in  West  Fork 
I  |(§)  Hundred,  Sussex  County,  Del.,  February 
1'^-^  27,  1832.  He  is  a  son  of  Stansbury  Jacobs, 
of  the  same  place,  who  was  born  about  1800. 
The  latter  was  a  son  of  Curtis  Jacobs,  who  was  a 
native  of  Virginia  and  a  farmer  by  occupation. 
He  removed  from  Virginia  to  Delaware  when  a 
young  man.  He  was  married  twice  and  by  the 
two  wives  had  several  children,  of  whom  Stansbury 
was  the  first  of  three  sons.  His  brothers  were 
Madison  and  Curtis.  Curtis  Jacobs  was  a  wealthy 
planter  in  his  day  and  owned  numerous  slaves. 
He  emancipated  many  of  these  slaves  from  time 
to  time,  but  while  thej'  were  slaves  he  was  firm  and 
stern  with  them.  He  died  on  his  plantation  at 
the  age  of  eighty  years. 

Stansbur3'  Jacobs  married  Henrietta  White,  of 
Kent  Countj',  Del.  He  was  a  prosperous  farmer 
and  slave-owner,  having  from  eighteen  to  twenty 
negroes.  They  had  six  sons  and  one  daughter,  of 
whom  Luther  F.  was  the  sixth  child  and  fifth  son. 
Their  children  were  as  follows:  John  Wesley,  who 
died  in  Delaware  a  single  man;  William,  who  died 
in  that  State  in  1875;  George,  who  died  at  the  old 
home  in  Delaware  at  the  age  of  twenty-one;  Sally 
W.,  now  living  in  Washington,  D.  C,  the  widow 
of  Judge  Edward  L.  Weld,  of  Delaware;  Curtis, 
who  died  at  Delaware  in  1888,  a  single  man; 
Luther  F.;  and  Romulus  E.,  a  farmer  of  Madison 
County,  111.     The  father  of  these  children  died  on 


PORTRAIT  AND  lUOGRAPHICAL  REMEW. 


545 


his  plantation  of  twenty-one  hundred  acres,  in  his 
fifty-eighth  year.  At  the  time  of  deatli  he  owned 
some  twenty  slaves.  His  widow  survived  him 
about  twenty-three  years,  and  died  in  1880,  aged 
eighty-five  years. 

Luther  F.  Jacote  was  reared  at  liome  and  was 
well  educated  in  tlie  district  scliools,  in  an  acad- 
emy and  iu  Delaware  College,  talking  the  classical 
course  of  instruction.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one 
he  left  home  and  removed  to  Indiana,  remaining 
there  one  year,  and  then  coming  to  Illinois,  where 
he  remained  until  the  spring  of  1861.  During 
this  time  lie  was  engaged  in  teaching  scliool  and 
in  buying  grain.  On  September  17,  18(51,  lie  was 
sworn  in  as  a  member  of  Company  H,  Thirty-first 
Illinois  Infantry,  at  Cairo,  under  Capt.  Greenlee. 
His  first  experience  in  battle  was  on  November  7, 
at  Belmont.  He  was  in  the  Jefferson  barracks  two 
months  on  account  of  diarrhoea  and  paralysis. 
Otherwise,  he  was  on  dutj'  all  the  time  he  was  in 
the  service,  three  years,  being  neither  serious!}^ 
wounded  nor  taken  prisoner.  During  a  portion 
of  the  time  he  was  often  detailed  as  clerk  and 
scribe  at  regimental  headquarters,  in  which  posi- 
tion he  was  useful  and  efficient.  He  came  home 
witii  health  impaired  from  exposure  and  two 
wounds,  one  in  the  head,  the  other  in  the  hip.  He 
came  through  Vienna  on  liis  way  to  J.  S.  AVhitten- 
berg's,  where  he  went  for  a  certificate  to  leach 
school,  and  afterward  taught  for  six  months. 

In  February,  1865,  Mr.  .lacobs  married  Frances 
H.  .Short,  of  Johnson  County,  daughter  of  Ben- 
jamin Short.  He  continued  teaching  in  Illinois, 
in  four  or  live  different  counties.  He  and  his  wife 
settled  down  at  their  present  home  in  1872,  where 
he  had  bought  eiglity  acres  of  land  three  miles 
west  of  Vienna,  this  eighty  acres  being  a  dower  to 
his  wife,  which  he  obtained  through  the  courts. 
He  has  added  to  this  original  eighty  acres  from 
time  to  time,  until  now  he  owns  two  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  in  three  farms,  with  a  house  on 
each.  He  has  a  line  fruit  farm,  having  twenty 
acres  of  orchard,  both  old  and  new.  He  is  about 
to  make  fruit  culture  a  specialty,  having  apples, 
peaches,  iilums,  apricots.  <?herries,  grapes,  and  all 
kinds  of  small  fruits.  He  has,  so  far,  been  carrying 
on  general    farming   and   growing  large  crops  of 


wheat  and  corn,  having  sometimes  raised  as  much 
as  fifteen  hundred  bushels  of  wheat  in  one  j'ear. 
He  keeps  a  few  good  horses  and  mules,  cattle, 
sheep  and  hogs,  raising  the  latter  for  the  market. 
Mr.  Jacobs  has  three  sons  and  three  daughters, 
ranging  from  twenty-two  j'ears  of  age  down  to 
tliree,  all  of  them  at  home.  Charles  has  a  wife 
and  one  daughter  and  resides  on  one  of  the  three 
farms.  He  also  owns  a  farm  adjoining.  Mr.  Jacobs 
has  served  as  Supervisor  of  the  township.  Polit- 
ically, he  is  a  Democrat,  and  religiouslj'  he  reserves 
the  risrht  to  think  and  believe  for  himself. 


RA  ELLIS  DRIVER,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  is  a  son  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Eliza  McAl- 
,i\  ister,  whose  maiden  name  was  McDowell.  Her 
husband,  INIilton  JIcAlister,  died  before  Ira  was 
born.  Mrs.  McAIister  afterward  married  Burrell 
Driver,  in  Todd  Count}',  K}-.,  and  they  moved  to 
Tennessee,  where  new  neighbors  called  the  chil- 
dren by  their  stepfather's  name.  The  family 
moved  to  Illinois  in  1852,  where  tlie  children  still 
went  b}'  the  name  of  Driver.  Finding  it  difficult 
to  assume  the  name  ISIcAlister,  and  being  very 
fond  of  his  stepfather,  Ira  had  his  name  lawfully 
changed  to  Driver,  sliortly  after  his  mother's 
death,  which  occurred  in  the  summer  of  1853. 
The  stepfather,  being  a  stonemason,  worked  at 
his  trade  and  rented  land,  which  the  boys  worked 
as  a  farm.  Ttiere  were  tliree  of  the  step-children, 
all  of  whom  are  dead  save  Ira,  the  youngest,  who 
was  born  in  the  year  1838.  There  were  five  of  the 
Driver  children,  who  were,  in  the  order  of  their 
birth:  Leona  Kalhcrine,  deceased;  William  Henry, 
now  a  leading  farmer  in  Johnson  County,  Mo.; 
Andrew  Jackson,  who  died  in  infancy;  George 
Washington,  who  died  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
Thirty-first  Illinois  Regiment,  at  Memphis,  Tenn.; 
and  America  Virginia,  wlio  died  in  inf.ancv,  soon 
after  her  mother's  death,  in  1853. 

Shortly'  after  the  death  of  liis  inollu'r,  Ira   hired 


546 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RE^■1I.^V. 


out  as  a  farm  hand  at  H  per  inoiitli,  iind  the 
money  thus  earned  he  used  to  pay  his  liiilion  :U 
school.  In  1855  he  hired  at  fair  wages  to  keep 
ferry  at  Cave  in  Hock,  111.,  saving  his  money  to 
go  to  McKendree  College,  in  Lebanon,  111.  In 
this  way  he  obtained  a  fair  education  and  (|U.alilu(l 
himself  as  a  teacher,  and  has  taught  in  ;ill  nliuul 
eighteen  years,  having  taught  his  (irst  schodl  nc:u 
Rosiclarc,  111.,  in  18C0.  lie  enlisted  in  Company 
C,  Forty-eighth  Illinois  Infantry,  in  .September, 
1861,  and  served  through  the  war.  Of  the  num- 
erous battles  in  which  he  participated  maj'  be  men- 
tioned the  following:  Ft.  Donelson,  Sliiloh,  siege 
of  Vicksburg,  Jackson  (Miss.),  Lookout  Mountain, 
Dalton,  Ft.  McAlister,  and  Columbia.  S.  C.  He 
was  wounded  several  times  and  had  a  portion  of 
his  hip  shot  awaj-  by  a  cannon  ball  at  the  storming 
of  F"t.  McAlister.  He  was  with  .Sherman  in  his 
march  to  the  sea.  With  his  command  he  era- 
barked  on  a  vessel  at  Savannah,  and  was  borne  to 
Beaufort,  S.  C,  and  marched  from  there  through 
Fayetteville,  Raleigh,  Petersburg,  Richmond,  Al- 
exandria and  on  to  Washington,  D.  C.  He  was  pro- 
moted from  a  private  through  all  the  ranks  to 
First  Lieutenant,  and  was  a  participant  in  the 
Grand  Review  in  Washington,  I).  C,  May  23  and 
21,  1865.  With  his  regiment  he  was  mustered  out 
at  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  August  14,  1865. 

Mr.  Driver  returned  to  Hardin  County,  111.,  af- 
ter receiving  his  discharge  from  the  army,  and 
shortly  aftei'  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  in  the  Southern  Illinois  Confer- 
ence, and  traveled  the  Elizabethtown  Circuit  two 
j-ears  and  the  Vienna  Circuit  one  year,  and  was 
located  at  his  own  request  in  the  autumn  of  1870. 
He  soon  afterward  entered  the  Illinois  State  Nor- 
mal School,  near  Bloomington,  to  more  fully  qual- 
ify himself  for  teaching.  He  attended  that  school 
nearly  three  years  and  settled  on  the  farm  he  now 
lives  upon  in  the  spring  of  1875.  He  was  first 
married,  in  1879,  to  Mrs.  Malinda  St.  John,  who 
died  in  1889.  He  was  married  the  second  time,  to 
Mrs.  Elvira  Rude,  in  1890.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  a  Presbyterian  minister.  Rev.  William  Vin- 
yard,  and  the}'  had  kept  eacli  other's  company 
when  they  were  both  young  teachers.  But  she 
married,  moved    to  Missouri,  where    her   husband 


\v,-is  kilk'd,  leaving  her  willi  n  family  "(  fnur 
girls  and  one  bu_\'  (llic  latter  born  live  muntlis 
after  his  father's  death).  Mr.  Driver  owns  three 
hundred  and  thirty-four  acres  of  land,  well-im- 
proved,  and  is  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Har- 
din County.  Ho  is  a  member  of  Lodge  No.  794, 
A.   F.   .V-    A.  M.,  and   of    the   Grand  Army  of  the 


Ii^%  YLA'ESTER  (JUVILLE  15U0CKETT,  a 
^^^  prominent  and  successful  business  man  of 
IvLOj)  Metropolis,  Massac  County,  111.,  has  for 
some  time  been  associated  in  partnership 
with  his  elder  brother,  Alphonzo  Eveleth,  the  firm 
of  Brockett  Bros.,  dealers  in  pianos,  organs  and 
sewing-machines,  being  widely  known  and  tloing 
an  extensive  business  in  that  line  of  trade.  Ben- 
jamin Brockett,  the  great-grandfather,  was  born 
in  the  sunny  South,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary War,  a  mere  child,  was  taken  out  of  his 
native  State  by  his  mother,  the  journey  to  the 
North  being  made  upon  a  mule.  He  was  a  strong, 
robust  man  and  survived  to  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-five  years.  At  eightj^  years  of  age  he 
brought  down  a  deer,  and  was  a  huntsman  even 
then  of  no  mean  ability.  The  grandfather,  Milton 
Brockett,  a  carpenter  and  cabinet-maker,  was  born 
in  Carmi,  111.,  where  his  son,  Milton,  the  father  of 
our  subject,  was  also  born  and  reared,  and  arriv- 
ing at  mature  years  became  a  farmer  and  stock- 
raiser,  highly  respected  bj'  all  who  knew  him.  A 
young  and  patriotic  man.  he  bravely  enlisted  in 
the  service  of  his  country  in  1861,  then  joining 
Company  I,  Eighty-seventh  Illinois  Infantry,  and 
actively  participated  in  numerous  battles  and  skir- 
mishes, taking  jjart  in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg.  Af- 
ter fourteen  months  of  faithful  duty  he  was  dis- 
charged for  disability  and  returned  home  with 
greatly  impaired  health,  his  physical  condition  be- 
ing due  to  constant  exposure  and  daily  priva- 
tions. 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


547 


I 


When  Fallier  IJroekctl  had  somewhat  recuper- 
ated he  resumed  farming  and  at  times  worked  at 
the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  which  business  lie  had 
aciiuired  under  the  supervision  and  instruction 
of  his  fatiier.  In  Sepleniher,  18G5,  Milton  IJrock- 
ett  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Virginia 
Eveleth,  of  Shawneetown,  III.  Mrs.  Milton  IJrock- 
ett,  left  an  orphan  at  a  tender  age  was  brought 
l>v  an  uncle  to  C'armi,  111.,  when  ten  years  old. 
Father  and  Mother  Brockett  both  enjoyed  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  good  common-school  education  and, 
also  trained  in  self-reliant  industry,  were  well-fit- 
ted to  rear  and  educate  the  nine  cliildren  who 
blessed  their  home  with  their  intelligent  presence. 
Alphonzo  Eveleth,  senior  partner  of  Hrockett  Bros., 
was  the  eldest  of  the  family.  Eva  Uelle,  the  first 
daughter,  is  now  deceased:  Sylvester  Orville  wa> 
the  third  in  order  of  birth;  Agnew  is  deceased; 
Tiieophilus,  Martha  Ellen,  Holmes  Baldridge,  Mil- 
ton Agnew  and  Evan  Bailey  are  all  at  home. 
Our  subject  w.as  born  on  his  father's  farm  at  C'armi, 
111.,  I*"ebruar\'  12,  1871,  and  was  early  accustomed 
to  aid  in  the  labor  of  the  homestead,  working  in 
the  summer  months,  and  during  the  winter  seasons 
attending  the  nearest  district  school,  where  he 
diligently  applied  liimself  and  gained  an  excellent 
and  thorough  English  education. 

Having  remained  at  home  with  his  jjarenls  un- 
til .January,  1891,  Mr.  Brockett  then  engaged  in 
business  as  agent  for  the  Singer  Sewing  Machine 
Co.,  at  Fairfield,  111.,  and  is  still  associated  with 
the  well-known  house  he  then  represented.  Feb- 
ruary 1,  18it2,  he  formed  his  present  business  re- 
lations and  became  established  in  Metropolis.  His 
elder  brother  had  been  in  a  similar  business  in 
(iailatin  County,  111.,  and  they  consolidated  in 
Metropolis,  there  adding  pianos  and  orgins  to 
their  stock  in  trade.  Active,  energetic  and  enter- 
prising, the  genial  and  pleasant,  Brockett  Bros,  are 
rapidly  winning  their  way  into  popular  favor 
and  already  enjoy  an  e.xcellent  patronage,  extend- 
ing throughout  the  surrounding  country  and  em- 
bracing a  large  territory  of  custom.  Possessing  a 
wide  acquaintance,  especially  in  Massac  County, 
which  has  been  their  life-long  home,  the  Brock- 
ett Bros,  have  the  confidence  of  their  fellow- 
townsmen,  and  receive  the  best  wisiies  and  hearty 


good-will  of  a  host  of  sincere  friends.  Young  in 
years  but  of  earnest  purpose  and  thoroughly  de- 
voted to  his  business,  our  subject  has  a  blight 
future  before  him,  in  which  he  ma}'  achieve  an 
honorable  competence  and  occupy  with  distinction 
any  public  position  of  usefulness  and  inllueuce  to 
which  he  may  be  called.  Although  not  actively- 
interested  in  political  issues,  Mr.  Brockett  is  in- 
telligently posted  in  local  and  national  affairs,  and 
in  all  matters  iiertaining  to  the  public  welfare  is 
ever  ready  to  do  his  full  <]uty  as  a  true  and  pub- 
lic-spirited American  citizen  and  worthy  represen- 
tative of  an  ancestry  from  whom  he  has  received 
a  name  untarnished  b^-  dishonest  word  or  deed. 


^^A:\II'EL  I).  MILLER,  a  citizen  of  Cache 
^^^  Township,  -Johnson  County,  was  born  in 
1|^^)  Texas  County,  Mo.,  December  31,  1856. 
He  is  a  son  of  .Joseph  and  Mirinda  (Bates) 
Miller,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina  and  the  latter  of  Missouri.  Joseph  Mil- 
ler removed  to  Missouri  when  a  young  man,  mar- 
ried there,  bought  land,  and  reared  his  family  in 
that  State.  After  the  war  he  .sold  his  land  and 
came  to  Illinois,  and  lived  in  Johnson  County 
about  one  year  and  died  in  1865.  .*>amuel  1).  Mil- 
ler remained  at  home  and  helped  to  support  his 
mother  until  he  w.as  eighteen  years  of  age,  when  he 
married  Elizabeth  Randall,  February'  18,  1873, 
who  was  born  in  Union  County  October  18,  1856. 
Her  parents  were  natives  of  Tennessee. 

Samuel  D.  Miller  rented  land  about  six  yeai-s, 
when  he  purchased  fifty-eight  acres  in  Cache 
Township,  and  lived  on  this  farm  six  years,  at 
which  time  he  sold  out  and  purchased  where  he 
now  resides,  on  section  10,  Cache  Township.  He 
now  has  a  farm  of  seventy-nine  acres,  and  a  good 
house  and  other  valuable  improvements.  Not 
having  had  the  o|)portuiiity  to  secure  an  educa- 
tion in  his  youth,  he  has  alw.aysbeen  a  hard-work- 
ing man,  but  he  h.is  been  economical  and  a  good 
manager,  and  has  now  a  good   start  in    life.     His 


348 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPIUCAL  REVIEW. 


wife  secured  a  fair  education  in  Union  County. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  have  throe  children  living: 
Melinda  A.,  James  A.  and  Dosey  A.  lie  is  liberal 
in  his  religious  views,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Democratic  party. 


If^AVID  F.  WILIIKLM,  a  prosperous  farmer 
residing  in  Cache  Township,  .Johnson 
County,  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  Jan- 
uary 8,  1831.  lie  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Mary  (Boston)  Wilhelm,  both  natives  of 
the  same  State.  Lewis  Wilhelm,  the  father  of 
John,  was  also  born  in  North  Carolina,  and  his 
wife,  Margaret,  was  of  (ierman  descent.  John 
AVilhelm  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  also  fol- 
lowed agricultural  pursuits  on  a  farm  he  owned  in 
North  Carolina  until  he  sold  out  and  came  to  Illi- 
nois. He  made  the  journey  by  wagon  and  was  on 
the  road  six  weeks  and  two  days,  camping  and 
cooking  by  the  waj'.  He  crossed  the  Ohio  River 
at  Golconda  in  Pope  County,  and  reached  Illi- 
nois May  13,  1841.  On  the  land  lie  purchased 
in  Cache  Townsliip,  Johnson  Count}',  he  continued 
to  reside  until  his  death,  February  10,  1868. 

David  F.  AVilhelm  received  his  education  in 
North  Carolina,  and  as  the  schools  at  that  time  in 
his  native  State  were  very  similar  to  those  in 
southern  Illinois  at  the  same  time,  his  opportun- 
ities for  securing  a  good  education  were  extremely 
limited.  He  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty-two  years  old,  when  he  took  charge  of  the 
home  farm.  This  place  he  finally  purchased  and 
has  since  then  added  other  tracts  to  it,  until  at  the 
present  time  lie  owns  six  hundred  acres,  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty  acres  in  the  home  farm,  and  three 
hundred  and  twenty  .acres  in  another  tract,  but  all 
in  Johnson  County. 

December  6,  1860,  Mr.  AVilhelm  married  Sarah 
E.  Beggs,  who  was  born  in  Union  County,  111., 
October  30,  1839.  Her  father  was  a  native  of  Ill- 
inois and  her  mother  of  North  Carolina.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Wilhelm  have  had   four  t^hildrcn:    Martha  J.. 


who  married  M.  Bruensand  resides  in  Union  Coun- 
ty, 111.;  Permitta  Ann, deceased;  Sarah  E.,  who  mar- 
ried Lee  Moak  and  resides  in  Johnson  County; 
and  David  T.,  who  is  married  and  also  lives  in 
Johnson  County.  Mi-s.  Wilhelm  is  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  Church,  while  Mr.  Whilhelm  is  identi- 
fied with  the  Luthersin  Church.  In  his  social  con- 
nections he  is  a  member  of  Belknap  Lodge  No. 
822,  A.  F.  k  A.  M.  Politically  he  adheres  to  the 
platform  adopted  by  the  Hepublican  party.  He  is 
one  of  the  best  and  most  successful  farmers  of  the 
county  and  has  the  best  of  improvements  on  his 
farm. 


*5  K!i'    — 


*^> 


S 


"jf]  AMES  L.  GLASS,  general  manager  of  the  Me- 
tropolis Heading  Factory,  Massac  County, 
which  was  established  in  1888,  and  which  is 
the  largest  factory  of  the  kind  in  the  State, 
is  a  son  of  T.  V.  Glass,  who  was  born  in  Hopkins- 
ville,  Ky.,  but  who  removed  from  Hopkinsville 
and  engaged  in  general  merchandising  in  con- 
nection with  Col.  Brown  for  three  years  and 
then  removed  to  Paducah,  Ky.,  and  engaged  in 
the  hardware  business,  in  company  with  William 
Nolan.  He  continued  in  this  business  ten  years, 
when  the  coming  on  of  the  war  interfered  with  busi- 
ness and  he  went  into  the  Columbia  mines,  lead 
and  zinc.  He  made  a  success  of  the  mining  business 
and  accumulated  a  considerable  amount  of  money, 
and  died  in  Golconda,  111.  He  was  married  in 
Paducah  to  Kittle  Nolan,  a  native  of  that  citj', 
who  died  in  1891,  after  marrying  Col.  Brown.  To 
T.  V.  Glass  she  bore  three  children:  William  N., 
of  San  Francisco,  Cal.;  Katie,  deceased,  wife  of  C. 
J.  Morton,  who  is  now  living  in  Nashville,  Tenn.; 
and  James  L.,  the  latter  of  whom  was  born  in 
Paducah,  Ky.,  February  20,  1863,  and  was  educated 
in  the  common  schools  of  Paducah  until  he  was 
fourteen  years  old,  about  which  time  his  father 
died,  and  he  afterward  had  to  m.ake  a  living  for 
himself. 

Our  subject  began  life  as  a  messenger  in  a  tele- 
graph  ortice,  remaining  thus  engaged  one  year  at 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


549 


^4  per  montli.  lie  then  clerked  iu  a  dr.v-g(K)ds 
store  for  seven  ^ears,  when  he  removed  to  Metrop- 
(ili«  and  engaged  in  the  insurance  business,  the 
firm  heing  W.  R.  Brown  it  Co.  He  still  retains 
ilie  fire  insurance  agency  and  in  1888  accepted  the 
position  whidi  he  now  liolds,  that  of  general  m.in- 
ager  of  tlie  Jletropolis  Heading  Factor^'.  It  is  due 
to  Mr.  Glass  to  s.ay  tliat  tiie  success  of  tliis  great 
institution  is  mainly  owing  to  his  management.  It 
has  an  output  of  sixty  thousand  heads  [)er  month, 
its  principal  shipping  points  being  St.  Louis;  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.;  Minneapolis,  Minn.;  Erie,  Pa.;  Louis- 
ville, Ky.;  and  Columbia,  Tenn. 

Air.  Glass  was  married  in  1886  to  Alice  IJrown, 
daughter  of  Col.  W.  K.  Brown,  and  who  was  born 
in  Metropolis.  Politically  our  subject  is  a  Repub- 
lican, and  from  the  above  brief  outlines  of  his 
career,  it  is  evident  that  it  is  wholly  owing  to  his 
own  efforts  that  he  has  met  with  the  success  which 
marks  him  as  a  competent  business  man.  He  has 
had  the  entire  management  of  the  business  of  the 
company,  and  has  built  it  up  to  what  it  is  to-day. 
Mr.  Glass  is  a  great  dog  fancier,  and  has  the  finest 
dogs  in  the  .State,  consisting  of  St.  Bernards  and 
Italian  liounds.  He  is  a  genial  and  whole-souled 
gcntli'inan,  and  is  highly  popular  wherever  he  is 
known. 


"*****^^'+**+F 


IIILIP  A.  CHAIC.  of  the  firm  of  Craig  <fe 
)t  Clanalian,  pioprictorsof  the  Herald- Enter- 
jtrisc,  of  Golconda,  was  born  in  Golconda 
Precinct,  Pope  Count3-,  111.,  March  19, 
1867.  His  father,  Joshua  Craig,  was  reared,  it  is 
thought,  in  Tennessee.  He  came  from  that  State 
to  Illinois,  and  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  Pope 
County,  and  engaged  in  farming  some  3'ears,  and 
then  removed  to  Golconda  and  kept  hotel  for 
some  time  and  a  livery  stable.  He  also  en- 
gaged in  bridge  building,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  built  most  of  the  bridges  that  were  built  in 
Pope  County-.  He  died  in  Golconda  in  February, 
1880.     The   maiden    name  of  his  wife    was  Allie 


Catherine  Campbell.  She  was  born  in  Illinois,  and 
died  in  Golc(jnda,  in  1891.  .She  reared  eight  chil- 
dren, viz:  Mollie,  .Tames,  Emma,  Ella,  Fanny, 
Philip,  Lou  and  Eva. 

Philip  A.  Craig  was  educated  in  Golconda,  and 
in  188U,  in  his  thirteenth  year,  began  to  learn  the 
trade  of  a  printer  in  the  office  of  the  Pope  County 
Democrat.  He  served  in  that  office  until  the  paper 
suspended,  and  then  went  into  the  oHice  of  the 
Herald.  He  was  a  journe\'man  printei  there  until 
1886,  and  then  he  opened  a  job  ottice  of  his  own. 
One  year  later  he  formed  a  partnership  with  .Sim 
V.  Clanahan,  and  started  the  Eiiterprise,  a  weekly 
paper,  and  two  years  later  they  bought  the  office 
and  good-will  of  the  //e/-a/(;,  consolidating  the  two 
papers,  since  which  time  thc}^  have  publislied  the 
same. 

Mr.  Craig  w.as  married  in  1888  to  Hester  Clana- 
han, who  was  born  in  Golconda  Precinct,  Pope 
County,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Sim  V.  Clanahan. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Craig  have  one  child,  named  Maud. 
Mr.  Craig  is,  like  his  partner,  Mr.  Clanahan,  a 
strong  and  able  Kepublican,  and  always  supports 
the  |)rinciples  of  that  party. 


b  <■  ?  "V's 


|^^,^ETE  HOCHE  NORRIS,of  the  firm  of  .Starkes 
Jl)  it  Norris,  proprietors  of  the  Massac  Journal- 
■^  Hejmblican,  was  born  near  New  Grants- 
I  \  burg,  Johnson  County,  111.,  September  24, 
1864,  and  is  a  son  of  Dr.  John  II.  and  Martha  (Mc 
Mahon)  Norris.  He  received  his  early  education 
in  the  log  schoolhouse,  but  afterward  attended 
school  in  Metropolis  four  years.  At  the  .age  of 
seventeen  he  left  the  parental  roof  and  found  em- 
ployment on  the  farm  for  three  years,  when  he  re- 
turned home,  lie  attended  school  one  year  and 
then  worked  in  the  office  of  the  Sljissae  Jour- 
nal one  3'ear.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  in 
the  newspaper  business  most  of  the  time.  On  the 
9th  of  March,  1892,  he  bought  the  office  and 
good-will  of  the  Metropolis  Fepu/ilican,  and  after- 
ward consolidated  it  with  the  M.ass.ac  Journal,  and 


rORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


foiiiuMl  ii  ii!irliii-i>liii)  witli  A.  N.  Starkcs,  under  the 
firm  name  of  A.  Js'.  Stai'kes  &  Co.  Mr.  Norris  as- 
sumed the  maiiagomenl  of  tlie  business  of  the  con- 
solidated jjaper,  and  Mr.  Starlics  of  tlie  editorial  de- 
partment. Tiieir  paper  is  a  weoivly  publication  de- 
voted to  the  interests  of  the  Republican  party. 

Mr.  Norris  was  married  on  the  27tii  of  Novem- 
ber, IH'JX,  to  Lizzie  Lulcens,  who  was  born  in  Massac 
County,  and  who  is  the  daughter  of  Charles  F. 
Lukens.  Mr.  Norris  is  a  member  of  tlie  order  of 
Chosen  Friends,  Lodge  No.  86,  I.  ().  O.  F.,  and  of 
Egyptian  Encampment  No.  15,  of  Canton  Me- 
tropolis No.  67,  and  of  Orestes  Lodge  No.  268,  K. 
P.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  was  ap- 
pointed Postmaster  at  Metropolis  November  19, 
1892. 


r^HOMAS  L.  OGLESBY,  proprietor  of  the 
Oglesby   House,  at    Belknap,    was   born   in 

^'  England,  April  22,  1839.  He  is  a  son  of 
Joseph  and  Sarah  A.  (Dennis)  Oglesby,  natives  of 
Norfolk  County,  England.  Joseph  H.  Oglesby 
owned  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres  in  the  county 
of  his  birth.  After  his  death  his  widow  sold  the 
farm  and  started  to  the  United  States  with  her 
family  of  six  children,  but  died  while  on  the  sea. 
The  year  after  her  demise  the  children  all  died 
with  the  exception  of  Thomas  L.  and  liis  brothers 
Joseph  and  John. 

Thomas  L.  started  out  in  life  nearl}'  empty- 
handed,  as  sickness  caused  the  loss  of  almost  all  the 
property  brought  to  this  country.  At  the  age  of 
twelve  years  he  hired  out  to  work  for  one  year  at 
$10  per  month,  and  during  the  year  he  saved  llOO, 
having  spent  but  ^20  in  that  time.  In  the  fall  of 
1851  he  went  to  Missouri,  and  learned  the  miller's 
trade  at  Cape  Girardeau,  remaining  there  until 
1857,  when  he  went  to  St.  Louisand  followed  mill- 
ing until  1858.  In  the  meantime  he  had  learned 
engineering,  and  in  that  year  he  quit  nulling  and 
took  a  position  on  a  packet  called  the  ''Northerner." 
He  served  on  several  different  boats,  and   was  en- 


gineer on  the  "Ben  Louis,"  which  exploded  at 
Cairo  in  the  summer  of  1859,  at  which  time  sev- 
eral on  board  were  killed,  including  the  captain 
and  second  engineer,  and  many  others  were 
wounded.  Mr.  Oglesby  escaped  uninjured,  after 
bfing  in  the  water  an  hour  and  a-half. 

Having  continued  to  follow  engineering  until 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  our  subject  enlisted 
in  the  Missouri  State  Militia,  and  afterward  in  the 
One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fourth  Senior  Tennessee 
Regiment,  which  had  been  organized  during  the 
Mexican  War.  He  served  in  this  regiment  until 
the  battle  of  Perryville,  and  was  taken  prisoner  in 
September,  1862.  He  was  taken  from  the  battle- 
field to  Louisville,  then  to  Cairo,  and  to  different 
places,  and  was  then  started  for  Alton  penitentiary, 
but  managed  to  escape  at  Necley's  Landing,  and 
at  length  reached  Illinois.  Locating  at  Jonesbor- 
ougli  in  1863,  he  there  engaged  in  the  milling 
business  for  about  one  year.  From  that  town  he 
went  to  Dongola,  and  followed  milling  for  about 
three  3ears.  He  continued  in  the  same  line  of 
business  at  different  places,  owning  different  mills, 
and  was  in  partnership  with  his  father-in-law  in 
the  mill  at  Dongola  some  time.  At  length  he 
bought  an  interest  in  a  sawmill  in  Jackson  Countj', 
which  ho  sold  after  operating  about  six  months. 
On  his  return  to  Dongola  he  again  bought  the  old 
mill  there,  which  he  ran  about  three  years,  and 
then  sold.  He  next  bought  an  interest  in  still  an- 
other mill,  but  sold  that  the  same  year. 

In  the  spring  of  1879  Jlr.  Ogles bj'  opened  agro- 
eery  store  and  boarding-house  in  Belknap,  and  in 
process  of  time  added  to  his  store  different  branches, 
until  he  finally  ran  a  general  store,  and  dealt  iu 
farming  implements  and  coal.  In  1892  he  sold  his 
grocery  and  drj'-goods  departments,  and  now  deals 
in  hardware,  agricultural  implements  and  coal. 
He  is  also  the  proprietor  of  the  Oglesby  House,  the 
best  hotel  in  the  village.  Mrs.  Oglesby  conducts 
a  millineiy  business.  Mr.  Oglesby  is  one  of  the 
leading  citizens  of  Belknap,  and  is  a  thorough 
business  man.  He  was  married  August  10,  1864, 
to  Naomi  Davis,  a  native  of  Union  County,  111. 
The}'  have  had  two  children:  Lavender  W.,  who 
was  born  December  25,  1866,  and  died  October  3, 
1892;  and  Joiiii  Dennis,  who  w.as  born  October  18, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


551 


1870,  and  is  now  in  a  grocery  house  in  Cliieago. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Oglesby  are  meinhei-s  of  the  Congre- 
gational Cluircli.  Politically,  he  is  a  Democrat, 
and  in  his  social  connections  is  identified  with 
Belknap  Lodge  Xo.  251,  I.  ().  (J.  F.,  and  \'ienna 
Kncanipment  No.  53. 


m^-^<m^ 


'Sj  OHN  MOWERY,  wlio  is  a  resident  of  Cache 
I  Township,  Johnson  Count}-,  was  born  in 
^  j  Union  County,  111.,  May  28,  1844.  He  is 
'^^  a  son  of  George  and  Margaret  (Dillow) 
Mowery,  both  natives  of  North  Carolina.  Henry 
and  Susan  Mowery,  the  parents  of  George,  early 
came  to  Illinois  and  bought  land  in  Union  County 
in  183',),  and  at  his  death  he  owned  a  farm  of 
eighty  acres.  George  Mowery  came  to  Illinois 
with  his  father  and  also  purchased  land  in  Union 
County.  The  Mowery  family  left  their  native  State 
and  came  to  Illinois  b}'  wagon,  the  journey  occu- 
pying about  six  weeks,  they  camping  and  cooking 
by  the  wa}'.  George  Mowery  linally  sold  his  Union 
County  farm  and  purchased  laud  in  Pul.aski  County, 
upon  which  he  lived  the  rest  of  liis  life,  d^-iug 
May  28,  1858.  John  Mowery  remained  at  home 
until  the  death  of  his  father,  which  occurred  when 
he  was  but  fourteen  years  old.  The  family  w!»s 
tlien  divided  and  he  made  his  home  with  one  of 
his  uncles  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion.  He  enlisted  August  14,1862, 
in  Company  A,  One  Hundred  and  Ninth  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  at  Jonesborough,  but  was  taken 
sick  soon  after  enlisting,  and  w.as  sick  during  most 
of  the  time  for  which  he  had  entered  the  service. 
He  w.Ts  in  different  hospitals,  and  was  finally  hon- 
orably discharged  at  the  Lawson  Jlospital,  in  St. 
Louis,  May  26,  1863. 

Our  subject  returned  to  his  uncle's  house  after 
the  war,  and  made  that  his  home  until  he  was 
twenty-four  years  of  age,  in  the  meantime  buy- 
ing his  brothers'  and  sisters'  interests  in  the  old 
home  pl.ice.  After  living  a  short  time  in  Missouri, 
he  returned  to  his  uncle's  and  taught  sihool  nine 


months.  In  1871  he  bought  an  interest  in  a  farm 
in  Johnson  County  and  raised  one  crop.  He  then 
sold  his  crop  and  his  interest  and  removed  to 
Alexander  County,  where  he  lived  on  a  rented 
farm  for  three  years.  He  next  rented  a  farm  for 
one  year  in  Pulaski  County,  and  then  returned 
to  Union  County,  where  he  farmed  for  one  year. 
From  Union  Counts-  he  removed  to  Dongola  and 
worked  in  the  store  of  John  Holshouser  for  three 
years,  and  finally  bought  a  farm  of  eighty  acres  in 
Cache  Township,  Johnson  County,  where  he  has 
lived  ever  since.  To  this  eighty-acre  tract  he  has 
added  from  time  to  time  until  he  now  owns  two 
hundred  acres.  His  farm,  which  is  located  on  sec- 
tion 29,  is  always  kept  in  the  best  of  order,  and 
shows  from  its  condition  that  its  owner  is  a  model 
farmer.  He  has  one  of  the  best  liouscs  in  the 
township,  which  was  erected  in  1883.  He  was 
married  December  11,  1866,  to  Nancy  Hartman, 
who  was  born  in  North  Carolina  January  7,  1843. 
Her  parents  were  also  natives  of  North  Carolina. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mowery  have  seven  children  living, 
viz:  Minnie  L,  Harvey  E.,  Rela  Belle,  Sarah  A., 
Hattie  JL,  Earl  E.  and  Roy  O.  Mr.  Mowery  is  a 
member  of  the  Reformed  Church,  and  Mrs.  Mow- 
er}-  is  a  Lutheran.  He  is  a  member  of  Belknap 
Lodge  No.  822,  A.  E.  &  A.  M.,  and  the  Grand 
Army  post  at  Dongola.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Prohibition  parly. 


ENJ.VMIN  E.  CLARK,  Vice-president  of 
.  the  ^[assac  County  Emit  Growers' Associa- 
tion, a  prominent  citizen  and  leading  busi- 
^Ss^'  ness  man  of  Metropolis,  111.,  is  also  one  of 
the  most  successful  general  agriculturists  of  the 
l^tale.  and  is  widely  known  as  a  highly  intelligent 
and  enterprising  man.  His  father,  .lames  E.  Clark, 
born  in  1811,  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina  and 
w-hen  fourteen  years  old  removed  to  Kentucky, 
thence  journeying  to  Indiana  at  eighteen  years  of 
age.      Raised  upon  a  farm  and  fniiii  his  early  years 


552 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


inured  to  hard  work,  be  obtained  but  little  school- 
ing and  grew  up  to  mnnhood  self-taught  by  close 
observation  and  quick  perception.  When  twenty- 
two  years  old  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  L. 
blasters,  of  Indiana,  who  died  in  I860.  Mr.  Clark 
was  married  a  second  time  in  Indiana,  then  marry- 
ing Mis.  Elizabeth  Black,  iw/>  Lindsay.  This  good 
lady  [)assed  away  about  fourteen  years  ago.  In  be- 
ginning life  the  father  of  our  subject  rented  land, 
but  finally  entered  fort}'  acres  in  the  woods  of  I'ike 
County,  Ind.  Building  a  log  cabin  he  moved  into  it 
and  improved  the  pl.aceand  working  hard  struggled 
with  the  privations  and  experiences  incidental  to 
pioneer  life.  After  a  time  selling  out,  he  removed 
to  Taylorville,  Ind.,  buying  land  where  the  town 
of  Selvin  stands.  He  platted  out  lots  and  made 
money,  dying  there  in  comfortable  circumstances 
in  1879. 

James  F.  Clark  was  until  the  Civil  War  a  Dem- 
ocrat, but  at  that  period  of  national  existence  be- 
came a  firm  Republican.  He  and  his  estimable 
wife  were  both  members  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  and  active  in  all  good  work.  They 
were  the  parents  of  one  child,  Mary, now  deceased; 
but  by  his  first  marri.age  Father  Clark  had  eleven 
sons  and  daughters.  Elizabeth,  the  eldest  born,  is 
deceased;  Martha  is  also  dead;  AVilliam  was  killed 
while  serving  in  the  army  in  North  Carolina;  Ben- 
jamin F.  is  our  subject;  Amanda  is  deceased;  Ann 
is  the  wife  of  Samuel  Lindsa}',  a  prosperous  farmer, 
near  New  Columbia,  Massac  County;  Lucinda, 
the  twin  sister  of  Ann,  is  deceased;  James  H.  lives 
in  Oklahoma;  Conrad  L.  is  deceased;  Charlotte  is 
the  wife  of  Louis  Schell,  of  Bloomfield,  HI.;  and 
Peggy,  thej-oungestof  the  first  famil}',  is  deceased. 
Our  subject,  the  fourth  child  of  the  first  union,  was 
liorn  in  Pike  County,  Ind.,  February  6,  1811.  Like 
his  father  he  was  raised  upon  a  farm  and  self-reli- 
antly  earned  his  daily  bread,  in  boyhood  attending 
the  nearest  district  schools  when  he  could  be  spared 
from  agricultural  duties.  When  only  eighteen 
years  of  age  he  married  Miss  Lucinda  Hunsaker, 
born  in  Indiana  but  of  German  ancestry.  She  sur- 
vived her  marriage  a  brief  time,  dying  in  18G5. 
Mr.  Clark  was  .again  married,  February  14,  1867,  to 
Miss  Ellen  lilack,  of  Indiana,  who  died  in  1872. 
Some  seventeen  years  ago  our  sul)ject  for  the  third 


time  took  unto  himself  a  wife,  then  being  united  in 
marriage  upon  October  25  with  Miss  Laura  Day, 
his  present  helpmate  and  companion. 

The  one  child  of  the  first  marriage  is  William  E., 
a  successful  Massac  Count}'  farmer.  The  two 
daughters  of  the  second  union, Ellen  .Land  Minnie 
O.,  are  both  deceased.  Four  little  ones  blessed  the 
present  marriage  of  Mr.  Clark,  of  whom  James, 
the  eldest-born,  is  at  home.  Ida  M.  and  Freddie 
A.  are  deceased.  The  3'oungest  died  in  infancy. 
Beginning  life  for  himself  wiiile  yet  only  a  mere 
boy,  our  subject  had  no  capital  except  his  stout 
self-reliance  and  willing  heart  and  read}'  hands. 
Renting  some  land  of  his  father,  he  tilled  the 
fertile  soil  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil 
War,  when  with  ardent  patriotism  he  enlisted  in 
Company  I,  Forty-second  Indiana  Infantry,  and 
for  three  years,  ten  months  and  fifteen  days  gave 
to  his  country  efficient  and  courageous  service. 
Gallantly  participating  in  numerous  engagements 
Mr.  Clark  took  an  active  part  in  the  battles  of 
Chickamauga,8toncRiver,  Atlanta,  Lookout  Moun- 
tain, Mission  Ridge,  and  BentonviUe,  N.  C,  was 
present  in  all  the  fights  of  the  Atlanta  campaign, 
and  passing  through  the  Carolinas,  marched  with 
Sherman  to  the  sea.  After  severe  service  and 
being  three  times  wounded,  although  not  seriousl}', 
our  subject  participated  in  the  Grand  Review  at 
Washington,  and  having  been  honor.abl}'  discharged 
from  the  army  returned  home  with  impaired 
health.  After  recuperating  Mr.  Clark  farmed  for 
a  brief  period  and  then  engaged  in  mercantile  busi- 
ness in  Selvin,  Ind.,  where  he  remained  six  j-ears. 
He  had  previously  clerked  in  the  store  of  his  father 
and  w.as  accustomed  to  handling  dry  goods  and 
groceries,  and  being  especially  successful  in  mer- 
chandising was  tempted  to  try  the  tobacco  business, 
in  which  he  sunk  considerable  money. 

Our  subject  next  made  his  home  in  Johnson 
Count}',  Kan.,  thence  moving  to  Jackson  County, 
Mo.,  where  he  practiced  medicine  for  a  year,  and 
then  returning  to  Indiana,  again  resumed  farming. 
His  medical  knowledge  had  been  obtained  by  close 
study  and  the  advice  of  relatives  who  were 
doctors.  Mr.  Clark  also  engiiged  in  the  milling 
business  in  Indiana  and  there  ran  a  fiourmill  two 
years,  and  later  became  a  fruit-grower.  Eight  years 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


553 


ago  last  November,  he  made  his  permanent  home  in 
Massac  County,  where  he  bought  a  large  farm  four- 
teen miles  from  Metropolis  and  improved  the  place; 
he  also  bought  another  piece  of  farming  propert3' 
which  he  j'ct  owns.  November  15,  1892,  he  re- 
moved to  the  town  of  Metropolis,  where  he  is  agent 
for  a  wholesale  grocery  house  in  St.  Louis,  Mo., 
and  also  manages  Clark's  Gold  and  Cocoa  Institute 
for  the  cure  of  alcoholism,  or  the  opium  or  tobacco 
habit.  Mr.  Clark  is  an  enthusiastic  fruit-grower 
and  takes  a  leading  place  among  the  farmers  of  the 
county.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Jlissionary  Baptist 
Church,  Vice-president  of  the  precinct  wiiere  he 
lives,  and  has  been  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday- 
school  in  the  vieinit\-  of  his  home.  Politically,  he 
is  a  Republican,  is  a  member  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  P'ellows,  and  is  Past  Commander  of 
J.  B.  Smith  Post  No.  651,  G.  A.  R. 


Ul  f  *^^ODSON  S.  M<  CUAN  was  born  in  Lime- 
\jj//  stone  County,  Ala.,  May  2,  1828.  He  is 
V5^  a  son  of  John  and  Lizzie  (Wickham)  Mc- 
Cuan.  The  father  of  .lohn  McCuan  came  from 
Ireland  to  the  United  States  at  an  early  daj'.  John 
McCuan  removed  from  Alabama  to  Kentucky,  and 
there  reared  his  family  of  seven  children.  He 
purchased  (iovcrnment  land  at  4^1.25  per  acre  and 
resided  u|)on  it  until  his  death.  Woodson  S.  Mc- 
Cuan remained  at  home  until  nineteen  years  of 
age,  having  received  but  little  education,  as  there 
were  no  free  schools  in  his  native  State  at  that 
time.  Besides  this  he  would  not  have  been  able 
to  attend  if  there  had  been,  as  his  father  died  when 
he  was  but  eight  years  old  and  he  had  to  work 
liard  to  assist  his  mother  in  supporting  thefamil3-. 
At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  married  Minerva  Wood- 
burn,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  whose  parents  were 
natives  of  North  Carolina.  He  built  a  house  near 
the  old  home  and  still  continued  to  run  the  farm. 
He  remained  on  the  old  place  until  18(iO,  when  he 
went  to  Arkansas,  remaining  there  for  about  one 


j'ear,  and  then,  as  his  political  principles  were  not 
the  same  as  those  of  the  majority-  of  the  people  of 
that  State,  he  had  to  leave.  He  then  came  to  Illi- 
nois and  settled  in  Johnson  Count}'  in  1861,  and 
in  August,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Companj-  K,  One 
Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  remain- 
ing until  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  was  honor- 
ably discharged  at  Camp  Butler.  September  13, 
1865.  He  was  at  the  siege  of  Yicksburg,  in  the 
battle  of  Gun  town,  and  in  the  fight  at  East  Port, 
on  the  Tennessee,  and  was  an  active  and  true- 
hearted  soldier  all  through  the  war. 

Our  subject's  wife  died  October  14,  1862,  and 
he  afterward  married  Amanda  Cornish,  who  was 
born  in  North  Carolina  February  8,  1850.  He 
has  fifteen  children  living:  Charlotta  A.,  Henry 
M.,  Lizzie  B.,  Sarah,  Leaffy  and  Woodson  S.,  Jr., 
all  of  whom  were  by  the  first  wife;  and  by  the 
second,  Sophronia  E.,  John,  Alice,  James,  Dallas, 
Mattie,  Thomas,  Granville  and  Frederick.  He  has 
recently  purchased  one  hundred  and  twenty-three 
and  a-half  acres  of  land  in  Po|)c  County,  eightj-- 
three  and  a-half  acres  of  which  are  on  section  12, 
and  forty  acres  on  section  4.  This  land  is  five 
miles  southeast  of  Ozark,  and  he  expects  to  make 
that  farm  his  home  in  the  future.  In  his  religious 
views  he  is  liberal,  and  he  always  votes  the  Repub- 
lican ticket. 


n 


ATllAN  SlllCK,  owner  and  manager  of  the 
Metropolis  Pottery,  a  business  which  was 
established  in  1867  l)y  John  Kirki)atrick! 
is  a  son  of  Henry  Shick,  who  was  born  in  Chester 
County,  Pa.  The  latter  was  a  farmer  all  his  life, 
and  died  in  Chester  County  in  1878,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-five  j'ears  and  three  months.  He  was  mar- 
ried to  Susan  Brown,  and  they  lived  together 
fift3--six  3'ears,  celebrating  their  fiftieth  anniver- 
sary in  1873.  She  died  M.iy  31,  1800.  To  their 
marriage  were  born  eight  children.  Cvrus.  who 
was  a  molder  by   trade,  and   ca?ne   to   Illinois  in 


554 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


1855,  lost  his  life  bv  the  .Tohnstown,  Pa.,  flood. 
Josiah,  a  soldier  in  the  Army  of  tlie  Potomac, 
served  three  years,  and  died  from  tlie  effects  of 
exposure.  William  II.  is  manager  of  an  iron 
foundry  in  Reading,  Pa.;  Nathan  is  ne.\t  in  order 
of  birth;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  J. G.  Sands, 
of  ISunbury,  Pa.;  Elizabeth  is  the  wife  of  Henry 
(Tirard,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Reading,  Pa.;  Au- 
gustus W.  is  a  miller  by  trade,  living  two  miles 
from  Port  Clinton,  Pa.;  and  Thomas  M.  is  engaged 
in  the  lime  business  at  Anna,  III. 

Nathan  Shick  was  born  in  Chester  County,  Pa., 
March  23,  1837,  and  w.as  brought  up  on  the  farm, 
receiving  but  a  limited  education  in  the  common 
schools.  In  1860  he  went  to  Union  County,  III., 
with  the  view  of  working  at  anything  he  could 
find  to  do.  His  first  work  was  that  of  driving 
oxen,  unloading  ice,  etc.  This  was  about  the 
time  limekilns  were  started  by  his  brother,  and 
he  worked  about  the  kilns  and  thus  soon  learned 
the  business.  He  was  foreman  there  for  eight 
years,  and  then  spent  some  time  on  a  seven- 
acre  fruit  farm  near  town,  raising  small  fruits, 
berries,  etc.  He  then  engaged  in  contracting  and 
in  quarrying  stone  for  buildings,  and  was  so  suc- 
cessful that  he  soon  accumulated  a  little  money. 
This  money  he  used  mostly  in  the  purchase  of 
real  estate  at  high  prices,  and  the  subsequent 
shrinkage  in  values  left  him  again  a  poor  man, 
and  when  he  removed  to  Metropolis  it  was  with 
little  of  this  world's  goods  in  his  name  or  in  his 
possession.  He  purchased  the  potteiy  plant  in 
connection  with  Mr.  Slater,  his  father-in-law,  and, 
though  having  but  little  knowledge  of  the  busi- 
ness, he  went  to  work  with  a  will  and  soon  gained 
a  practical  knowledge  of  it,  which  has  enabled 
him  to  make  it  a  success.  The  great  necessity  was 
the  proper  kind  of  clay,  and  this  he  was  so  for- 
tunate as  to  find,  since  which  time  the  plant  has 
been  a  complete  success.  It  has  also  been  much 
enlarged,  and  the  business  has  grown  exceedingly. 
Mr.  Slater  died  in  1879,  and  since  that  time  Mr. 
Shick  has  been  sole  proprietor  and  manager.  In 
addition  to  the  ware  he  makes,  he  also  makes  an 
excellent  quality  of  firebrick,  and  has  commenced 
the  manufacture  of  drain-tiling.  He  was  inairied 
in  1861    to   Miss    Marv  ^'ance,  dauiihter  of    Cant. 


Vance,   of   Cincinnati,  Ohio,  but  she    lived  only 
nine  months  after  her  marriage. 

Mr.  Shick  wiis  again  married,  taking  for  his 
wife  Lelia  Slater,  by  whom  he  has  had  seven  chil- 
dren: Clifford,  deceased;  Stanton  M.,  a  printer  in 
the  office  of  the  Republican,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.; 
Henry  and  Nathan,  at  home;  Ada,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania; and  Alfred  and  Cyrus,  at  home.  Politically, 
Mr.  Shick  is  a  Prohibitionist,  and  fraternally  he 
is  an  Odd  Fellow.  Keligiously,  he  has  been  a 
Methodist  for  thirty-seven  years.  He  takes  a 
great  interest  and  active  part  in  the  work  of  the 
church  with  which  he  is  connected,  having  been 
Trustee,  Steward,  Class-leader,  etc.  He  is  also  a 
zealous  worker  in  the  Sunday-school,  and  has  been 
its  Superintendent  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
time  since  he  removed  to  Metropolis.  He  has  led 
a  very  useful  life,  and  is  very  highly  esteemed  by 
the  entire  community. 


3l©^tl^l^^ 


JCHEY  D.  PEELER.  Throughout  .Johnson 
County  there  is  doubtless  no  farm  upon 
which  more  substantial  improvements  have 
))^.  been  placed,  than  upon  the  pleasant  home 
of  Mr.  Peeler  in  Cache  Township.  He  was  born 
in  North  Carolina,  May  17,  1842,  and  is  a  son  of 
.Jacob  11.  iind  Margaret  (Richey)  Peeler,  both  of 
North  Carolina.  Jacob  R.  Peeler  came  to  Illinois 
in  1848,  and  for  several  years  rented  land  and 
raised  tobacco,  by  which  means  he  acquired  monej' 
enough  to  buj'  a  farm.  In  1852  he  purchased  land 
in  Cache  Townshij),  .Johnson  Countj-.  He  after- 
ward sold  this  farm  and  purch.ased  land  nearDon- 
gola.  Union  County,  upon  which  he  passed  the 
rest  of  his  life. 

Richey  D.  Peeler  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  when  he  began  farming 
for  himself  on  sixty-three  acres  of  land,  which  he 
had  purchased  of  his  father,  and  had  paid  for  in 
work.  He  has  since  purchased  more  land,  and  now 
has  a  farm  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  acres, 
which  he  has  .acquired  by    industry   and   persever- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


555 


ancc.  He  was  married  June  1,  1871,  to  Arnaiida 
Burns,  who  was  born  in  Washington  County,  111. 
Mr.  and  Jlrs.  Peeler  have  seven  children  living, 
viz:  Otto  D.,  Lena  L,  Cora  M.,  Alta,  Flora,  Flo\d 
an<i  Inez.  Mr.  Peeler  is  a  Democrat,  in  politics, 
is  lil)eral  in  his  religious  views,  and  socially,  is  a 
member  of  Dongola  Lodge,  A.  V.  ik  A.  M. 


^^ll-^-I^IW 


^...'LEXANDKR  E.  WASSOX.  Among  the 
l@OI  successful  farmere  and  stock-raisers  of 
Pope  County  may  be  mentioned  the  name 
of  Mr.  Wasson,  who  has  a  pleasant  home 
on  township  11,  range  7.  He  was  born  in  Rhea 
Countv.  Tenn.,  in  1810,  and  is  the  eldest  of  seven- 
teen children  in  the  family  of  Dr.  John  A.  and 
Elizabeth  M.  (Nelson)  Wasson.  When  he  w.as 
about  four  years  old  he  was  brought  to  Illinois, 
where  he  was  reared  to  farm  life  and  received  but 
a  limited  education.  In  September,  1861,  he  volun- 
teered to  fight  for  the  Flag,  and  became  a  member 
of  Company  K,  First  Illinois  Light  Artillery,  un- 
der Capt.  Franklin,  and  later  under  Capt.  Smith. 
He  went  in  as  Sixth  Corporal,  and  served  until 
July,  1865.  He  was  taken  seriously  ill  with  meas- 
les,and  from  a  relapse  his  disease  ran  into  typhoid- 
pneumonia,  and  for  a  considerable  time  his  life 
hung  trembling  in  the  balance,  in  the  hospital  at 
Shawneetown,  but  he  finally'  recovered.  He  was 
in  none  of  the  heavj"  battles,  except  the  battle  of 
Nashville,  where  Hood  was  so  completely  beaten 
by  Gen.  Thomas. 

After  the  war  Mr.  Wasson  returned  to  civil  life, 
in  July,  1865.  He  was  married  May  1,  1861,  to 
51ary  A.  Smoot.  She  bore  him  one  sou  and  one 
daughter,  and  died  in  December,  1867,  aged  about 
twenty-five.  One  of  these  children  is  still  living, 
Florence  Bell,  wife  of  A.  E.  Robertson,  a  black- 
smith of  Pope  County.  Mr.  Wasson  was  married 
the  second  time,  choosing  as  his  wife  Aggie  E.  Hart, 
of  Tennessee.  Her  father,  Martin  M.  Hart,  came 
to  Illinois  in  the  fall  of  1855,  and  died  in  this 
countv  in  1861,  leaving  his  widow  with  eight  chil- 


dren, seven  sons  and  one  daughter.  The  mother 
died  in  1873,  aged  about  fifty  years.  One  son, 
Francis  F.,  died  when  a  child,  and  the  rest  arc  all 
living. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wasson  have  buried  two  sons,  aged 
two  and  five  years  respectively.  The  living  are: 
Mary  A.,  a  young  lad}-  at  home;  Joseph  B.,  eigh- 
teen years  of  age;  JIartha  M.,  fifteen;  Daisy  D., 
eleven;  Holly  M.,  nine;  Stella  V.,  seven;  Sophia  E., 
five;  Bertha  A.,  three;  and  Harriet  E.,  the  baby.  For 
fourteen  years  our  subject  has  lived  on  his  present 
farm,  which  comprises  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  jicres.  He  has  served  the  ))eople  of  his  town 
as  Constable  and  Justice  of  the  Peace,  having  been 
twice  elected  to  this  latter  ollice.  He  is  a  Democrat 
in  politics.  His  farming  is  diversified,  his  principal 
crops  being  corn  and  wheat.  His  corn  crop  usually' 
averages  twentj'-five  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  his 
wheat  ten.  He  raises  horses,  cattle,  sheep  and 
hogs,  his  favorite  breeds  of  sheep  being  Cotswolds 
and  Soutlidowns.  A  prosperous  farmer  as  well  as 
a  highly  esteemed  citizen,  he  justly  ranks  among 
the  most  iiilluential  men  of  the  county. 


4^ 


W  OHN  G.  WHITESIDE  was  born  December 
28,  1846,  in  Johnson  County,  111.,  and  his 
father,  David  Whiteside,  w.as  born  in  Pope 

'/J  County  December  17,  1820.  The  latter  was 
a  son  of  John  Whiteside,  a  native  of  Virginia,  who 
removed  to  Illinois  when  a  lad.  His  father,  James 
Whiteside,  was  a  Virginia  farmer  and  was  born  in 
that  Stale.  He  removed  to  the  Territory  of  Illi- 
nois iibout  the  year  1800  with  his  wife  and  a  small 
family.  He  had  two  sons,  James  and  John,  and,  it 
is  believed,  two  daughters.  He  died  in  Illinois. 
His  son  James  was  one  of  the  Legislators  of  Illi- 
nois Territory  when  the  Legislature  met  at  K.ns- 
kaskia.  He  was  a  prominent  man  in  this  |>art  of 
the  Territory  and  used  to  distribute  the  laws,  as 
was  then  customaiy.  He  was  noted  for  his  wit 
and  projjensity  for  joking,  as  well  as  for  his  portly 
form. 


.■)56 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPmCAL  REVIEW. 


John  Whiteside  was  married  to  Eupha  D.  Shearer, 
who  bore  him  thirteen  ciiikhen,  four  sons  and 
nine  daughters.  One  dangiiter  died  in  infancy. 
James,  the  second  ciiild  and  first  son,  died  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1878,  at  tlie  age  of  sixty-three,  lie  was  a 
wealthy  farmer  and  reared  four  children,  and  died 
at  his  farm  home,  leaving  an  estate  worth  some 
$25,000.  Mary,  the  first  cliild,  died  about  1859, 
leaving  a  family  of  ten  children.  Elizabeth,  wife 
of  Henry  Hose,  died  in  1870,  leaving  eleven  chil- 
dren. David,  the  father  of  John  G.  Whiteside,  is 
a  retired  farmer  of  Glendale  and  is  seventy-two 
years  of  age.  His  wife  is  seventy.  They  have 
three  children  living,  viz:  John  G.;  India  E., 
widow  of  Green  Waters,  and  who  has  sis  children; 
and  Amanda  C,  wife  of  Dr.  Sutherland,  of  Creal 
Springs.  They  have  buried  one  infant  son.  Ma- 
tilda, wife  of  Armstrong  Grissom,  died  about  the 
same  time  as  her  husband  died,  in  1868,  leaving 
seven  children.  John  S.,  a  farmer  of  Johnson 
County,  died  in  1888,  aged  about  sixtj'-four  years, 
leaving  a  large  family.  India  E.  is  the  wife  of  Lewis 
Lavender,  well  known  as  the  Sheriff  of  Hardin 
County.  William  died  in  June,  1889,  aged  about 
sixty,  leaving  a  wife  and  five  children.  Sidney 
died  in  February,  1859,  leaving  a  husband  and 
tliree  children.  Adeline,  a  maiden  lady,  lives 
with  her  sister,  Mrs.  Lavender.  Margaret  wife  of 
Dr.  McGinnis,  of  Hardin  County.  Catherine,  wife 
of  Stephen  Hol^bs,  of  Hardin  County,  has  three 
daughters  and  one  son. 

John  G.  Whiteside  was  reared  a  farmer  boy  and 
had  but  a  nominal  school  education.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  enlisted  in  Comp.any  F,  Twenty-ninth 
Illinois  Infantry,  under  Capt.  D.  N.  Baker.  He 
served  as  a  private  soldier  one  j'ear  and  was  blown 
up  in  Mobile,  August  25,  1865.  He  was  in  the 
upper  story  of  a  two-story  brick  building  with 
two  comrades,  Reuben  H.  Chrisman  and  George 
F.  Applin.  All  three  escajied  death,  while  others 
around  them  were  killed.  All  tliree  were,  however, 
seriously  injured.  He  was  in  but  two  engagements 
in  Alabama,  and  was  discharged  in  June,  1865,  in 
]S'ew  Orleans.  Returning  from  the  war,  he  re- 
mained at  home  until  he  was  twenty-six  years  old, 
when  he  was  married  to  Margaret  E.  Gilbert,  of 
I'ope  Count}^     They  have  all  their  children  liv- 


ing, four  sons  and  four  daughters,  viz:  William 
H.,  twenty-one  years  old,  married  and  a  school 
teacher;  Orela  C,  wife  of  N.  H.  Holloway,  a 
teacher;  Minerva  E., a  young  lady  seventeen  jears 
old;  Phillip  I).,  a  youth  fourteen  years  old;  Essie 
E.,  twelve;  Harry  C,  ten;  India  C,  six;  and  Elbert 
R.,  three.  Mr.  Whiteside  has  thus  far  given  his 
children  the  best  opportunities  within  his  reach 
for  securing  a  good  education,  and  they  are  all 
bright  and  studious  children.  He  is  a  Master 
Mason,  and  is  a  Republican,  having  been  Post- 
master at  Eddyville  four  years  under  President 
Harrison.  Ho  has  been  a  farmer  ever  since  the 
war  and  has  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  four- 
teen years. 


\ 


\fi  OSllUA  ELKINS,  one  of  the  most  successful 
citizens  of  Johnson  County,  III.,  was  born 
on  a  farm  two  and  a-half  miles  from  his 
present  abode  June  1,  1818.  His  father, 
William  Elkins,  was  born  in  Georgia,  and  his 
father,  John  Elkins,  was  born  in  Wales.  Upon 
emigrating  to  the  United  States  he  at  first  located 
in  Georgia,  but  in  1809  he  removed  to  what  was 
then  the  Territory  of  Illinois,  and  thus  became 
one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Johnson  County.  He 
secured  quite  a  large  tract  of  Government  land 
upon  which  he  resided  a  few  3'ears,  and  then  re- 
moved to  Arkansas,  settled  near  Little  Rock,  and 
lived  there  the  remainder  of  his  days.  AVilliam 
Elkins  was  a  boy  in  his  teens  when  his  parents  re- 
moved to  Illinois.  A  number  of  families  carae  to 
this  Territory  at  the  same  time.  Two  years  later 
earthquake  shocks  were  felt  here,  and  a  number  of 
these  families  becoming  alarmed,  left  for  other 
parts  of  the  country.  At  that  time  Illinois  was 
for  the  most  i)art  uninhabited  except  by  Indians, 
and  all  the  land  was  owned  bj'  the  Government. 
William  Elkins'  father  had,  as  has  been  stated 
already,  secured  a  large  tract  of  Government  land, 
and  of  this  tract  when  William  was  married  his 
father  gave  him  a  liberal  jjortion.     Upon  the  farm 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPinCAL   REVIEW. 


thus  obtained  lie  erected  a  log  cabin,  and  in  this 
cabin  Joshna  Elkins  was  born.  AVilliam  Elkins 
cleared  up  his  farm,  and  lived  upon  it  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  when  he  was  seventy-one 
years  old.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Sarah  Graves.  She  was  born  in  Kentucky,  and 
died  on  the  liome  farm,  in  P^lvira  Township.  She 
reared  six  children.  .Joshua  l-^lkins  was  reared  in 
his  native  township,  and  lived  with  his  parents 
until  within  one  year  of  his  marriage,  when  he 
started  out  in  life  for  himself,  "even  with  the 
world."  He  married  when  he  was  twentj-one 
years  old  and  settled  on  a  tract  of  land,  and  began 
housekeeping  in  a  log  cabin  with  a  dirt  floor. 
His  mother  and  an  aunt  gave  him  a  few  articles 
of  household  furniture,  and  he  bought  a  bill  of 
goods  at  the  store,  costing  *!7,  for  which  he  got 
trusted.  Thus  with  no  capital,  and  in  debt,  be  be- 
gan his  married  life.  He  worked  out  by  the  day 
and  b\'  the  week  to  earn  money  enough  to  buj^ 
provisions,  and  put  in  all  his  spare  time  improv- 
ing his  own  land.  He  held  this  land  as  a  claim 
until  1844.  before  he  had  monej'  enough  saved  up 
to  pay  for  it  at  ^1.25  per  acre.  From  that  time 
on  he  purchased  other  lands,  until  at  the  present 
time  he  owns  upward  of  eighteen  hundred  acres, 
all  in  .Tohnson  County.  He  was  married  Decem- 
ber 17,  1830,  to  Aquilla  Gurley,  a  native  of  Tenn- 
essee, and  a  daughter  of  Anson  and  Mary  (Wiggs) 
Gurley.  Mr.  and  Sirs.  Elkins  have  three  children: 
Willis,  .Jackson  C.  and  Newton.  They  are  both 
members  of  the  Missionary  IJaptist  Church,  and 
Mr.  I'^lkins  is  a  Republican  in  politics. 


I-^H-^ 


I 


'M 


^OHN  NINVAUD  was  one  of  the  prominent 
men  of  Hardin  County',  and  one  of  the 
most  active  and  earnest  men  in  building 
up  the  interests  of  the  community  in  which 
he  resided.  His  father.  IJaniel  A'inyard,  came 
from  Virginia  to  what  is  now  the  State  of  Illinois 
about  1817.  He  settled  in  Hardin  Conntj-  when 
the  country  was  very  new,  and  as  one  of  the  first 


of  the  pioneers  of  the  county  he  experienced  all 
the  privations  and  hardships  of  pioneer  life,  as  well 
as  its  peculiar  pleasures,  for  it  should  not  be  con- 
siderered  that  the  pioneers  of  tlie  early  daj'  saw 
nothing  but  trials  and  troubles.  While  schools 
and  churches  were  few  and  far  between  and  social 
and  business  intercourse  was  carried  on  under 
peculiar  difliculties,  yet  there  were  compensations 
for  these  hard  conditions  in  the  closer  and  warmer 
friendships  and  the  ever-ready  helpfulness  that 
are,  perhaps,  not  now  experienced  to  anything  like 
the  same  degree.  Daniel  Vin3'ard  performed  his 
full  share  of  the  work  which  developed  the  countr}- 
and  contributed  to  the  progress  which  he  witnessed 
later  on,  and  of  which  his  and  the  descendants  of 
other  pioneers  are  now  reaping  the  benefit.  While 
he  was  well  educated  in  liis  youth,  yet  he  acquired 
sufficient  practical  knowledge  to  carr}' him  success- 
fullj'  through  the  world,  and  he  had  a  strong  will 
and  a  detennination  to  succeed  in  life  and  to  make 
for  himself  and  family  a  home  in  the  wilderness 
which  were  never  conquered  or  daunted.  After 
many  years  of  hard  work  he  died  in  Hardin  County, 
leaving  no  great  amount  of  money,  but  leavin" 
what  is  of  far  more  value,  an  unspotted  reputation. 
John  Vinyard  was  born  August  4,  1817,  and 
was  brought  up  on  the  farm.  liarly  in  life  he 
formed  habits  of  industry-,  which  have  been  of  the 
greatest  benelit  to  him  through  life.  His  educa- 
tional advantages,  like  those  of  his  father,  were 
of  the  most  limited  nature,  and  the  knowledge 
he  obtained  was  not  so  much  in  the  schools  as 
in  the  every-day  experience  of  life  and  by  his  own 
private  reading,  studj'  and  observance.  He  was 
married  February  24,  1839,  to  liliza  Shell,  who 
was  born  in  Tennessee  October  10,  1821.  Her  fa- 
ther, Solomon  Shell,  came  to  Illinois  at  an  early 
day  and  settled  in  Ilardin  County  on  unimproved 
land,  building  a  log  house  and  improving  a  farm. 
After  his  marriage  John  Vinyard  bought  some 
land  in  Ilardin  County,  which  was  to  some  extent 
improved.  He  and  his  wife  moved  onto  this  land 
and  began  their  married  life  in  earnest.  They 
had  at  first  a  log  liouse  of  one  room,  the  cooking 
being  all  done  in  the  old-style  fireplace.  The 
home,  however,  was  a  happy  one,  notwithstanding 
the  primitive  condition  of  things,  for  it  has  been 


-.58 


roin'KAIT  AND   BIOCHAIMIICAL   REVIEW. 


llie  exporii'iice  of  many  !i  family  that  wealth  and 
elegance  of  surroundinfjs  arc  not  neeessary  to,  and 
do  not  insure,  happiness  in  this  world.  Uy  indus- 
try they  succeeded  in  a  few  years  in  iini)roving 
their  farm,  in  building  additions  to  the  bou.se  and 
in  adding  to  the  number  of  their  acres  until  they 
had  one  of  the  best  farms  and  most  comfortable 
homes  in  the  county. 

Our  subject  was  a  good  and  successful  farmer, 
and  while  his  labors  were  not  confined  to  the  farm, 
it  was  never  neglected.  He  was  a  man  of  natural 
and  varied  abilit3',  and  was  alwa^'s  serving  the 
community  in  general  and  benefiting  his  neigh- 
t)ors.  He  was  never  an  idle  man,  and  when  notat 
work  he  was  engaged  in  reading,  thus  improving 
his  mind  and  increasing  his  knowledge.  His  study 
was  so  successful  that  he  received  a  certificate 
from  the  State  Board  of  Health  authorizing  him 
to  practice  medicine,  and  he  followed  the  practice 
of  medicine  until  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was 
also  a  minister  in  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  took  great  interest  in  religious  affairs 
while  he  lived.  He  was  instrumental  in  organiz- 
ing a  church  of  that  denomination,  the  meeting 
being  held  and  the  organization  effected  in  his 
house,  which  was  always  open  for  religious  meet- 
ings, and  m.any  a  service,  long  to  be  remembered, 
was  held  therein.  AVhen  he  died,  the  church  which 
lie  had  organized  lost  its  ma,in  support.  The  com- 
munity in  which  he  lived  lost  at  the  same  time  a 
man  who  was  friendly  to  the  needy  and  to  all 
worth}'  enterprises.  His  widow  still  lives  on  the 
old  homestead,  which  has  been  her  home  from  the 
time  of  her  marriage. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  \'inyard  there  were  born 
twelve  children,  seven  of  whom  are  now  living: 
.lames,  who  is  a  merchant  of  Springfield,  Mo.; 
Mary  K.,  wife  of  Matthew  Jenkins,  a  farmer  of 
I'ope  County,  111.;  Martha  A.,  wife  of  .John  Hub- 
bard, a  farmer  of  Hardin  County,  111.;  William  H., 
a  farmer;  .losie,  wife  of  Frank  Fowler;  Alice, 
widow  of  John  Hamilton;  and  Charles,  a  farmer. 
The  names  of  those  w-ho  have  died  were  as  follows: 
Sarah  J.,  Thom.is,  Maria,  Indiana  and  Louisiana. 
Mr.  Vinyard  was  i)rominent  not  alone  in  church 
and  school  affairs,  but  also  in  civic  matters  and 
all  things  pertaining  to  good  order  and  whatever 


was  beneficial  to  the  community.  He,  however, 
never  aspired  to  oHice,  but  was  always  a  good 
counselor,  and  a  man  in  whom  the  community  had 
the  greatest  confidence.  While  he  preferred  the 
polity  and  faith  of  the  church  with  which  he  was 
connected,  yet  he  was  friendly  to  all  denomin.a- 
tions,  and  ctmid  and  did  gii^et  tlicm  all  as  bretiiren 
in  Christ. 


^M\  C.  MAY,  the  genial,  enterprising  and 
1O//II  popular  landlord  and  proprietor  of  the 
"May  House,"  located  in  Metropolis,  Mas- 
.sac  County,  III.,  is  one  of  the  best  known 
and  most  highly  respected  citizens  in  this  part  of 
the  State,  and  keeps  a  hotel  which  offers  to  the 
local  and  traveling  public  an  excellent  table  and 
superior  accommodations,  rivaling  the  comforts  of 
home.  His  father  and  mother,  Holden  and  Jane 
(Palmer)  May,  came  from  their  early  home,  Tenn- 
essee, to  Massac  Count>-,  more  than  fifty-five  years 
ago.  Settling  in  the  woods  the}-  "squatted"  on 
Government  land,  and  in  a  sparsely  settled  region, 
far  from  schools,  churches  and  neighbors,  built  a 
humble  log  cabin  and,  clearing  a  farm,  entered 
with  spirit  and  zest  into  the  frontier  life  of  those 
pioneer  days.  The  father  never  cared  to  own 
property,  but  later  one  of  his  sons  entered  land. 
Forty-two  years  ago  Holden  Mjiy  passed  awaj'  in 
Massac  County,  and  his  good  wife  surviving, died 
some  sixteen  years  since.  The  father  was  an  ar- 
dent advocate  of  the  principles  of  true  Democracy 
and  was  a  thoroughly  upright  man  of  sterling  in- 
tegrity of  char.acter,  regarded  witii  esteem  and 
confidence  by  all  who  knew  him. 

Fourteen  children  gatiiered  in  the  parental 
homestead,  of  whom  Ellender  is  the  wife  of  Solo- 
mon Blackwell;  (^ueen  T..  Dr.acilla  and  William 
K.  are  deceased;  .lohn  W.  is  a  Massac  County 
farmer;  Oreenberry,  Susanna,  Jane,  Lucinda,  Hol- 
den M.  and  James  Martin  Van  Buren  are  de- 
ceased; Abr.ani  C.  is  our  subject;  Terrill  is  de- 
ceased; and  Solomon  is  a  prosperous  agriculturist. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


559 


Our  subject,  the  twelfth  child  of  the  sturd}'  pio- 
neers, Holden  and  Jane  Maj',  was  early  trained 
into  farming  duties,  and  remained  throughout  his 
early  youth  upon  the  homestead  five  miles  from 
Metropolis,  where  he  was  born  November  24,  1842. 
As  soon  as  his  boyish  strength  would  permit,  he 
split  rails,  grubbed  out  timber  and  cleared  ground, 
meantime  obtaining  a  little  book  knowledge,  nia- 
tcriall}'  increased  after  his  marriage.  lie  assisted 
his  father  until  nine  3-ears  of  age,  afterward  work- 
ing for  a  brother,  and  when  but  nineteen  married 
Miss  Louisa  Gregory,  daughter  of  Ural  Gregory. 
This  estimable  lady  died  nearly  thirty  years  ago, 
and  Abram  C.  May  later  married  Mi-s.  Martha 
Wantland,HeeSisk.  She  had  one  child  by  a  former 
marriage.  Mr.  May  has  two  children  by  his  first 
niarri.ige:  Henry  M.,  now  a  Massac  County  farmer; 
and  JIartha  Jane,  wife  of  Louis  Hanna,  of  Me- 
tropolis. 

Five  children  blessed  the  union  of  our  subject 
and  his  second  wife:  EUender;  Celia  C.,wife  of  A. 
Parker,  a  farmer  of  East  Prairie,  Mo.;  Susan  Dru- 
cilla,  now  Jlrs.  Ililliard;  (ieorge  and  Ida,  who  died 
in  infancy.  Immediately  following  his  first  mar- 
riage. Mr.  May  improved  some  land  owned  b}-  his 
wife  and  bought  eight}-  acres  in  addition,  part  of 
the  land  lying  in  Pope  and  part  in  Massac  County. 
He  remained  four  years  upon  this  farm,  which  he 
kept  intact  for  the  children  of  the  first  wife,  but 
thej-  subsequently  sold  it.  Later  removing  to  an- 
other farm  belonging  to  his  present  wife,  our  sub- 
ject improved  the  property,  built  a  good  house, 
put  out  an  orchard  and  tilled  the  land,  after  an 
eighteen-years  residence  selling  the  same  for  ^;i,OoO 
cash. 

In  1879  Mr.  May  bought  a  corner  lot  in  Jle- 
tropolis,  improved  it  a  little,  and  having  paid 
12,400  for  the  same,  afterward  sold  it  for  ^3,300. 
Encouraged  by  his  former  investments,  our  sub- 
ject then  bought  some  lots,  erected  four  houses, 
three  dwellings  and  a  store,  subsequently  buying 
more  real  estate  and  building  other  houses,  one  of 
which,  containing  goods,  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and 
was  a  total  loss,  even  the  ij^GOO  insurance  not  being 
paid.  Mr.  May  at  once  moved  across  the  street, 
and  working  harder  than  ever,  built  upon  one 
liundred  feet  a  solid  brick  structure,  which  cost 

31 


$4,800,  and  which  he  sold  for  $4,000  cash  and 
sixty-six  acres  in  Johnson  Count}',  included  in  the 
town  of  Grantsburg.  He  afterward  had  a  hotel 
and  boarding-house  at  New  Grantsburg,  which, 
when  he  had  run  it  eight  months,  was  burned  out 
and  was  a  complete  loss,  no  insurance  being  recov- 
ered. 

Mr.  Ma}-  next  returned  to  the  sixty -six  acres  at 
Old  Grantsburg,  and  after  raising  one  crop  on  the 
place,  traded  it  for  the  property  where  he  now 
lives,  and  which  he  lias  improved,  meantime  buying, 
clearing  and  selling  various  farms.  The  land  of  his 
present  residence  is  almost  enlirel}'  covered  with 
substantial  and  attractive  buildings,  and  liere  our 
subject  conducts  one  of  the  best  hotels  in  Massac 
County,  the  Mav  House  having  an  enviable  re- 
cord as  a  house  of  entertainment,  and  enjoying  an 
excellent  custom,  constantly  increasing.  Frater- 
nally, Mr.  Ma}-  is  an  Odd  Fellow,  and  he  and  his 
good  wife  are  both  worthy  members  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  and  arc  ever  ready  to  give  a  helping 
hand  in  social  and  benevolent  enterprise.  Form- 
erly a  Democrat,  our  subject  is  now  an  advocate 
of  the  Republican  party.  An  able,  energetic  and 
enterprising  man  of  true  cour.age  and  indomitable 
will,  he  has  overcome  all  dillicultics  and  adver- 
sities, and  won  success  and  a  competence.  Mr. 
May  is,  in  fact,  a  representative,  liberal-spirited 
and  progressive  American  citizen,  who  knows  no 
such  word  as  fail,  and  with  genuine  "grit,"  a  na- 
tional characteristic,  tries  again  and  again  until  he 
grasps  victory. 


•^^=^>-^<-^^- 


ElLIJAH  C.  WEEKLY  is  the  owner  of  one 
of  the  finest  farms  of  liis  precinct,  and  has 
Ij  spared  no  expense  or  trouble  in  draining 
and  improving  his  place  and  in  tiie  erection  of 
excellent  farm  buildings  and  fences.  He  was  born 
in  Hendricks  County,  Iiid.,  in  1847,  of  wliich 
place  his  father,  Thomas  C.  Weekly,  was  also  a 
native,  his  birth  occurring  April  23,  1821.  In 
November,    1846,   he    was  married   in  Hendricks 


560 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


County,  Ind.,  to  Miss  Cordelia  Diarrnaii,  a  native 
of  the  Hlue  Grass  SUite,  and  daiiglilcr  of  I'eter 
Diarinan.  'riiomas  Weekly  gave  liis  attention  to 
fainiing  tlirounliout  life,  and  in  184H  moved  to 
Iowa,  where  he  made  his  liome  on  a  tract  of  Gov- 
.ernmcnt  land.  He  was  aecidentally  drowned  July 
11, 185(l,attheageof  thirty  years,  leaving  his  widow 
with  two  sons  and  one  daughter  to  care  for:  Elijah; 
Mary  J.,  who  married  Charles  IJrown,  and  died  in 
Pope  County  about  1875;  and  Simon  P.,  who  died 
in  October,  1881,  at  thirtj'-one  years  of  age,  leav- 
ing a  family.  After  the  death  of  her  husband  the 
mother  with  her  little  famil}'  of  children  returned 
to  Indiana  and  later  was  there  married  to  .James 
Jones,  by  whom  she  reared  one  daughter,  now  the 
wife  of  T.  J.  Ewell,  a  farmer  of  Pope  County. 
The  mother  died  in  this  county  in  1803,  aged 
forty  years. 

Elijah  C.  Weekly  is  the  only  survivor  of  his 
parents'  children,  and  until  he  was  sixteen  years  of 
age  he  made  his  home  with  his  mother.  In  Ma}', 
1861,  when  in  his  seventeenth  jear,  he  enlisted  at 
Golconda,  in  Company  K,  One  Hundred  and 
Thirty-sixth  Illinois  Infantr}',  and  after  remaining 
with  his  regiment  for  five  months  was  honorably 
discharged.  He  immediately  re-enlisted  in  the 
Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry,  Company  G,  remained 
with  that  regiment  eight  months,  and  on  the  5th 
of  November,  1865,  was  mustered  out,  not  having 
been  in  a  battle.  His  health  was  considerably  shat- 
tered by  hardships  and  exposure  and  he  has  never 
since  been  very  robust.  He  returned  to  the  home 
of  his  stepfather,  but  later  made  his  home  with 
Charles  Brown,  his  brother-in-law. 

Our  subject  was  married  March  4,  1869,  to  Cyn- 
thia M.  Gullett,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Isabel 
(Thompson)  Gullett,  both  natives  of  the  Keystone 
State.  Mrs.  Weekly  was  born  in  Pope  County, 
April  20,  1851, and  soon  after  their  marriage  they 
began  life  together  on  their  present  farm,  which  at 
that  time  consisted  of  sixty  acres,  which  they  rented 
for  two  years  and  then  purchased  the  property  for 
$500.  Mr.  Weekly  has  from  time  to  time  added 
to  his  acreage  until  he  now  has  a  fine  tract  of  three 
hundred  acres,  one  hundred  acres  being  cleared, 
and  another  farm  of  eighty-one  acres  three  miles 
northeast,  which    is  occupied  by  a  tenant.     He  is 


engaged  in  general  farming  and  is  considered  one 
of  the  thorough  and  intelligent  agriculturists  of 
the  county.  He  knows  the  value  of  frequent  seed 
ingof  his  land  to  timothy  and  cloverand  also  grows 
a  variety  of  crops.  His  stock  comprises  horses, 
cattle,  sheep  and  hogs,  of  which  he  markets  some 
each  year.  He  sold  one  hog  this  year  (1893)  that 
weighed  seven  hundred  pounds,  his  other  swine 
and  cattle  that  he  disposed  of  netting  him  about 
$300.  He  has  a  good  apple  orchard  of  five  acres 
and  usually  has  an  abundance  of  fruit. 

His  children  are  as  follows:  Ida  M.,  wife  of  John 
R.  Cummings,  who  is  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil 
in  the  vicinity  of  her  old  home;  Rosa  J.,  an  intel- 
ligent young  lady  at  home  with  her  parents; 
Sophia  L.,  who  is  now  in  her  seventeenth  year  and 
is  attending  school;  Lj'raan,  a  j'outh  of  fourteen 
j'ears;  James  F.,  in  his  twelfth  year;  Harrington 
C,  aged  eleven;  Ulysses,  nine;  Margaret  J.,  seven; 
Bertha,  five;  and  Laura,  an  infant.  His  daughter 
Cordelia  died  September  18,  1875.  He  has  given 
his  children  good  educational  advantages,  for  he 
knows  the  worth  of  a  good  education,  his  own 
school  days  having  been  very  limited,  although  he 
obtained  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  "three  R's." 
Mr.  AVeekly  has  always  been  a  Republican  and 
has  held  the  oftice  of  Constable  in  his  precinct  con- 
tinuously since  1877.  He  is  a  member  of  the  In- 
dependent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  of  Golconda 
Post,  G.  A.  R.  He  is  one  of  the  thrifty  farmers 
of  his  section  and  is  respected  b}'  all  who  know 
him. 


,|/_^  ON.  WILLIAM  R.  PROAVN,  of  the  firm  of 
If  )l  Brown  it  Bruner,  bankers,  of  Metropolis, 
i^^i<^'  111-,  was  born  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  in  Jan- 
(^^  uarj%  1832.  His  father,  William  Brown, 
was  born  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  his  grandfather, 
Robert  Brown,  was  born  in  England.  When  a 
young  man  Robert  Brown  fought  a  duel  and 
killed  his  opponent.  Previous  to  leaving  his  na- 
tive land  he  was  engaged   to  a  Miss  Iloag      She 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


561 


followed  him  to  America  and  they  were  married 
in  Baltimore,  and  spent  their  lives  in  that  city. 
Tiiey  had  three  children  and  reared  them  all. 
William  Brown,  the  father  of  lion.  William  R. 
lirown,  was  an  only  son.  He  was  but  six  j'eai-s 
old  when  his  parents  died,  and  he  was  reared  and 
e:ired  for  by  his  elder  sister.  After  attaining  to 
luanliood  he  went  to  Alexandria,  Va.,  where  he 
worked  at  his  trade.  He  afterward  went  to 
Georgetown,  1).  C.  He  served  in  the  AVar  of 
1812,  taking  part  in  the  battle  of  Bladenslmrg. 
His  wife,  then  living  in  Georgetown,  witnessed 
the  burning  of  the  Capitol.  In  1816,  accompanied 
by  his  wife,  with  a  pair  of  horses  and  a  wagon,  he 
started  Westward,  and  made  an  overland  journey 
to  Zanesville,  Ohio.  Remaining  there  a  short 
time  he  bought  a  keel-boat  and  started  down  the 
Ohio  Uiver,  and  landed  at  the  present  site  of  Cin- 
cinnati, intending  to  make  a  settlement  at  that 
place.  He  jumped  from  the  keel-boat  to  land,  and 
unfortunatel3-  struck  a  soft  place  on  the  bank  and 
sank  waist  deep  in  mud.  Concluding  that  he  did 
not  want  to  locate  in  such  a  place  as  that,  he  again 
started  down  the  river,  landing  at  the  falls  of  the 
Ohio,  Louisville  being  then  unknown.  He  located 
at  Shippen's  Point,  now  included  in  the  lower 
part  of  Louisville,  purchased  real  estate  there 
and  established  a  cooper  shop.  In  this  business  lie 
was  successful  and  accumuluted  quite  a  handsome 
property.  In  1832  the  Hoods  washed  away  his 
dwelling-house,  as  well  as  many  other  buildings, 
and  nearl}'  ruined  him.  He  then  removed  to  Lou- 
isville and  was  successful  there  in  the  same  busi- 
ness, remaining  thereuntil  1845,  when  he  sold  his 
interests  and  came  to  Illinois. 

Upon  coming  to  this  State,  our  subject's  father 
located  at  Metropolis,  then  but  a  small  village. 
The  country  around  was  but  sparsely  settled,  and 
most  of  the  land  was  owned  b}'  the  Government 
and  selling  for  ¥1.2.')  per  acre.  There  was  but  lit- 
tle money  in  circulation  and  the  people  lived 
chiefly  on  what  their  lands  produced  and  upon 
wild  game.  Deer  was  plentiful  and  a  saddle  of 
venison  could  be  bought  for  twenty-five  cents. 
Wild  turkeys  sold  for  twelve  and  a-lialf  cents  each. 
Corn  was  worth  ten  cents  per  bushel  and  potatoes 
iii;lit  and  a-half  cents.     Wheat  was   not  raised  to 


any  great  extent,  and  good  flour  was  shipped  here 
from  Ohio,  and  sold  for  il.2o  per  hundred 
pounds.  The  wages  of  men  working  on  the  farm 
were  ^4  per  month  and  board.  Mr.  Brown,  upon 
arriving  at  Metropolis,  established  his  cooper 
shop,  employed  from  thirty  to  forty  men  and 
continued  in  business  until  his  death  in  1859, 
aged  sixty-nine.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Catherine  Anderson.  She  was  born  in 
Fairfax  County,  Va.  Her  ancestoi-s  came  from 
Scotland  to  America  with  Lord  Fairfax.  Her 
father,  John  Anderson,  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  He  was  born  in  Virginia, 
was  a  farmer  and  spent  his  entire  life  in  that 
State.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife,  grandmother 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  Mary  Elizabeth 
Swink,  a  native  of  Virginia  and  of  German  ances- 
try. The  mother  of  our  subject  died  at  Metrop- 
lis  in  1846.  She  reared  seven  of  her  children: 
Sarah,  John,  Elizabeth,  George,  Alexander,  Vir- 
ginia and  William  R. 

William  H.  Brown  began  attending  school  .as  soon 
as  large  enough,  and  attended  quite  steadily  in 
Louisville  until  the  family  removed  to  Metropolis. 
He  returned  to  Louisville  afterward  and  was  in 
school  there  one  year.  When  not  in  school  he 
worked  in  his  father's  cooper  shop,  and  learned 
the  trade.  Before  he  was  twenty-one  he  engaged 
in  mercantile  business.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to 
espouse  the  cause  of  Republicanism  in  Massac 
County  and  was  one  of  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two  that  voted  for  Lincoln  in  1860.  Af- 
ter Mr.  Lincoln's  election,  and  when  the  clouds  of 
war  hung  over  the  countiy,  he  proposed  to  other 
gentlemen  that  a  flag  be  raised,  and  in  conse- 
quence a  very  tall  pole  was  secured  and  erected 
and  the  flag  of  the  Union  was  swung  to  the 
breeze.  A  few  days  later  the  Democrats  held  a 
meeting  and  ap[)ointed  a  committee  to  call  upon 
Mr.  Brown  to  ask  him  to  take  down  the  flag. 
The  committee  called  and  made  the  request,  ex- 
phvining,  however,  that  they  had  no  objection 
to  the  flag  but  were  afraid  the  people  of  Ken- 
tucky would  consider  it  a  menace.  Mr.  Brown  re- 
plied that  it  was  not  the  flag  of  any  part},  but  that 
it  wa.s  the  flag  of  Kentucky  as  well  as  of  Illinois, 
that  it  was  the  flag  of  his  country  and  that  the  en- 


562 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


emy  of  the  (lag  was  an  enemy  of  his.  The  flag 
was  not  taken  down.  It  swung  from  the  top  of 
tlial  pole  until  it  was  worn  to  pieces  by  its  flapping 
in  the  wind,  and  it  was  then  replaced  by  another. 
Upon  the  bieaUing  out  of  the  war  he  enlisted  as  a 
private  soldier  in  Company  A,  Twenty-ninlli 
Illinois  Infantry,  under  Capt.  Carmicliael.  At  the 
time  of  muster  he  was  appointed  Quartermaster  by 
(iov.  Yates,  and  forty  days  afterward  he  was  com- 
missioned Lieutenant-Colonel  and  was  detailed 
to  assist  in  raising  troops,  lie  assisted  in  raising 
the  Sixth  Illinois  Infantry,  the  Fourteenth  Cav- 
alry, the  Fifty-sixth  Illinois  and  the  One  Hundred 
and  Thirty-flrst  Illinois  Infantry.  He  then  took 
command  of  the  Fifty-sixth  Illinois.  While  he 
was  in  the  service  four  of  his  children  died  and 
his  wife  was  taken  sick,  and  in  June,  1863,  he 
very  reluctantly  resigned  to  come  home  to  his  af- 
flicted family.  His  resignation  was  accepted,  but 
as  he  was  in  the  midst  of  the  Vicksburg  campaign 
he  could  not  get  away  until  the  surrender  of  that 
stronghold  of  the  rebels.  Upon  the  capitulation 
of  the  place  he  marched  into  the  city  at  the  head 
of  his  regiment.  He  then  returned  to  his  home, 
and  for  some  time  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  tobacco,  and  later  in  mercantile  pursuits. 

In  1870  our  subject  formed  a  partnership  with 
M.  Mayfield  and  established  the  hank  with  which 
he  is  now  connected.  This  bank  is  a  solid  finan- 
cial institution  and  has  weathered  all  financial 
storms.  He  has  been  married  twice,  first  in  1851 
to  Margaret  N.  Thrift,  who  was  born  in  Smithland, 
Ky.,  and  was  the  daughter  of  P.  O.  and  Margaret 
(Ilagey)  Thrift.  John  Ilagej-,  grandfather  of  Mrs. 
Brown,  was  born  in  German^-,  went  from  there  to 
France,  where  he  joined  LaFayette  and  as  one  of 
his  body  guard  came  with  him  to  America  and 
fought  with  him  through  the  Revolutionary  War. 
At  the  time  of  Gen.  LaFayette 's  visit  to  America 
in  1825,  Mr.  Hagey  walked  from  Iluntsville,  Ala., 
to  Xashville,  Tenn.,  to  meet  him,  and  was  most 
warmly  greeted  by  his  old  commander,  who  recog- 
nized him  in  the  crowd.  Later  Sir.  Ilagey  re- 
moved to  Nashville,  and  lived  there  during  the 
later  j-ears  of  his  life.  Mrs.  Brown's  father  for 
some  years  kept  an  hotel  in  Smithland  and  after- 
ward in  Metropolis.     He  was  also  engaged  in  the 


grocery  business  in  Metropolis,  and  in  that  citj' 
lived  the  last  years  of  his  life.  His  wife,  the  mo- 
ther of  Mrs.  ]{rown,  was  of  Scotch  ancestry.  Mrs. 
Brown  died  in  1882,  and  Mr.  Brown  in  1885 
married  Mrs.  Kittie  (Nolan)  Glass,  a  widow.  She 
was  born  in  Paducah,  Ky.,  and  was  the  daughter 
of  William  and  Iluldah  Nolan. 

Mr.  Brown  has  seven  children  living  by  his  first 
wife:  Kittie,  Maggie,  Alice,  Ada,  William  H.,  Jr., 
John  T.  and  Mabel  A.  Mr.  Brown  is  a  member  of 
Tom  Smith  Post  No.  545,  G.  A.  R.,  and  has  been  a 
Republican  ever  since  the  organization  of  the  party, 
and  has  always  stood  high  in  Its  councils.  He  has  J 
filled  various  positions  of  trust  and  honor  and  was  I 
elected  to  the  State  Legislature  in  1869,  and  served 
in  four  sessions.  This  was  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Legislature  after  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitu- 
tion, and  many  important  matters  were  considered 
and  acted  upon.  He  served  on  the  Committees  on 
Rivers  and  Canals,  and  Education,  and  was  Chair- 
man of  the  Library  Committee.  He  served  ten  or 
twelve  years  as  a  member  of  the  Ohio  River  Com- 
mission and  was  appoinied  b}'  Gov.  P"iftr  a  dele- 
gate to  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Convention,  which 
met  in  St.  Louis,  and  was  Chairman  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Credentials. 


'i'=^=v y 


LIVER  M.  FISHER  is  a  teacher  by  profes- 
sion, whose  education  and  personal  qualifi- 
cations give  promise  of  a  brilliant  career  in 
his  chosen  field  of  labor.  He  is  also  a  practical, 
skillful  farmer,  and  when  not  otherwise  engaged 
devotes  his  time  to  agricultural  pursuits  on  the 
old  family  homestead  on  section  21,  Grantsburg 
Township.  He  is  a  native  of  Johnson  County, 
and  was  born  January  16,  1861,  on  the  farm  that 
he  still  makes  his  home. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  Tiiomas  C.Fisher,  was 
a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  a  son  of  Jacob  Fisher, 
who  was  born  in  South  Carolina  in  1784.  Thence 
he  removed  to  North  Carolina,  from  there  to  Vir- 


PORTRAIT  AM)    P.K  )( ;  KAl'llICAL    RKVJKW. 


563 


ginia,  later  to  Tennessee,  and  from  that  State  to 
Illinois  in  1850,  coming  witli  team  and  wagon  and 
bringing  otlier  personal  property  witli  him.  He 
l)ought  a  tract  of  unimproved  land  on  section  28, 
(Trantsburg  Townsliip,  built  a  log  shanty  for  a 
residence  and  began  to  clear  his  land.  At  the 
time  of  his  death  in  18()3  he  had  made  many  sub- 
stantial improvements.  His  widow  survived  him 
nine  years,  and  made  iier  home  on  the  farm  until 
her  demise. 

The  grandfatlier  was  twice  married.  He  and 
his  first  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  C  liarlotte 
^  arboroiigh,  had  nine  children:  .lohn,  who  was 
born  in  1806,  died  in  Tennessee  in  1884;  Rebecca, 
who  was  born  in  1808,  married  Moses  Helm,  in 
1828,  and  died  in  1887;  Frederick  was  born  in 
1810  and  died  in  Missouri;  George  W.  was  born 
in  1812  and  lives  at  ^'erona,  Tenn.;  James,  born 
in  1814,  died  in  1848  in  Tennessee;  Polly,  born  in 
1810,  married  Hooper  Campbell  in  1839,  and  died 
in  Tennessee  in  18,")4;  Reuben  was  born  in  1818  and 
died  in  1820;  and  William  P.,  whose  birth  occur- 
red m  1820,  lives  at  Milan,  Tenn. 

After  the  death  of  his  lirst  wife,  Grandfather 
Fislier  married  Nancy  G.  Helm,  who  was  born  in 
1805  and  died  in  1872.  The  following  is  the 
record  of  their  eleven  children:  Sarah,  born  in 
1825,  was  married  to  James  Dark,  and  is  now 
deceased;  Martha  L.,  born  in  1827,  married  Edward 
Owinsb}'  in  1847,  and  is  now  living  in  Paris, Tex.; 
Jacob  C.  was  born  in  1829,  and  died  in  Illinois  in 
1870;  Thomas  C,  who  was  born  in  1830,  died  in 
Illinois  in  1892;  Dollie  K.,  born  in  1831,  married 
William  Alford  in  1852,  and  is  now  deceased; 
Alalinda  J.,  born  in  1833,  married  S.  C.  Rentfro  in 
1853,  and  died  in  185(>;  Franklin  A.  was  born  in 
1835  and  died  in  Illinois  in  1876;  Fountain  1'., 
wliose  birth  occurred  in  1837,  is  living  nearGann- 
town,  III.:  Robert  AV.  was  born  in  1841;  Nancy 
V.  was  born  in  1844  and  died  in  1876,  unmarried; 
and  Jonathan  M.,  born  in  1846,  resides  at  Gann- 
town.  111.  Robert  W.  was  reported  to  his  com- 
pany (the  First  Illinois  Light  Artillery,  Company 
K)  as  having  died  in  the  small-pox  hospital  at 
Memphis,  Tenn.,  in  1863,  but  in  1880  a  man  passed 
lludugh  .lohnson  County  claiming  to  be  the  same 
man.     From   his   appearance,  as  well  as   what  he 


knew,  and  all  things  taken  together,  he  must  hare 
been  Robert  W.  Fisher,  but  he  refused  to  talk  upon 
the  subject  when  sober  and  would  make  no  ex- 
planation of  hisconduct  when  intoxicatd.  The  cir- 
cumstances surrounding  his  supposed  death  were 
peculiar,  but  nobody  doubted  it  until  he  reap- 
peared. 

Thomas  Fisher  passed  his  early  life  on  a  Ten- 
nessee farm.  As  the  result  of  a  fall  wlien  a  small 
l)oy,  he  afterward  had  hip  disease  and  s^'novitis, 
from  the  effects  of  wiiich  he  is  a  cripple  for  life. 
He  remained  an  inmate  of  the  parental  home  until 
he  was  twent^y-one,  and  meanwhile  learned  the 
trade  of  a  blacksmith  and  wheelwright.  He  was 
married  in  1851  to  Rebecca  K.,  daugliter  of  James 
Dark.  She  was  the  sixth  of  eleven  children,  of 
whom  the  following  is  noted:  Isaac,  born  in  1817, 
and  David,  born  in  1819,  reside  near  Tyler,  Tex.; 
Benjamin,  Jane  and  Nancy  I.,  are  deceased;  Re- 
becca was  i.orn  in  1827;  Susan  A.,  born  in  1829, 
married  James  G.  Helm,  and  died  in  1885;  .Sarah 
K.,  Mrs.  Jacob  Fisher,  is  deceased;  Robert  J.,  born 
in  1835,  is  living  in  Nashville,  Tenn.;  Martha 
died  in  1880;  and  John  residesat  Vienna,  111.  The 
father  of  this  family,  James  Dark,  was  a  .soldier 
under  Gen.  Jackson  in  hie  Southern  campaign  in 
the  War  of  1812.  He  married  Martha  Gates,  and 
after  her  death  was  united  in  1827  with  Sarah 
Fisher,  by  whom  he  became  the  father  of  two  chil- 
dren, John  and  Martha.  In  1866  he  returned  to 
T'ennessee,  where  he  died  from  the  effects  of  an  in- 
jurj'  received  some  years  previous. 

After  his  marriage, Thomas  Fisher  migrated  from 
the  State  of  his  nativity  to  Illinois,  and  first  lo- 
cated on  a  rented  farm  in  Grantsburg  Township. 
He  afterward  bougiit  ninety-six  acres,  and  with 
his  family  moved  iiilo  the  log  house  on  the  place. 
He  proceeded  to  clear  away  the  standing  timber, 
which  was  a  heavy  primeval  forest  growth,  and 
that  which  he  did  not  use  for  rails  or  lumber  he 
had  to  burn,  as  there  was  no  market  for  it.  Later, 
he  built  a  substantial  frame  house,  tiie  material 
for  which  he  manufactured  with  a  whipsaw.  He 
afterward  erected  the  present  residence,  also  a 
frame  house,  which  stands  upon  the  hill  in  one  of 
the  best  locations  in  the  neighborhood.  Mr. 
Fisher  was   successful,  not  only  .as  a  farmer,  but 


564 


PORTRAIT  AND    RIOGRAPIIIC'AL   RKVIEW. 


also  as  a  blacksmith,  having  a  high  reputation  for 
ineclianical  skill,  and  people  from  miles  around 
came  to  his  shop  to  have  work  done.  He  and  his 
estimable  wife  reared  a  family  of  six  ciiildren. 
Ann  E.,  born  in  1852,  married  (leorge  W.  Howell, 
and  died  in  1879,  two  days  after  her  husband's 
death;  Francis  M.  was  born  in  1854,  and  is  now 
a  resident  of  Ganntown,  111.;  Margaret  K.,  horn  in 
1857,  married  John  W.  Howell  in  188!)  and  died 
in  1892;  Martha  M.  was  born  in  1859,  and  is  now 
at  home  with  her  mother;  Oliver  M.  was  born  in 
1861;  and  Robert  W.,  born  in  1864,  is  a  resident 
of  Clinton,  Iowa. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  review  early 
displayed  a  taste  for  scholarly  pursuits  and  was  a 
diligent  pupil  in  the  public  schools,  which  he  at- 
tended until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old,  thus 
obtaining  a  thorough  mastery  of  the  common 
branches.  In  188.'iand  1884  he  had  the  further  ad- 
vantage of  a  course  of  study  at  the  Western  Ken- 
tucky University.  He  entered  upon  the  duties  of 
his  profession  and  taught  until  1890,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one  year,  when  he  engaged  in  the  mer- 
cantile business  at  Ganntown,  having  bought 
a  half-interest  in  a  general  store.  He  then  en- 
tered the  business  college  at  Oberlin,  Ohio,  where 
he  pursued  an  excellent  business  course  and  per- 
fected himself  in  penmanship.  In  the  spring  of 
1891  he  went  to  Marinette,  AVis.,  to  take  charge  of 
a  business  college  at  that  point,  but  after  two 
days'  work  the  Sheriff  became  princi|)al  of  the  col- 
lege, which  was  discontinued  on  account  of  finan- 
cial difficulties. 

Returning  home,  Mr.  Fisher  proceeded  thence 
to  Washington,  where  he  taught  the  Empire  Busi- 
ness College  at  Walla  Walla  in  1891  and  1892. 
In  October,  1892,  he  entered  the  Euclid  Avenue 
Business  College  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  at  first 
he  taught  in  the  Elnglish  training  department 
and  afterward  in  the  business  department,  which 
pl.ace  he  still  occupies.  He  is  admirably  adapted 
for  the  office  of  a  teacher,  having  the  gift  of  im- 
parting knowledge  clearly  and  in  an  interesting 
manner.  He  brings  a  well-trained  mind  to  his 
work,  for  which  he  has  an  ardent  liking,  and  is 
endowed  with  those  finer  attributes  necessary  to 
win   the   confidence  and    respect  of  the  pupils  en- 


trusted to  his  guidruicc  in  the  paths  of  learning. 
As  before  mentioned,  lie  gives  his  attention  to 
farming  when  not  engaged  in  teaching,  and  makes 
his  home  with  his  mother  on  tlie  farm  improved 
by  his  father.  In  politics,  he  is  a  firm  adherent  of 
Democratic  principles  and  a  stanch  supporter  of 
the  platform  of  that  party.  Socially,  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  New  Columbia  Lodge  No.  336.  A.  F.  <k 
A.  M. 


EV.  ,10HN  F.  HARMON,  pastor  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Metropo- 
lis, was  born  at  Olne}',  111.,  May  1,  1858. 
His  father,  John  Harmon,  \\as  a  native  of 
Indiana  and  was  brought  upon  a  farm  with  plenty 
of  hard  work  and  too  limited  advantages  for  se- 
curing an  education.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he 
came  to  Illinois  and  located  in  Richland  County. 
There  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  forty  acres  of 
land  where  the  city  of  Olney  now  stands.  This 
land  was  unimproved  and  he  traded  it  for  other 
lands  and  kept  on  trading,  until  at  length  he  se- 
cured eighty  acres  of  land  that  was  good  and 
which  he  improved  from  the  slump  and  made  a 
good  farm.  He  was  married  near  Olney  to  Charity 
Bullard,  who  was  born  in  1824  in  (iibson  County, 
Ind.  Her  family  settled  in  Indiana  in  1818,  and 
built  the  first  house  in  Princeton,  that  State.  Mrs. 
Harmon  taught  one  of  the  first  schools  near  what 
is  now  the  town  of  Olnej'.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jolin 
Harmon  had  nine  children,  viz:  William  Albert, 
now  Treasurer  of  Cla}' County,  111.;  Louis  Jl.jWifo 
of  A.  J.  Lewis,  of  Clay  County,  a  farmer;  Daniel 
A.,  a  teacher  of  Clay  County-;  Peter  F.,  a  farmer  of 
Clay  County;  Josiah  G.,  pastor  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  at  Sumner,  Lawrence  County 
111.;  John  F.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Matilda  R., 
wife  of  Johnston  Brooks,  of  Clay  County;  Emma, 
wife  of  F.  M.  McKnight,  of  Clay  County,  and 
Amos  A.,  of  Olney. 

John    F    Harmon  was    reared    on    the   farm   in 
Richland  County-      His  childhood  and  youth  were 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


565 


i-pent  on  the  fiirni  and  in  attendance  at  the  com- 
mon school  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  He 
then  began  teacliing  school  and  tauglit  five  win- 
tei-s  in  C'laj'  County-.  During  the  summers  he  at- 
tended the  State  Normal  School  at  Danville,  Ind., 
and  the  State  Normal  School  at  Carbondale,  III. 
lie  also  attended  the  teachers'  Normal  institutes  at 
home.  lie  w.os  licensed  to  preach  wlien  he  w.as 
eighteen  years  old,  and  was  ordained  by  IJishop 
Simpson  at  Mt.  Vernon,  beginning  to  preach  at 
the  age  of  twenty-four.  He  then,  in  company  with 
liis  brother  Josiah.  went  to  Chicago  and  attended 
tlie  Garrett  IJiblical  Institute,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1888.  During  his  stav  in  Chicago 
he  preached  eighteen  months  at  York  House,  Lake 
County.  His  first  charge  was  at  Hawthorn,  While 
County,  111.,  where  he  remained  two  years  and  four 
months,  after  which  he  removed  to  ISIetropolis. 

September  26,  1882,  Mr.  Harmon  married  JIary 
E.  Murvin,  a  native  of  Richland  Count},  111.  Her 
mother  is  now  living  in  Ingraham,  Clay  County, 
111.,  her  father  having  died.  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Harmon  have  three  children,  viz:  Stennie  Maude, 
Raymond  Watt.*  and  Louie  Grace.  Politically,  the 
Rev.  !Mr.  Harmon  is  a  Prohibitionist,  and  socially 
he  is  a  Mason  and  aw  Odd  Fellow.  He  is  a  very 
successful  pastor  and  an  eloquent  preacher,  and  is 
very  popular  wherever  he  goes. 


*•    >   ^1 


1^^ 


M 


MLLIAM  H.  CLARK,  a  farmer  living  on 
section  3,  township  13,  range  7,  cast.  Pope 
County,  is  a  son  of  Samuel  Clark,  a  native 
of  Virginia,  who  was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  fol- 
lowed farming  in  his  native  .State,  and  removed 
to  Tennessee  and  thence  to  Alabama.  He  was 
twice  married,  his  second  union  being  with  Miss 
■lane  Medcalf.  He  removed  from  Alabama  by 
means  of  an  ox-team  to  Illinois,  a  distance  of  four 
hundred  and  sixty-one  miles,  bringing  all  their 
household  goods  and  pei-sonal  effects,  and  camping 
out  and  cooking  by  the  w.ay.  This  was,  as  ma}-  be 
readily   imagined,  a   very  tiresome    jouriie}-,  and 


tlie  wife,  disliking  to  go  so  far  into  an  entirely 
new  country,  remained  in  Tennessee.  Mr.  Clark 
reached  Pope  Countj'  in  18;')2,  made  his  first  stop 
with  ason  inGolconda,  and  lived  in  Poi)e  County- 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1857,  his  wife 
dying  in  Tennessee.  By  his  first  marriage  there 
were  two  ciiildren,  viz:  Newton  D.  and  John,  both 
deceased.  By  his  second  marriage  there  were  four 
ciiildren,  viz:  Lewis  M.,  now  living  in  Yolo 
County,  Cal.,  at  Dunning  Station;  William  H.; 
India,  wife  of  Reuben  Croft,  of  Alabama;  and 
Reser,  who  remained  in  Tennessee  with  his  mother. 
William  II.  was  the  second  child  by  tlie  second 
marriage,  and  was  born  in  Alabama  June  27,  1840. 
He  w.as  brought  up  on  a  farm  and  came  to  Illinois 
with  his  father  when  thirteen  years  old.  Uijon  his 
arrival  here,  though  so  young,  he  started  dul  in 
life  for  himself,  working  for  Caleb  Baldwin,  a  far- 
mer. He  w.as  a  faithful  and  trusty  boj',  and  se- 
cured what  little  education  was  possible  in  the 
schools  that  were  then  in  vogue,  and  thus  kept  on 
until  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  broke  out,  in  1861, 
wlien  he  enlisted  in  Compan}'  K,  Fifty-sixtli  Illi- 
nois Infantry.  He  went  at  first  to  Shawneetown, 
and  then,  in  Februar}',  1862,  to  Paducah,  Ky.,  and 
thence  South  to  the  front.  He  served  until  Au- 
gust 25,  I860,  when  he  was  discharged,  having 
been  a  bravo  and  faitiifnl  soldier.  He  was  in  nu- 
merous battles,  among  them  those  of  Corinth,  luka, 
siege  of  Mcksburg,  Grand  Gulf,  Black  River 
Bridge,  Champion  Hills,  and  various  skirmishes, 
eighteen  battles  in  all,  and  was  on  man}"  a  hotly 
contested  field,  the  dead  falling  all  around  and 
on  all  sides  of  him,  he  escaping  as  if  by  miracle. 
However,  the  wear  and  tear  of  war  and  the  excite- 
ment of  those  fearful  da^s  undermined  his  health, 
and  from  the  effects  of  the  exposure  and  hardships 
he  never  recovered.  When  he  reached  home,  his 
health  w.as  impaired  to  such  an  extent  tliat  for  ten 
months  he  was  unable  to  do  anything,  and  he  lived 
with  a  brother.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  was 
so  far  recovered  that  he  thought  it  necessary  and 
best  for  him  to  think  of  settling  down  in  life,  and 
be  was  married  to  Rosa  K.  Rawlings,  of  Virginia, 
whose  parents  removed  to  Mississip|)i,  where  her 
father  died.  Her  mother  thereupon  moved  to 
Golconda.  111. and  died   there  in  1880. 


566 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


After  his  marriage,  Mr.  Clark  leased  a  farm  for 
ten  j'ears  and  lived  on  it  eleven  y<!«''S-  He  was  a 
successful  farmer  and  .iccumulated  some  money. 
He  then  bougiit  a  farm  for  11,625,  upon  which  he 
now  lives,  and  which  consists  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  acres  and  makes  a  pleasant  home.  It 
is  on  the  bank  of  the  OhioHiver  and  is  finely  sit- 
uated, giving  a  beautiful  view  both  up  and  down 
the  stream.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark  have  had  eight 
children,  viz:  Newton  1).,  AVilliam  Frederick  and 
Eddie,  deceased;  Samuel  and  Lewis;  one  who  died 
in  infancy;  and  India  and  Annie,  at  home.  Mr. 
Clark  is,  as  he  could  scarcely  avoid  being,  taking 
his  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  country  and 
his  experience  in  the  war  into  account,  a  Kepubli- 
cau  in  politics.  He  has  not  been  an  oHlcc-seeker, 
but  has  been  content  with  private  life  and  the 
pursuit  of  agriculture  in  preference  to  the  disap- 
pointments of  a  political  career.  He  is  a  valued 
member  of  the  community,  and  has  the  respect  of 
all  (rood  citizens. 


!#^^»"i^il^^^=^ 


^  M.  CHOAT,  a  resident  of  Metropolis,  Mas- 
sac Count}', .Secretary  and  General  Manager 
of  the  Massac  Iron  Compan}',  which  w.is 
established  in  1890  for  the  manufacture  of 
gas  and  water  pipe,  is  a  son  of  .Tohn  P.  Choal,  who 
was  born  in  what  is  now  Callatin  County  in  1818, 
the  same  year  in  which  the  State  was  admitted 
into  the  Union,  and  was  a  farmer  up  to  the 
year  1860.  He  came  to  Massac  County  about 
the  time  of  attaining  his  majority,  and  engaged 
in  gener.al  merchandising,  but  is  now  retired 
from  actual  business.  When  he  was  twenty-two 
years  old  he  was  married  to  Penelope  Mizell,  a 
native  of  North  Carolina,  whose  parents  came  to 
Massac  County  in  1837  and  settling  first  three 
miles  north  of  Metropolis,  entered  land  all  covered 
with  timber,  built  upon  it  a  log  house  and  lived 
for  a  number  of  years  in  true  pioneer  style,  the 
country  then  being  very  sparsely  settled.  After 
clearin<T  off  some  of  this  land  they  sold   out  and 


bought  another  place,  repeating  this  process  a 
numlier  of  times,  and  in  clearing  the  land  burned 
much  of  the  timber  to  get  it  out  of  the  way. 

.John  P.  Choal,  father  of  our  subject,  had  but 
little  opportunity  for  .acquiring  an  education  in 
the  schools,  but  he  obtained  somewhat  of  a  [irac- 
tical  education  by  his  own  endeavors  and  by  .ict- 
ual  experience  in  business  life.  There  were  then  im 
schools  nor  churches  in  the  country,  and  what  did 
exist  were  few  and  far  between.  Mr.  Clioat  and 
his  wife,  the  latter  of  whom  is  now  deceased,  were 
the  parents  of  seven  children,  viz:  Isaac  M.,  wlio 
enlisted  in  Company  D,  One  Hundred  and  Thirty- 
first  Illinois  Infantry,  and  died  while  in  the  ser- 
vice; William  W.,  deceased;  James  M.;  Barbara  A., 
wife  of  J.  W.  Burnett,  M.  D.,  of  Alto  Pa.ss,  III.; 
John  H.,  of  Joppa,  Massac  County;  Mary  O.,  de- 
ceased, and  one  who  died  in  infancy,  the  mother 
dying  at  the  same  time. 

James  M.  Choat,  the  third  child  of  this  family, 
was  born  in  Massac  Countj'  November  19,  1845, 
and  until  he  was  sixteen  3'ears  old  he  was  brought 
up  on  a  farm.  His  education  was  for  the  most 
part  received  in  the  common  schools,  but  he  at- 
tended the  State  Normal  three  months  and  then 
had  to  leave  on  account  of  ill-health.  AVhen  he 
was  sixteen  years  old,  his  father  having  removed 
to  Metropolis  and  engaged  in  general  merchandis- 
ing, he  went  into  the  store  and  was  there  seven 
years,  acquiring  a  practical  knowledge  of  business. 
At  the  end  of  these  seven  years  he  went  into  a 
flouring-mill  at  Metropolis  and  had  charge  of  the 
Empire  Mill  two  years.  He  was  then  engaged  in 
the  wharf-boating  and  commission  business  with 
J.  C.  Willis  &  Co.  at  Metropolis  two  years,  and 
then  in  the  general  merchandising  business  for 
Stieets  &.  Choat,  at  Metropolis,  a  short  time.  He 
later  returned  to  the  Empire  Mill  for  Austin  &  Co. 
and  had  charge  of  it  .again,  this  time  for  five  years, 
being  afterward  engaged  in  bu3-ing  wheat  for  one 
year,  partly  for  himself  and  partly  for  Allard  &  Son, 
of  Paducali.  After  this  he  went  into  the  banking 
business  with  McKee,  Quante  &  Co.,  being  cashier 
and  manager  of  the  institution  and  having  an  in- 
terest in  the  bank.  This  w.as  a  private  banking 
firm  for  three  years  and  was  then  converted  into  a 
National  Bank,  of  which   Mr.  Choat  was   Cashier 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


5fi7 


fur  tivo  years  as  well  as  one  of  tbe  stockholders. 
Then  on  account  of  impaired  health  he  was  out  of 
business  for  one  year,  at  the  end  of  whicli  time  he 
resumed  his  former  position.  In  188!)  he  retired 
from  the  banking  business  and  in  1890  accepted 
liis  present  position,  that  of  Secretary  and  General 
Manager  of  the  Massac  Iron  Company. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  18C7  to  Sydney  A. 
Simpson,  a  native  of  Massac  County,  b}'  whom  he 
had  eight  cliildren,  viz;  Allison,  deceased;  Fannie, 
at  home;  Frederick  and  James  M.,  Jr.,  deceased; 
Guy,  Nellie  and  Duff,  at  home;  and  Aline,  deceased. 
Politically,  Air.  Clioal  is  a  Democrat.  It  is  evident 
from  the  foregoing  brief  review  of  Mr.  Choat's 
career  that  he  has  been  a  very  active  and  success- 
ful business  man.  His  success,  moreover,  has  been 
the  result  of  his  own  efforts  and  industry-.  He  is 
a  very  pleasant  and  genial  gentleman  and  fully 
coin])elent  to  fill  the  position  he  holds. 


4^ 


-^ 


^  IIAKLES  BROWN.  The  beautiful  precinct 
of  Golconda,  w^itli  its  well-watered  fields 
y:  and  meadows,  its  rolling  surface  and  fine 
woodland,  is  the  home  of  many  wealthy,  thrifty 
and  intelligent  farmers,  and  in  this  respect  none 
are  more  i)romiuent  than  Charles  Brown,  whose 
farm  is  advantageously  located  and  well  watered, 
and  comprises  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  is 
so  tilled  as  to  produce  most  prolificaliy.  He  was 
born  on  this  farm  in  1842,  his  father,  William 
Brown,  having  been  born  near  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
about  1790.  He  ran  a  keelboat  on  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  Rivers  to  New  Orleans, and  would  walk 
back  to  Pittsburgh.  He  was  married  tliiee  times, 
his  second  wife,  who  was  the  mother  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  being  Grissie  Cowsert,  a  native  of 
the  Isle  of  Frin,  and  she  bore  her  husband  four 
daugiitcrs  and  three  sons:  Mary,  widow  of  William 
Belford,  who  resides  near  (iolconda;  JIargaret, 
whii  died  in  1880,  aged  about  forty-eight  years, 
tlio  wif(^  <if  W.  F.  Oullett;  William,  who  was 
killed  in  (iolconda  in   iwd.'!,  when  in  llie   prime  of 


life;  Sarah,  wife  of  Isaac  Flick,  a  farmer  near  Gol- 
conda; Lucinda,  wife  of  Gordon  Belford;  Henry 
R.,  who  farms  a  part  of  the  old  homestead;  and 
Charles.  The  mother  of  these  children  died  about 
ISoO,  aged  sixty  years.  She  was  twice  married 
and  bore  her  first  husband  six  children,  of  whom 
Thomas  Fulkerson,  now  living  at  alH)ut  the  age  of 
eighty  j'cars,  is  the  eldest. 

William  Brown  became  a  i-esident  of  Illinois 
about  1820,  and  first  settled  in  Hardin  County, 
and  after  his  marriage  with  Mrs.  Fulkerson  he 
settled  on  the  land  on  which  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  now  lives,  where  he  died  in  1855,  aged  sixty 
3-ears.  His  first  wife  bore  him  one  son,  who  is  now 
dead.  Charles  Brown  onl^-  attended  school  a  short 
time  in  his  youth,  as  his  services  were  required  on 
the  farm  when  he  was  very  j-oung,  but  while  at- 
tending the  old-time  subscription  schools  he  learned 
to  read,  write  and  cipher.  The  building  in  which 
he  i)ursued  the  paths  of  learn  ing  was  a  log  structure 
with  puncheon  floor  and  seats,  and  lighted  by  a  win- 
dow nearly  the  length  of  the  house  and  about  ten 
inches  wide,  and  which  had  to  be  left  wide  open  at 
all  times  in  order  to  furnish  the  necessary  amount 
of  light.  A  )ilank,  supported  by  pins  underneath, 
served  as  a  writing  desk.  The  room  was  lieated 
by  a  huge  fireplace  made  of  stone.  On  the  5th  of 
May,  18(;4,  Charles  Brown  enlisted  in  Company 
G,  Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry,  his  commanding  officer 
being  Capt.  Glass,  and  in  November,  18(j5,  he  was 
mustered  out  of  the  service  as  Third  Corporal. 
He  was  in  the  battle  of  Harrison  Creek  and  fou"-ht 
Hood  from  Nashville.  He  possessed  a  strong  con- 
stitution, and  bore  the  hardships  of  army  life  well. 
He  was  first  married  May  ;J,  186(i,  to  Miss  ]Marv 
Jane  Weekley,  who  died  without  issue  July  7, 
1877,  when  about  thirty  years  of  age.  His  present 
wife  was  formerly  Miss  Sarah  M.  Floyd,  to  whom 
he  was  married  November  27,  1877,  she  bein"-  a 
daughter  of  David  A.  Floyd.  Their  union  resulted 
in  the  birth  of  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  Lily 
died  in  infancy;  Lena  died  at  the  age  of  three  years; 
William  is  a  bright  little  lad  of  thirteen  years;  and 
Eugene  F.  is  a  promising  boy  of  eleven  years. 
Both  of  the  latter  are  attending  school.  Mr. 
Brown  has  always  been  a  Hcpul)lican  of  a  pro- 
nounced type,  and  although  hy  no   means  an   as- 


.■)(".  8 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


piraiit  for  odice,  lie  has  held  with  iibility  the  po- 
sitions of  Koad  C'oininissionci- and  School  Director. 
His  attention  has  been  chielly  given  to  the  projier 
management  of  his  farm,  which  he  devotes  to  the 
raising  of  the  usual  grain  products  and  domestic 
animals  sullicient  for  home  use.  Me  is  progressive, 
industrious  and  intelligent,  and  is  in  every  way 
deserving  of  the  success  which  has  attended  his 
efforts.  lie  is  a  monibor  of  (iolconda  Post  No. 
332,  (i.  A.  R.,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  worthy 
communicants  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
of  which  they  arc  liberal  supporters  and  active 
wi>rkers. 


^; 


i****^^****!: 


**+*'^®^^*'i"5"5-F 


ILLIAM  L.  BKIDWEI.L,  I).  1).  S.,  a  prac- 
tical denlistof  Metropolis,  111.,  is  a  son  of 
^^  William  Bridwell,  a  native  of  Virginia, 
who  removed  to  Tennessee,  where  he  died.  He 
was  a  locksmith  and  gunsmith  by  trade.  He  went 
to  Tenn(!ssee  when  a  young  man,  and  there  mar- 
ried Dobrina  Waters.  They  both  died  in  Tenn- 
c-see,  he  in  1836,  and  she  May  17,  1850.  After 
her  husband's  death,  Mrs.  Bridwell  married  Elijah 
Goodwin,  who  died  in  December,  1857.  By  her 
first  marriage  she  had  two  children:  Lafayette, 
who  died  in  185C,  and  AVilliam  L.,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  By  her  second  marriage  she  had  three 
children,  viz:  Henry,  now  living  in  East  Tennessee; 
.lohn,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  Second  Tennessee 
Lifantrj',  and  who  died  from  the  effects  of  a  burst- 
ing shell;  and  Amanda,  who  marriad  a  Mr.  Simp- 
son and  died  in  February,  I8'.)l.  Mv.  Sim|)son 
is  still  living. 

William  L.  Bridwell  was  born  in  Cam])bell 
County,  now  Scott  County,  Tenn.,  November 
24,  1856.  He  w.as  brought  up  on  the  farm  and 
worked  hard  from  the  time  he  was  six  years  old, 
hoeing  corn  and  other  crops,  and  doing  such  other 
work  as  there  was  for  him  to  do.  His  opportun- 
ities for  securing  an  education  were  very  poor, 
but  he  was  a  determined  sort  of  a  boy,  and  as  his 
mother   assisted    him    somewhat    in    his    iiriina  ry 


studies,  he  managed  to  secure  a  fair  acquaintance 
with  the  elementary  branches  of  an  English  educa- 
tion. His  mother,  however,  died  when  he  was  but 
thirteen  j^ears  old,and  he  was  left  an  orphan  with- 
out a  mother's  love  and  care.  He  started  out  at 
night  with  a  ste])brother  of  his  father  and  made  a 
trip  to  Kentucky,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles,  and  worked  for  that  stepbrother  on 
his  farm  from  September,  1850,  until  Christmas 
time  of  1852.  He  then  returned  to  Tennessee,  and 
engaged  in  work  for  an  older  brother  for  a 
short  time,  after  which  he  worked  about  from 
place  to  place  as  opportunity  afforded,  and  at 
length  he  engaged  to  work  three  months  for 
#17.50.  He  then  laised  a  crop,  and  his  compensa- 
tion in  this  case  was  only  one  and  a-half  bushels 
of  corn,  which  he  gave  to  his  brother  to  feed  to 
his  horse.  He  next  went  with  an  uncle  to  Arkan- 
sas and  worked  for  him  four  months,  and  then 
came  to  Illinois.  At  Anna,  111.,  he  engaged  with 
a  bl.acksmith  named  Faulkler  to  learn  the  trade, 
and  for  him  he  worked  nine  months  for  #4  per 
month.  He  was  very  handy  with  tools  and  could 
do  fine  work. 

Dr.  Bridwell  then  went  to  work  at  the  trade 
on  his  own  account  whenever  he  could  find  some- 
thing to  do,  and  followed  the  blacksmith  trade 
off  and  on  for  twent^'-cight  years.  Most  of  this 
time  was  spent  in  southern  Illinois,  but  a  portion 
of  it  was  spent  in  Paducah,  Ky.  The  last  six 
j^ears  were  spent  in  East  Metropolis.  He  was  very 
successful,  because  he  was  an  excellent  workman 
and  a  fine  machinist.  He  then  bought  a  steam- 
boat and  was  to  pay  for  it  in  running  rafts,  but 
when  he  had  it  almost  paid  for  the  person  of 
whom  he  bought  it  died,  and  his  creditors  took 
the  raachineiy  out  of  the  boat,  which  was  all  there 
was  of  value,  so  that  he  lost  his  time,  money  and 
labor.  During  the  time  he  was  not  on  the  river 
ho  worked  in  the  machine  shops.  Previous  to 
buying  the  boat  he  had  engaged  in  the  sawmill 
business,  and  in  cutting  timber,  but  he  did  not 
make  much  money  out  of  it.  While  following  his 
trade  as  machinist,  a  dentist,  noticing  the  fine 
quality  of  his  work,  employed  him  to  make  a  den- 
tist's chair,  but  when  it  was  completed  the  dentist 
had  not  the  money  to  pay  for  it,  and  so  proposed 


PORTRAIT  AM)    RlOCliAl'lIICAL    RKVIEW. 


569 


to  teach  Lim  dentistry  in  compensation  for  the 
chair.  Tliis  proposition  was  accepted  and  he  then 
and  there  bej^an  tlie  preparation  for  tlie  practice 
of  his  present  profession.  He  soon  ascertained, 
however,  lliat  the  dentist  was  not  perfect  in  his 
line,  and  he  could  not  get  mucli  assistance  out  of 
tiie  text-boolis  on  the  subject;  he  therefore  con- 
sulted Dr.  Pitcher  and  Dr.  Wells,  and  bj' a  diligent 
use  of  tiie  books  they  furnished  him  lie  soon  be- 
came familiar  with  the  principles  of  the  profession, 
and  gradiiall3'  worked  into  a  good  business,  mak- 
ing his  own  chair  and  tools,  which  his  previous 
experience  so  well  (lualified  him  to  do.  lie  then 
removed  to  Metropolis  and  opened  an  ollice  in 
February,  1887,  and  has  ever  since  remained  in 
tills  city,  engaged  in  the  practice  of  dentistrj', 
and  having  a  good  patronage.  He  was  married 
lirst  in  1858  to  Ararainta  Pendrill,  by  whom  he 
had  three  children:  Henry,  deceased;  Ellen,  wife 
of  T.  M.  McXeele^-,  a  conductor  on  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad;  and  .lefferson,  a  farmer  at 
Hodge's  Park.  He  was  married  the  second  time, in 
1873,  to  Samantha  Mathenoy,  by  whom  he  has 
four  children,  viz:  William  A.,  Millard,  Lewis'H. 
and  Douglas.  Politically,  Mr.  Bridwell  is  a  Dem- 
ocrat, and  fraternally  he  is  an  Odd  Fellow  and  a 
Knight  of  Pythias.  Religiously,  he,  as  well  .as  his 
wife,  is  a  memi)er  of  the  Ciiristian  Church. 


i^f^ 


^^IIOMAS     O.    PETERSON,    of     I'.loonilield 
•(^^!^  Township,  who  holds  an    honorable    posi-   j 
''\^0'   tion  among  the  representatives  of  the  teach- 
er's  profession  in  this  his  native  county,  and  is  also 
idcn tided  with  its  agricultural  interests,  was  born    i 
111  Bloom  field  Township  May  13, 18ol.     His  father   | 
was  James  Peterson,  who  was  a  native  of  Teiines- 
.see,  and  was  a  son  of  Thomas  Peterson,  who  sjient 
his  last  years  in  that  State. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  young  when  his  i 
father  died,  and  his  mother  marrying  a  second  [ 
time,  he  was  reared  by  her  and  his  stepfather,  i 
who  brought  him  to  Illinois  when  a  boy.     At  the 


time  of  his  marriage  he  settled  near  Belknap,  but 
a  few  jears  later  came  to  Bloomfleld  Township, 
and  bought  a  squatter's  claim  on  sections  2  and 
11,  and  in  the  log  cabin  that  stood  on  the  place  at 
the  time  of  purch.ise  his  sou  of  whom  we  write 
was  born.  For  man}'  3-ears  after  lie  came  there 
were  no  railways,  and  the  people  lived  off  the 
jiroducts  of  their  farms  and  on  wild  game  that 
was  abundant.  The  mother  spun  and  wove  cloth 
to  make  garments  for  her  children,  and  they  were 
also  taught  those  useful  arts,  and  when  a  child  the 
father  of  our  subject  used  often  to  pass  the  winter 
evenings  at  the  spinning-wheel  or  loom,  becoming 
•■in  adept  in  the  use  of  both.  He  was  successful  in 
clearing  a  farm  from  the  wilderness,  and  dying 
left  l>eliiiid  a  worthy  record  .as  a  pioneer  who  had 
done  his  share  in  developing  the  agricultural  in- 
terests of  the  county.  His  wife  survives  him  and 
is  still  living  on  the  home  farm.  She  was  Lj-dia 
Kuykendall  in  her  maiden  days,  and  was  born  in 
Bloomficld  Township,  a  daughter  of  Josei)li  and 
Sally  Kuykendall,  who  were  among  its  earl^-  pio- 
neers.    She  is  the  mother  of  seven  children. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  review  grew  to 
manhood  in  his  native  county,  and  was  educated 
in  its  schools.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  entered 
upon  a  successful  career  as  a  teacher,  and  has 
taught  a  part  of  each  year  since,  teaching  in  his 
home  district  for  nine  terms,  and  at  the  present 
time  he  has  charge  of  the  Sanburn  school.  He 
brings  a  well-trained  mind  to  his  >vork,  to  which 
he  is  devoted,  is  practical  in  his  methods,  and  has 
a  natural  talent  for  inniarting  instniclion,  and  has 
given  satisfaction  wherever  he  has  been  engaged. 

At  the  time  of  his  marri.age,  Mr.  Peterson  bought 
forty  acres  of  the  old  homestead,  and  lived  upon 
it  until  March,  1889,  when  he  settled  upon  the 
farm  which  he  now  occupies,  on  sections  11  and 
15  of  the  same  township.  He  is  not  only  a  good 
teacher,  but  is  an  excellent  farmer,  keeps  his  place 
in  good  order,  and  is  constantly  improving  his 
land  by  judicious  cultivation. 

Jlr.  Peterson  was  married  in  .luly,  1871,  to  Miss 
Mary  J.  Scay,  in  whom  he  has  found  a  congenial 
and  helpful  wife.  They  have  five  cliildren  living: 
Mary  E.,  Jesse  C,  ^■iola,  Eva  and  Thomas  M. 
Our  subject  and  his  wife  are  people  of  character 


570 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


:iii(l  liigli  personal  sl.ancling  in  tlie  eomin«nity,and 
:uv  inlhicntial  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Cliureli,  with  wliose  every  good  work  they  are 
cUisely  associated.  Mr.  Peterson  is  a  man  of  de- 
rided temperance  views  and  principles,  wliieii  lie 
carries  into  politics,  and  is  a  vigorous  supporter  of 
the  Prohibition   party. 

Mrs.  Peterson,  who  was  born  in  Williamson 
County,  is  a  daughter  of  Ambrose  II.  Seay,  a  na- 
tive of  Mrginia,  and  a  son  of  .Jesse  W.  and  Sarah 
So;iv.  Jesse  Seay,  who  was  a  farmer,  came  to  Illi- 
nois after  many  years'  residence  in  Virginia,  and 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  Williamson 
County.  The  father  of  IMrs.  Peterson  was  married 
in  Williamson  County,  and  settled  on  a  tract  of 
land  near  Creal  Springs.  He  now  lives  in  Marion. 
His  wife,  who  died  in  1880,  bore  the  maiden  nameof 
Nancy  T.a^'lor,  and  was  born  in  Williamson  County, 
a  daughter  of  William  and  Xcllie  Taylor,  pioneers 
of  that  county. 


ERIT  ]\IAY,  a  leading  and  representative 
general  agriculturist  and  successful  busi- 
ness man,  now  devotes  his  time  to  the 
cultivation  of  his  valuable  liomestead  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  located  on  section 
'.t,  township  1,5,  range  4,  near  Metropolis,  Massac 
County,  111.,  and,  thoroughly  at  home  in  the  de- 
tails of  farming,  has  brought  the  acres  up  to  a 
liigli  slate  of  cultivation  and  well  improved  them 
with  substantial|  and  commodious  buildings — resi- 
dence, barns  and  out-houses.  Our  subject  is  a  son 
of  .John  AVesley  May,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  who 
grew  up  to  m.anhood  without  an  opportunity  of 
attending  school  and  learned  to  read  unaided  by  a 
teacher.  He  came  to  Illinois  while  yet  a  young 
man  and,  locating  upon  section  I,  township  15, 
range  4,  Massac  County,  was  soon  after  married  to 
-Miss  Mary  Ridge  and  by  this  happ}'  union  became 
the  father  of  ten  children,  of  whom  Dora,  the  eld- 
est, died  in  infancy;  Neotea  is  deceased;  Alice  is  the 
wife  of  L.  M.  Murric,  of  Round  lvnt)b;  Merit  is  the 


subject  of  this  sketch;  Alonzo  lives  near  .loppa  on 
a  farm;  M.  D.  also  resides  in  the  vicinity  of  Joppa; 
McHenry  has  a  home  near  .loppa;  Jennie  is  the 
wife  of  John  Dusclie,  of  Joppa;  John  P.  and 
Bird  comjilete  the  list  of  sons  and  daughters  and 
reside  with  their  parents  in  the  old  Massac  County 
homestead. 

Our  subject,  the  fourth  child,  was  horn  in  Massac 
County,  June  8, 1860,  and,  reared  upon  his  father's 
farm,  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  attending  during 
the  winter  months  the  nearest  school  of  the  home 
district.  The  years  of  his  boyhood  were  mostly 
passed  in  hard  work,  which  litted  him  to  fight 
the  stern  battle  of  life  witii  courageous  effort. 
When  but  eighteen  years  of  age  Merit  May  was 
married  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Brandon,  also  a  native  of 
Massac  County.  The  parents  of  Mrs.  May,  who 
were  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  State,  are 
now  deceased.  The  worldly  possessions  of  our 
subject  at  the  time  of  his  marriage  consisted  of  a 
horse,  a  cow  and  cash  to  the  amount  of  ^l!i.  Im- 
mediately renting  land  of  his  father,  he  carried  on 
farming  near  the  old  home  for  three  years  and 
then,  deciding  to  change  his  occupation,  he  bought 
a  grocery  near  Rosebud.  After  twelve  months 
of  merchandising,  Mr.  May  purchased  a  steam- 
threshing  outfit,  which  he  operated  five  years,  mak- 
ing a  complete  success  of  this  latter  business,  and 
during  this  period  ran  a  sawmill  three  winters. 
Finally  trading  off  his  threshing-machine  and 
forty  acres  of  land  given  him  by  his  father,  he  re- 
ceived in  exchange  his  present  homestead,  which 
was  then  but  slightly  improved. 

Working  unweariedly  early  and  late,  our  sub- 
ject gave  his  time  patiently  to  breaking  and  culti- 
vating the  land,  to  which  he  has  since  added  con- 
siderable acreage,  and  is  now,  after  a  few  years  of 
intelligent  and  patient  toil,  well  rewarded  by  a 
bounteous  annual  harvest.  The  thrifty  and  pros- 
perous aiipearance  of  the  homestead  clearl}'  indi- 
cates the  excellent  management  and  pr.ictical 
judgment  of  the  owner  of  the  farm,  who  has  rea- 
son to  congratulate  himself  upon  the  energetic 
self-reliance  which  has  so  materially  aided  him 
in  winning  his  upward  way  to  a  comfortable 
competence.  Five  children  have  blessed  the  pleas- 
ant home,  but  the  first-born  died  in  infancy.  John 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


571 


survives;  Jessie  died  at  the  age  of  two  j-eavs; 
Glenn  and  Artliur  are  the  joungest  and  complete 
the  trio  who  brighten  tiie  family  circle.  The 
father  and  mother  are  tirm  believers  in  the  great 
value  of  an  education  and,  giving  their  children 
the  best  possible  advantages  for  thorough  instruc- 
tion, will  worthily  fit  their  cherished  ones  (ov  posi- 
tions of  usefulness  and  honor. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  !May  are  valued  members  of  the 
IJaptist  Cluireh  and  liberally  aid  in  the  support 
and  extension  of  its  good  work.  Politically  our 
sul)ject  is  a  strong  Democrat  and  a  believer  in  the 
principles  advocated  by  the  immortal  Thomas  .lef- 
ferson.  Never  a  politician  in  the  usual  accepta- 
tion of  the  term,  Mr.  May  is  deeply  interested  in 
the  current  affairs  of  the  day  and  gives  earnest 
and  intelligent  consideration  to  both  local  and 
national  issues.  A  self-made  man  and  typical 
American  citizen  of  ability,  energy  and  strength 
ol  purpose,  he  is  intimately  associated  with  the 
growth  and  progress  of  his  home  locality  and  has 
been  especially'  active  in  local  enterprise  and  im- 
provement, in  his  persevering  efforts  for  the 
public  welfare  winning  the  entire  conlidence  and 
high  regard  of  a  host  of  friends.  Mr.  May  for 
five  years  has  been  a  member  of  the  National 
Guards,  and  for  three  years  a  member  of  the  Illinois 
State  Hitlc  Team,  and  in  the  contest  for  the  Wash- 
burn trojihj  won  the  prize  the  last  two  years  at 
S[)ring(ield  and  Ft.  Sheridan,  near  Chicago. 


|>-^M^^=^-J- 


|IL_^ENRY  SCinVEGMANN.  The  German- 
|f)jf  American  citizenship  of  the  United  States, 
•Sf^  which  forms  so  large  a  proportion  of  its 
t^J;  strength,  finds  a  worthy  representative  in 
the  subject  of  this  biographical  notice,  who  oper- 
ates a  fine  tract  of  land  on  section  24,  township 
1,5,  range  4.  His  parentage  is  German,  his  father 
having  been  born  in  Hanover  in  180H.  The  latter, 
Harmon  by  name,  received  a  good  education  in 
Germany,  and  learned  the  trade  of  a  tailor.  When 
about  twenty-five  years  old  he  emigrated  to  Amer- 


ica, the  voyage  on  a  sailing-vessel  occupying  nine 
weeks.  He  landed  at  H.altimore  in  18.33  with  ^2, 
which  represented  his  entire  capital. 

For  two  years  Harmon  Schwegmann  found  em- 
ployment on  the  railroad,  and  later,  going  to  Cin- 
cinnati, worked  in  a  foundry  for  four  3'ears.  His 
next  step  was  to  buy  eighty  acres  of  heavily  tim- 
bered land  in  Franklin  County,  Ind.,  on  which  he 
built  a  log  cabin.  The  land  cost  him  butllOO,  and 
after  he  had  placed  it  under  cultivation  and 
erected  substantial  buildings,  he  enhanced  its  val- 
ue to  such  an  extent  that  he  sold  it  in  1867  for 
^2,500.  Afterward  he  made  his  home  with  our 
subject  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1881. 

Near  Haltimore,  Md.,  occurred  the  marriage  of 
Harmon  Schwegmann  to  Klizabeth  Mescar,  who 
was  a  native  of  Hanover,  German^',  and  now  re- 
sides with  her  son  Henrj'.  She  was  the  mother  of 
nine  children,  as  follows:  Mar^-  and  Henrj-,  de- 
ceased; Lizzie,  wife  of  William  Walton,  of  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.;  Mary,  Mrs.  llenrj'  Koch,  residing  in 
15alesvillo,  Ind.;  Henrv.of  this  sketch;  Christopher, 
who  is  deceased;  Mena,  wife  of  Henrj^  Wessmann, 
a  resident  of  Batesville,  Ind.;  Louisa,  who  married 
William  Hazey,  also  of  Hatesville,  Ind.;  and  Will- 
iam, a  resident  farmer  of  Massac  County. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was" born  in  Franklin 
Count3',  Ind.,  July  19,  1843.  He  was  reared  on  a 
farm,  and  was  early  trained  to  habits  of  industry. 
His  education  was  gained  in  the  common  schools 
and  he  also  had  private  instruction,  acquiring  there- 
by a  good  knowledge  of  both  (Jerman  and  English. 
AVhen  of  age  he  started  out  for  himself  and  worked 
at  anything  he  could  find  to  do,  on  the  farm,  in 
the  In-ickyard,  etc.  February  3,  1809,  he  married 
^latilda  Hremer,  a  native  of  Indiana,  and  of  Ger- 
man parentage.  Her  father  is  dece.ased,  and  her 
mother  makes  her  home  in  Massac  County. 

From  Indiana  Mr.  Schwegmann  moved  to  Mas- 
sac County,  III.,  the  trip  being  made  by  railroad 
to  Cairo.  Here  he  purch.ased  eight}-  acres  of  tim- 
ber laud,  and  after  building  a  log  cabin,  com- 
menced lo  clear  the  land  of  the  heavy  forest 
growth.  After  a  time  he  jjurchased  forty  acres, 
making  the  entire  tract  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres.  He  and  his  wife  have  a  family  of  eight 
children,  namely:   Jtihn,  Christ,  Henry,    Charle\ , 


572 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


Lizzie,  Iliiam,  Freddie  (deceased)  smd  Nora, 
liotii  liush.ind  and  wife  arc  members  of  tlie  Evan- 
Uflical  Cliurcli.  Politically,  he  is  a  Democrat  and 
rejoices  in  the  successes  of  that  party. 


J'  j  AMES  S.  FKANC'IS,  a  niorclimit  of  Yioiina, 
.Johnson  County,  and  member  of  tlie  Slate 
r)0ard   of   Equalization,  was  born  in  Weak- 
J''    lev 


ley  County,  Tenn.,  October  6,  185L  His 
father,  Armistead  Francis,  was  born  in  Virginia, 
December  25,  1823,  and  his  father, Calvin  Francis, 
was  also  a  native  of  Virginia.  Calvin,  who  was  a 
sou  of  Ephraim  Francis,  was  reared,  educated  and 
niairied  in  Mrginia.  He  removed  from  that  State 
to  Tennessee,  residing  there  for  a  time  in  Smith 
and  Wilson  Counties,  and  afterward  in  Weakley 
County,  where  he  engaged  in  farming  and  spent 
his  last  days. 

Armistead  Francis  was  reared  on  a  farm  and  re- 
sided in  Tennessee  until  1853.  Then  with  his  wife 
and  two  children  he  removed  to  Illinois,  making 
the  removal  with  his  team.  He  settled  in  Tunnel 
Hill  Township,  entered  a  tract  of  Government 
land  and  bought  an  improved  farm,  uiwn  which 
he  still  resides.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
ilar3-  E.  Dorothy.  She  was  born  in  Williamson 
County,  September  23,  1823,  and  \yas  the  daughter 
of  Dennis  and  Sallie  (McLain)  Dorothy.  Her 
father  was  a  native  of  Tennessee  and  removed 
from  that  State  to  Williamson  Couuty,  111.,  when 
that  was  a  new  county,  and  there  spent  the  last 
years  of  his  life,  dying  at  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety  years.  He  and  his  wife  were  the  parents 
of  three  children:  Sarah  E.,  James  S.  and  Nettie. 

.Tames  S.  Francis  received  his  early  education  in 
the  pul)lic  schools  of  Johnson  County,  «nd  after- 
ward attended  McKendree  College,  at  Lebanon, 
111.  He  began  teaching  when  seventeen  years  of 
ago  and  taught  four  winter  terms  of  school.  He 
remained  on  the  farm  until  the  fall  of  1880,  when 
he  removed  to  Vienna,  and  in  188.')   became  inter- 


ested in  his  present  business,  to  which  he  has  di- 
rected his  entire  attention  since  1889.  In  that 
year  he  formed  a  partnership  with  Robert  T.  Hood, 
his  ]jresent  partner.  They  carry  a  large  stock  of 
groceries,  hardware,  tinware,  farming  implements, 
etc. 

INIr.  Francis  was  married  in  1872  to  Nannie  E. 
Hogg,  a  native  of  Vienna  Township,  Johnson 
County,  and  a  daughter  of  James  N.  and  Rebecca 
E.  (Hawick)  Hogg,  and  to  their  marriage  there 
have  been  born  six  children:  James  E.,  Charles 
H.,  Walter  IL,  William  H.,  Fay  and  George  B.  He 
is  a  Republican  in  politics  and  cast  his  first  vote 
for  Gen.  Grant  for  President  in  1872.  In  1880  he 
was  elected  Circuit  Court  Clerk,  and  in  1881  he 
was  re-elected  to  the  same  position,  thus  serving 
in  that  oflice  eight  years.  In  1888,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Equalization  and 
still  holds  that  position.  He  is  a  member  of 
A'ienna  Lodge  No.  150,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  also  of 
Mayflower  Lodge,  K.  &  L.  of  H. 


OL.  SAMUEL  HESS,  a  veteran  of  two  wars 
and  a  resident  of  Vienna,  was  born  in  Union 
Ji^  County,  111.,  December  24,  1823.  He  was 
reared  in  the  county  of  his  birth,  and  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  he  commenced  to  learn  the  tailor's  trade. 
After  serving  at  this  trade  seven  j'ears  he  opened 
a  shop  of  his  own  in  Marion  and  conducted  a 
business  there  a  short  time.  In  1841  he  removed 
to  Vienna  and  there  established  himself  in  busi- 
ness. In  1840  he  enlisted  in  Capt.  Hacker's 
company  for  the  Jlexicau  War,  and  went  by  way 
of  Texas  to  ISIexico.  He  participated  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Buena  Vista.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term 
of  service  he  returned  to  Mcnna  and  followed  his 
trade  until  1849,  when  he  went  to  California, 
starting  from  Jonesboro  April  16  with  a  party  of 
sixteen,  making  the  entire  journey  overland  with 
horses.  At  that  time  there  were  no  white  settle- 
ments between   the  Missouri  River  and  San  Fran- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


573 


Cisco  except  the  Mormons  at  Salt  Lake.  Buffaloes 
were  plentiful  and  roamed  at  will  over  the  plains, 
and  the  party  had  all  the  buffalo  meat  they  eould 
eat.     lu  August,  the\-  arrived  in  Weaverville. 

Col.  Iless  was  engaged  in  mining  about  twelve 
months  while  in  California,  then  started  on  his 
return  home  by  the  waj'  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 
I'pon  reaching  home  he  resumed  his  trade  as  a 
tailor  and  soon  afterward  engaged  in  the  mercan- 
tile business.  lie  was  thus  engaged  when  the  War  of 
the  Rebellion  began, and  leaving  his  business  with 
his  partner  he  assisted  in  raising  the  Sixteenth  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  of  which  he  was  commissioned  Major. 
The  regiment  was  nuistered  into  the  service  of  the 
I'nlted  States  in  February,  1862,  and  he  was  pro- 
moted to  be  Lieutenant-Colonel.  He  had  com- 
mand of  the  regiment  until  1863,  when  he  resigned 
and  returned  to  ^'icnna,  where  he  was  engaged 
in  various  kinds  of  business  for  some  years.  Dur- 
ing the  past  few  years  he  has  been  engaged  in 
farming. 

In  1817,  Col.  Hess  married  Augusta  M.  Chapman, 
who  was  born  in  Vienna,  Johnson  County,  and  was 
a  daughter  of  Samuel  J.  and  Mary  Chapman.  Col. 
and  Mrs.  Hess  have  eight  children,  viz:  Jerome, 
William,  Alexander,  Frank,  Augusta,  Herbert, 
Ceorge  and  Grant.  Col.  Hess  is  a  meralier  of 
Vienna  Post  No.  221,  G.  A.  R.;  of  Vienna  Lodge 
No.  150,  A.  F.  it  A.  M.;  and  of  Vienna  Chai)tcr 
No.  67,  R.  A.  M. 


I^OBERT  GRKKX  15.  M.  Ki;i:,  formerly  a 
IW^  prominent  citizen  and  leading  business  man 
tiifli  and  prosperous  merchant  of  the  llourishing 
city  of  Metropolis,  Massac  County-,  111., 
passed  to  his  rest  November  9,  1892,  mourned  by 
all  who  knew  him  and  his  death  lamented  b}-  his 
fellow-townsmen  as  a  public  loss.  Born  in  John- 
son County,  III.,  near  Vienna,  January  22,  1819,  our 
suliject  was  numbered  among  the  very  early  and 
hoiKjred  pioneers  of  the  Slate,  and  had  for  a  period 


of  seventj'-three  years  been  intimatelj'  associated 
with  the  wonderful  upward  growth,  prosperity  an<l 
continued  advancement  of  this  part  of  the  great 
West.  His  father  and  mother,  hard-working,  in- 
dustrious and  intelligent  people,  were  at  the  time 
of  his  birth  residing  upon  a  farm  where  they  had 
located  when  the  whole  country  surrounding  tliem 
was  in  truth  a  sparselj-  settled  wilderness,  and  but 
ill}-  supi)lied  with  even  the  ordinary  comforts  of 
life.  Primitive  horsemills  were  then  the  onl}- 
mills  in  the  State,  and  the  country  people,  removed 
from  the  towns  and  villages,  made  their  own  shoes 
and  manufactured  the  material  for  their  clothes, 
also  building  their  cabins  without  nails  and  using 
the  clumsy  tools  of  their  own  making. 

Our  subject,  reared  upon  the  farra.eaily  became 
accustomeil  to  aid  in  the  heavy  work  of  the 
homestead,  and  during  the  winter  months  attended 
the  little  subscription  school  of  his  home  neighbor- 
hood, which  was  held  in  a  log  house,  furnished  only 
with  slab  seats  and  desks.  Wild  game  and  the 
"noble"  red  men  abounded  in  those  early  days,  and 
amid  the  primitive  scenes  and  rude  surroundings 
of  genuine  pioneer  life  Mr.  McKee  attained  to  man- 
hood. From  his  boyhood  ambitious,  enterprising 
and  energetic,  he  availed  himself  of  every  oppor- 
tunity to  .advance  in  life,  and  at  various  times  en- 
gaged in  llatboating  and  was  also  employed  upon 
a  trading-boat.  After  a  time  he  clerked  in  Metrop- 
olis and  in  his  two  years  of  continued  service 
gained  a  thorough  knowledge  of  mercantile  busi- 
ness, and  later  buying  a  stock  of  goods  at  a  low 
valuation  disposed  of  them  at  a  handsome  profit. 
He  w.as  noted  as  a  shren-d  buyer  and  constantly 
purchased  bargains,  which  he  handled  successfully-. 
He  also  bought  a  (latboat,  which  he  made  available 
in  numerous  commercial  trans.actions,  and  aboard 
of  which  he  made  two  trips  down  the  river,  in  each 
instance  reaping  a  harvest  of  dollars.  He  wiis  in 
fact  a  pr.acticjil  business  man,  in  whom  the  com- 
mercial instinct  was  fully  developed,  and  to  whose 
sterling  common  sense  his  ultimate  i)rosperity  was 
mainly  due. 

Mr.  McKec  finally  eng.aged  in  genera!  merchan- 
dising in  Metropolis  and  was  more  than  ordinaril}' 
successful,  but  in  1879  retired  from  active  business. 
After  a  time  lie  again  embarked  in  commercial  en- 


574 


POKTKAIT   AND   BIOGRAPIIICAL  REVIEW. 


terprise  and  as  of  j'Oi'c  hand  led  various  lines  of 
stock  with  an  excellent  profit,  and  having  accum- 
ulated a  large  property  and  comfortable  compe- 
tence, retired  permanently  and  at  his  death  left  a 
line  property  to  his  family.  Our  subject  was  twice 
married.  He  was  united  to  liis  first  wife,  Miss 
Sarah  Sheets,  in  Metropolis,  but  was  deprived  by 
death  of  his  companion  in  1878.  Upon  August 
24,  1879,  Robert  Green  B.  McKee  and  Miss  Henri- 
etta Delevan  were  united  in  marriage.  The  father 
of  Mrs.  McKee  was  by  birth  a  Virginian  and,  a 
genial  and  courteous  gentleman,  possessed  hosts  of 
friends.  He  was  b}'  profession  a  lawyer  and,  a  tal- 
ented and  able  man,  rose  to  eminence  and  occupied 
with  dignified  elliciency  the  responsible  position 
of  County  .Judge,  which  office  he  held  with  honor 
and  distinction  in  Massac  County  for  tiie  loeriod 
of  eight  years.  He  was  a  man  of  noble  character- 
istics and  passed  away  deeplj^  lamented  in  1881. 
His  wife,  a  most  excellent  lady  and  widely  known 
as  a  woman  of  true  worth,  3'et  survives  and  resides 
in  Metropolis.  The  happj^  home  of  our  subject 
and  his  wife  was  blessed  bj'  the  birth  of  two  chil- 
dren, a  sou  and  a  daughter,  whose  bright  intelligence 
brought  joy  and  gladness  into  the  hearts  of  their 
loving  parents.  Effle  Myrtle  was  the  first-born, 
Robert  Green  H.,  named  in  honor  of  his  revered 
father,  being  the  youngest  child. 

Our  subject  was  eminently  a  self-made  man  and 
united  with  his  excellent  business  (|ualifications  a 
stanch  integrity  of  character  and  upright  purpose. 
He  did  not  connect  himself  with  any  church  until 
late  in  life,  not  believing  in  controversial  creeds, 
but  finally-  became  a  member  and  a  leader  in  the 
Congregational  Church  organized  here  and  which, 
mainly  owing  to  his  efforts,  gained  an  extended 
influence  and  large  attendance.  From  his  early 
years  Mr.  McKee  was  foremost  in  the  promotion  of 
local  improvements  and  enterprise,  and  was  one  of 
the  Trustees  and  charter  members  of  the  National 
Bank  of  Metropolis.  Liberal,  public-spirited  and 
l)rogressivc,  the  infiuenee  of  our  subject  was  ever 
exerted  in  the  betterment  of  mankind,  and  for 
many  changing  years  the  memory  of  Robert  Green 
B.  McKee  will  be  fragrant  and  lasting  in  the  hearts 
of  all  who  knew  and  loved  the  generous,  whole- 
souled  man  and  true  American  citizen. 


^:KLIX  GRUNDY  LEWIS.  The  history  of 
Pope  County  would  be  incomplete  without 
a  life  record  of  this,  one  of  her  honored 
sons,  who  was  born  August  15,  1851,  and  has 
passed  his  entire  life  in  this  immediate  locality. 
He  is  now  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of  this  town- 
ship, his  home  place  being  located  on  sections  30 
and  31,  the  farm  consisting  of  sixty-two  acres,  in 
addition  to  which  he  owns  one  hundred  and  nine 
acres  in  range  5.  tovvnship  13,  making  him  alto- 
gether the  possessor  of  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
one  acres. 

The  paternal  grandpaients  of  our  subject  were 
.Joseph  L.  and  Amy  Lewis.  The  parents  of  Mr. 
Lewis  were  .Joseph  L.  and  Nancy  (Ethridge) 
IjCwis,  both  natives  of  Tennessee.  The  former 
emigrated  to  Illinois  in  1816,  with  his  parents, 
and  grew  to  manhood  in  this  State.  He  engaged 
in  following  agricultural  pursuits,  owning  a  farm 
of  two  hundred  and  eight}-  .acres,  and  here  reared 
a  family  of  four  children,  who  in  order  of  birth 
are  as  follows:  Charles,  Felix,  Jane  and  Susan. 
The  father  continued  in  active  work  and  was  one 
of  the  prominent  farmers  of  the  county  until  he 
was  called  to  his  final  home,  August  15,  1887.  His 
wife  had  died  man}'  years  previously,  the  date  be- 
ing April  28,  1871. 

Until  nearly  twenty-five  years  of  .age  Felix  G. 
Lewis  of  this  sketch  remained  witli  his  parents  and 
then  started  out  to  make  liis  own  w.ay.  His  school 
advantages  had  been  quite  limited,  as  the  school- 
houses  of  that  early  day  were  built  on  the  simplest 
plan,  and  were  provided  with  few  incentives  to 
study.  Mr.  Lewis  having  been  brought  up  to 
farm  life  was  naturally  inclined  to  continue  in 
that  direction,  for  "as  the  twig  is  bent  the  tree  is 
inclined."  He  has  made  a  marked  success  of  this 
as  well  as  other  ventures  and  investments.  He 
has  a  well-improved  farm  with  a  good  residence, 
barns  and  necessary  farm  buildings.  In  addition 
to  general  farming  he  has  been  much  interested  in 
raising  horses,  cattle  and  nudes. 

Mr.  Lewis  was  married  February  10,  1876,  to 
Miss  Susan  Dixon,  whose  birth  occurred  in  Pope 
County,  September  29,  1853,  her  father  being  a 
native  of  Illinois  and  her  mother  of  Tennessee. 
Three    living   children   grace   the  hearthstone   of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


575 


our  wortliy  siil)jeet  and  wife,  tlieir  names  being: 
(liarlie  M.,  Nellie  M.  and  Clara  K.  Mrs.  Lewis  is 
a  member  of  the  Baptist  Cluiicii  in  full  standing 
and  feliowsiiip,  but  our  subject  is  n(jl  a  member  of 
any  religious  denomination,  being  liberal  in  his 
views.  He  casts  his  ballot  in  favor  of-  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  is  much  interested  and  concerned 
in  the  welfare  of  the  same.  He  is  a  patriotic  citi- 
zen, (inc  who  has  his  country's  interests  deeply-  at 
heart,  and  who  spares  no  time  or  effort  in  doing 
what  he  considers  will  promote  her  best  good. 


*^=^^II©@i^i^^-' 


OH.  l!()l)i;Nlii:i;<;.  lu  all  the  (uuntry 
ruiuid,  it  would  be  dillicult  U>  lind  a  amri' 
highly  cultivated  farm  than  the  one  lo- 
cated on  section  35,  township  21,  range  4,  and 
owned  by  the  subject  of  tins  biographical  notice. 
The  buildings  are  substantial  and  adapted  to  their 
various  needs,  while  the  appearance  of  the  esU-ite 
proves  at  a  glance  the  intelligence  and  thrift  of 
the  owner. 

The  father  of  our  suljjcct,  Fred  Rodenberg,  was 
born  in  Germany  and  emigrated  to  America  when 
a  young  mun.  The  vo\-.age  was  made  in  a  sailing- 
vessel  and  was  tedious  and  uneventful.  The  ship 
at  last  cast  anchor  at  Haltiniore,  and  Mr.  Roden- 
berg commenced  his  career  iipoTi  a  foreign  shore 
without  capital  other  than  a  (lair  of  willing  hands, 
.mil  habits  of  industry  and  thrift.  After  working 
<iii  a  lariii  Uir  n  uhilc,  he  went  to  Cincinnati,  where 
lie  became  an  employe  in  a  vinegar  f.actory.  Later 
lie  came  to  Massac  County,  where  he  operated  for  a 
limeasa  renter.  As  soon  ashis  circumstances  would 
liennil,  he  purchased  eighty  acre>  lu  tlii>  county 
and  although  the  tiacl  contained  few  ini|irove- 
ments,  his  industry  and  energy  were  such  that  he 
converted  it  into  a  splendid  farm.  .Sub>c(pienllv 
he  tradc(l  the  picjicrty  foranoliici  laiiii.  where  lu' 
now  li\cs. 

Nine  children  were  born  of   the  union  of  Fred 
Kc>denberg  and  Carolinetiriepenstroch.     They  are 
named  as  follows:  .lohii,  who  resides  on    the  home 
.•52 


place  in  Massac  County;  Annie,  the  wife  of  Charles 
Weston;  Charles  IL,  of  this  sketch;  Mary,  who  is 
at  home;  Minnie,  residing  w'ith  her  brother;  Mat- 
tie,  deceased;  .Sophie,  who  makes  her  home  with  a 
sister;  Emma,  dece:ised;  and  Frank,  who  is  at 
home.  Our  subject  was  born  in  Massac  County, 
.lanuary  20,  18G3,  and  was  reared  on  the  home 
farm,  where  he  early  became  familiar  with  agri- 
cultural duties.  Hy  attending  the  schools  of  the 
district,  he  was  enabled  to  gain  a  practical  educa 
tion,  which  lilted  him  for  the  duties  of  life. 

With  his  brother,  our  subject  purchased  the 
homestead,  and  the  two  continued  together  for  one 
year,  when  Charles  was  marriecL  His  wife,  Mattic 
Lekernic,  was  liorn  in  M.assac  County,  whither  her 
parents,  Germans  by  birth,  came  in  1853,  having 
previously  resided  in  Cincinnati  for  six  months. 
After  his  marriage,  our  subject  divided  the  farm 
with  his  brother,  and  continued  to  till  the  soil  on 
the  eighty  acres  which  fell  to  his  share  nntil  he 
sold  the  phice  to  his  father.  He  then  bought  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  included  in  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides.  He  and  his  estimable  wife 
have  one  child,  Hattie.  They  are  members  of  the 
Alethodist  Church  and  activel}-  interested  in  all 
religious  work.  Politically  Mr.  Rodenberg  is  a 
Republican. 


-^^^i-^"i^S^» 


IP' 


A.AIi;S  M.  M,  t  11. LOCH.  .Viu.Mig  the  prom- 
inent citizens  and  well-known  farmei-s  of 
l'v\n'  County,  few  are  held  in  higher  re- 
g.'ii'd  than  the  gentleman  whose  name  heads 
this  sketch.  He  has  been  called  upon  to  lill  num- 
erous |)ositions  of  responsibility  as  a  public  oHI- 
cer,  being  elected  in  the  year  1888  to  the  position 
of  Coroner,  serving  his  term  of  four  years,  and 
then  being  re-elected  to  the  positit)n,  the  term  ex- 
piring in  I8'.h;.  In  I8'.lil  he  was  elected  .lustiee  of 
the  Pe.ace,  the  time  of  his  service  being  until  1891. 
For  eight  ^ears  he  was  Constable,  and  for  some 
time  was  Notary'  Public  at  Columbus.  In  1887  he 
was   elected    School    Director,  which   position   he 


576 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


still  holds,  and  in  these  various  offices  he  has  en- 
deavored to  the  utmost  of  his  ability  to  fulfill  the 
wishes  of  liis  constituents,  and  in  every  way  to 
advance  the  welfare  of  the  coninumily.  He  is, 
moreover,  and  always  has  been,  actuated  by  mo- 
tives of  honor,  high  princiiile  aud  justice,  and  has 
a  realizing  sense  of  the  res|)onsibilily  which  has 
been  placed  in  his  hands.  l'olilically,he  is  astanch 
Republican,  and  is  very  popular  among  both  his 
political  friends  and  enemies  on  account  of  his 
worthy  manhood  and  upright  life. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Ilcnry  County,  Tenn., 
May  9,  1842,  being  the  son  of  William  15.  and 
Adeline  (Nixson)  McCulloch,  the  former  a  native 
of  South  Carolina  aud  the  latter  of  Alabama.  The 
paternal  grandfather  of  James  McCulloch  bore 
tlie  Christian  name  of  John,  was  a  native  of  Ire- 
land, and  crossed  the  Atlantic,  settling  in  America 
when  only  seven  years  of  age.  He  removed  to  the 
State  of  Missouri  at  an  early  day,  but  passed  his 
last  years  in  Henry  County,  Tenn.  Our  subject's 
father  removed  from  that  State  to  Kentucky,  where 
he  lived  until  1860,  then,  coming  to  Illinois,  lo- 
cated in  Pope  County.  The  journey  was  made  in 
wagons  and  the  party  crossed  the  Ohio  River  at 
Golconda.  liy  trade  he  was  a  gunsmith,  and  dur- 
ing the  war  found  plenty  of  occupation.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  he  settled  in  Columbus,  where  he 
resided  until  his  death  in  1870. 

The  boyhood  and  youth  of  James  McCulloch  were 
passed  under  his  father's  roof,  but  with  youthful 
enthusiasm  he  was  determined  to  enlist  in  the  de- 
fense of  his  country.  Accordingly,  when  twenty 
years  of  age,  he  became  a  member  of  Company  E, 
One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry, en- 
listing in  Vienna  in  1863.  With  his  regiment  he 
took  part  in  a  number  of  important  battles  and 
campaigns,  among  these  being  that  of  (Juntown, 
the  siege  and  surrender  of  Vicksburgand  the  battle 
of  East  Port,  Tenn.  He  was  active  all  through  the 
war  and  received  an  honorable  discharge  at  Mem- 
phis, Tenn.,  September  2,  1865.  Returning  to  this 
State  he  purchased  Land  in  Pope  County,  and  has 
owned  at  different  times  several  farms,  which,  after 
improving,  he  sold  to  good  advantage,  and  re- 
cently has  purchased  a  small  farm  joining  Colum- 
bus, which  is  located  on  section  30,  township  13, 


range  6.  He  has  erected  a  fine  residence,  and 
when  his  meditated  improvements  upon  his  place 
are  completed,  he  will  liave  one  of  the  nicest  homes 
in  the  vicinity.  He  is  sparing  no  pains  to  make 
his  residence,  particularl}',  a  model  and  comfort- 
able one  in  every  respect,  as  he  expects  to  spend 
his  remaining  days  there. 

Mr.  McCulloch  was  married  soon  after  his  re- 
turn from  the  war,  the  date  l)cing  August  5,  1865, 
and  the  lady  being  Miss  Sarah  Wiseman,  whose 
l)irth  occurred  in  Bedford  County,  Tenn.,  Septem- 
ber 17,  1847.  By  her  marriage  she  became  the 
mother  of  ten  children,  six  of  whom  are  living. 
The  eldest  of  these,  Charles  M.,  is  married  and 
lives  in  this  neighborhood;  Arsula  A.  is  the  next 
in  order  of  birth,  the  others  being  Ida  May,  James 
E.,  Robert  O.  and  Laura  L.  Mr.  McCulloch  is  a 
member  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  socially  be- 
longs to  Temple  Hill  Lodge  No.  701,  A.  F.  & 
A.M. 


-^^ 


•^ 


^^EORGE  W.  GARRETT  was  born  ten  miles 
III  ,— -^  north  of  Metropolis,  111.,  September  27 
'^^  1853.  His  father,  Eli  Garrett,  was  born  in' 
Alabama  in  March,  1823,  and  his  father,  John 
Garrett,  it  is  thought  was  born  in  Tennessee.  He 
removed  to  Alabama  and  lived  some  years, 
when  he  returned  to  Tennessee.  He  served  two 
terms  as  Sheriff  in  Alabama.  John  Garrett  mar- 
ried Miss  Elizabeth  Nash,  a  native  of  Tennessee 
and  who  was  a  member  of  the  same  family 
as  Gen.  Nash,  after  whom  the  city  of  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  was  named.  She  came  to  Illinois  with  her 
children,  and  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Poi)e 
Count}',  where  she  spent  the  last  years  of  her  life. 
Eli  Garrett  came  to  Illinois  with  his  mother. 
He  was  married  in  Massac  County,  and  bought  a 
tract  of  timbered  land  in  Benton  Precinct.  He 
erected  a  log  house  and  began  at  once  to  improve 
his  farm.  After  living  there  some  years  he  sold 
out  and  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in 
the  same  precinct,  but  after  a  short  residence  there 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


577 


again  sold  i>iit  ami  IkhiuIiI  the  I'unii  ii|iiin  which 
his  family  iiuw  n.'?i(lf>,  tliri'i'  miles  iioilh  of  Me- 
tropolis. This  was  also  then  liinhercd  land.  He 
erected  good  log  buildings,  which  were  later  burned 
down,  when  he  erected  another  set  of  buikUugs, 
partly  frame  anil  partly  log.  lie  resided  there 
until  his  death,  Xovember  23,  1889.  lie  married 
JIaria  Rodgers,  wln>  was  born  in  Tennessee,  and 
who  was  first  married  to  Thomas  Armstrong.  She 
died  in  1861,  and  lie  was  then  married  to  T.ouisa 
(Curry)  Hruncr,  who  still  survives  and  lives  on 
the  home  farm. 

fleorge  \V.  Garrett  was  reared  in  his  native 
county  and  lived  with  his  father  until  his  mar- 
riage. For  several  seasons  he  followed  threshing, 
but  at  the  time  of  his  marriage  he  settled  down  on 
the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  He  was  married 
in  lh8;5  to  Annie  Nex,  who  was  born  in  lluin- 
lihieys  County,  Tenn.  Her  lather,  .lared  Nix, 
was  born  in  the  same  State.  He  learned  the  trade 
of  a  tanner,  and  after  following  that  trade  a  few 
years  he  turned  his  attention  to  farming.  He 
spent  the  latter  years  of  his  life  in  his  native 
State.  The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  Mrs. 
Garrett  was  Nancy  Sanders.  She  was  a  native  of 
Tennessee  and  a  daughter  of  AVilcy  and  Sarah 
Sandci-s.  She  survived  her  husband  some  years 
and  came  to  Illinois,  dying  in  Massac  County  in 
February,  1883.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Garrett  have  three 
children:  Ellen,  Carrie  and  Carlton  C.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Garrett  are  both  members  of  tiie  Christian 
Church. 


Mi^fi^ 


Wl'OSl.Vll  Ml/.KLL  w:is  b..rn  in  what  is  new 
(irant  I'recinct,  Massac  Count\-,  111.,  .lan- 
^^.  ,  uary  15,  1815.  His  father,  William  .Mi/.ell, 
'5^^  was  born  in  North  Carolina.  He  learned 
the  trade  of  a  coo[)er,  and  came  to  Illinois  from 
Alabama,  settling  in  that  part  of  .lohnsou  County 
now  included  in  Massac  County,  and  being  one  of 
the  pioneers  ot  that  part  of  the  State.  He  entered 
}\  tr.act  of  (ioverniijpnt  land  two  and  a-half  miles 


from  Metroi)olis,  and  after  living  there  for  a  time 
entered  land  in  township  15,  range  1,  east,  and 
there  worked  at  his  trade  as  well  as  at  farming.  He 
cleared  his  farm  and  lived  upon  it  until  his  death, 
about  the  year  1851.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Nisa  AVard.  It  is  thought  she  was  a  na- 
tive of  North  Carolina,  and  she  died  in  Massac 
County  in  1862.  She  reared  twelve  of  her  four- 
teen children,  .losiali  being  her  youngest  child. 
Since  his  earliest  recollection  Massac  County  has 
improved  considerably,  as  has  the  city  of  Metrop- 
olis, as  then  it  had  in  it  but  two  stores.  He  was 
one  of  the  scholars  sent  to  the  pioneer  subscrip- 
tion .schools,  w  here  each  scholar  [jjiid  in  proportion 
to  the  number  in  attendance.  He  resided  with  his 
mother  until  her  death. 

In  .Vugust,  18(!2,  our  subject  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany 1),  One  Hundred  and  Thirt3'-tirst  Illinois 
Infantry,  and  served  until  August,  1863,  when  he 
w.as  honorably  discharged  on  account  of  disease 
contracted  in  the  service.  Returning  home,  he  re- 
sumed farming  on  the  old  homestead,  and  lived 
there  until  1865,  when  he  sold  out  and  went  to 
Kansas  on  a  prospecting  tour.  Not  being  pleased 
with  the  country,  he  returned  two  months  later 
and  bought  sixty  acres  of  land,  which  are  included 
in  his  present  farm.  At  the  lime  of  this  purcha.se 
there  were  about  twenty  acres  cleared,  and  he 
began  at  nm^o  to  make  further  improveinents, 
and  as  soon  as  his  means  would  permit  he  ])ur- 
chased  forty  acres  more,  twelve  of  which  were 
cleared.  Still  later  he  purchased  another  forty- 
acre  tract,  eighteen  acres  of  which  were  cleared, 
and  still  later  he  bought  twenty  .acres,  of  which 
twelve  were  cleared.  He  now  owns  one  hun- 
dred and  sixt3'  acres,  all  in  one  body  and  all 
but  twenty-live  acres  cleared.  His  farm  is  in  a 
high  state  of  cultivation,  and  has  upon  it  good 
buildings  and  an  aluuidance  of  fruit  trees  and 
shade  trees  around  the  house,  and  it  is  otherwise 
im|)roved. 

November  5.  I S67,  Air.  Mi/.ell  married  Harriet 
K.  Grace,  who  wa.s  born  in  Massac  Couutv,  111., 
and  who  is  the  daughter  of  .Solomon  and  Jlary 
Grace.  Mr.  and  .Mrs.  ^Mizell  have  four  children 
living:  S:irah,  Abner,  Robert  N.  and  Marv  H. 
Isaac  .1.,  the  last-born,  died  at  the  age  of  eight  and 


578 


roRTKAir  AM)  i;i(m;i;ai>iii(al  ki;\ii;\v. 


a-half  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mizell  are  members  of 
the  Re<;iilar  Baptist  Churcli,  and  Mr.  M'v/.vW  has 
been  Superiiilcinlonl  of  the  Sunday -scliool.  IKi  is 
a  nuMiiluT  of  Tiiin  Siiiitli  Tost  Nu.  ;!l."i,  (1.  A.  H. 


•^^ 


E^^ 


ON.  AI.ONZO  K.  \ICKKUS,  one  of  the 
■Indgcs  of  tlie  Kirst  .hidieial  Circuit,  and  a 
resident  of  \'ienna,  is  an  honor  to  the  Bar 
and  to  the  citizensliip  of  his  native  State. 
He  was  born  in  Massac  County  September  25, 
1853.  His  father,  .Tames  A'ickers,  was  l)orn  in 
Warren  County,  Tenn.,  and  his  father,  Thomas 
Vickers,  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  native  of  the 
same  county,  coming  of  one  of  its  earliest  pioneer 
families. 

About  1810  the  grandfather  of  our  subject  came 
to  Illinois,  and  casting  in  his  lot  with  the  pioneers 
of  Massac  County,  bought  a  tract  of  Government 
land,  which  he  cleared  and  occupied  some  j-ears. 
Finally,  selling  his  farm,  he  removed  to  IMetropo- 
lis  and  lived  retired  in  tliat  city  until  his  demise. 
He  was  twice  married  and  reared  nine  children. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  boy  when  the 
family  came  to  this  State,  making  the  journey 
with  teams.  He  grew  up  and  married  in  Massac 
County  and  carried  on  farming  there  some  years. 
He  then  took  up  the  mercantile  business  in  Me- 
tropolis and  was  eng.aged  in  that  line  two  years. 
Returning  to  his  farm,  he  lived  upon  it  until  his 
untimely  death  in  1861,  when  scarcely  past  the 
prime  of  life. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  our  subject 
was  Celia  Smith.  She  was  born  near  Tuscumbia, 
Ala., March  3,  1812,  a  daughter  of  William  Smith, 
who  was  a  farmer  and  spent  his  last  years  near 
Tuscumbia.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was  first 
married  at  the  age  of  seventeen  to  .Jacob  Vickers, 
and  in  1810  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Massac 
County.  She  rode  all  the  way  on  horseback,  car- 
rying a  babe  in  her  arras.  Both  she  and  her  lius- 
band  entered  a  small  tract  of  (iovernment  land 
and   then  built  a  log  house,  of  which  the  boards 


that  covered  the  roof  were  rived   by  hand,  and 

the  rude  chimney  was  made  of  earth  and  sticks. 
'J'hat  pioneer  abode  was  afterward  the  birthplace  of 
Judge  Vickers,  of  whom  we  write.  The  Vickers 
were  among  the  pioneers  of  the  locality.  There 
were  no  railways  to  facilitate  communication  witii 
the  outside  world  for  years  after  they  settled  there, 
and  the  pooi)le  lived  principally  on  the  products 
of  their  land  and  on  wild  game,  which  was  abun- 
dant. Mrs.  Vickers  was  an  adept  at  spinning  and 
weaving,  and  from  the  raw  material  furnished  by 
the  wool  and  llax  made  all  the  clothes  worn  by  her 
children.  When  left  a  widow  a  second  time  her 
means  were  very  limited,  her  only  property  con- 
sisting of  forty  acres  of  partly  improved  land  and 
the  log  cabin  home.  Her  two  elder  sons,  Aleck 
and  James,  were  in  the  army,  and  our  subject,  a  lad 
of  eight  years,  was  her  main  dependence  for  assist- 
ance in  caring  for  the  family.  But  she  was  a 
woman  of  strong  character,  courageous  and  pos- 
sessed of  much  business  ability,  and  managed  her 
affairs  so  skilfully  and  prudently  that  she  became 
quite  comfortably  well  off  and  reared  her  children 
to  be  useful  men  and  women.  Slie  died  on  the 
home  farm  May  10,  1875,  and  her  memory  is  rev- 
erently cherished  by  those  who  knew  and  loved 
her. 

Judge  ^'ickers'  earl}'  training  and  ex|)erieuce  in 
the  fields  of  labor  bore  fruit  in  a  manly,  vigorous 
manhood.  He  made  the  best  of  his  opportunities 
to  secure  an  education,  attending  the  district 
school  in  winter,  while  the  rest  of  the  year  was 
devoted  to  hard  work  on  the  farm.  He  pursued 
an  excellent  course  of  study  at  the  High  Sciiool 
at  Metropolis  and  in  1874  entered  the  office  of 
Judge  K.  AV.  McCartney,  of  that  city,  to  prepare 
himself  for  the  Bar  under  his  instruction.  Ilealso 
pursued  farming  during  the  following  three  years, 
spending  all  his  spare  time  reading  law.  In  1877, 
well  etjuipped  for  his  profession  by  a  clear  and 
comprehensive  knowledge  of  jurisprudence,  be  be- 
gan to  practice  in  Metropolis. 

In  1879  the  Judge  turned  from  the  law  to 
journalism,  buying  the  Vienna  Weekly  J'/«ies,which 
he  edited  one  year.  He  then  sold  the  paper 
and  was  actively  engaged  in  practicing  before  the 
court*  lUltil  his  election,  in    1891,  to  his  present 


PoliTliAir  AND  151()('.1JA1M1I('AI,  IJF.VIKW. 


57!) 


office  as  a  Judge  of  the  First  Judicial  Circuit.  He 
is  peculiarly  (lualifled  for  the  position.  His  rul- 
ings are  scnsibk-,  piactieal  and  to  tiie  point,  and  iiis 
decisions  bear  cviclence  of  his  faniiliarily  witli  the 
least  detail  of  the  case  under  eonsideration  and 
are  presented  clearly  and  forcibly-  and  are  marked 
by  justice,  lii'niness  and  moderation. 

In  1880  Judge  N'ickers  was  married  to  Miss 
Leora  Armstrong,  a  native  of  Metropolis  and  a 
daughter  of  William  and  Anner  Armstrong.  Three 
cliildren.  Jay  Frank,  Hazel  M.  and  Louise  Edna, 
complete  the  household  circle  in  this  well-ap- 
pointed home.  The  Judge  is  a  representative  of 
the  following  social  organizations:  Menna  I^odge 
No.  150,  A.  F.  .V  A.  M.;  A'csta  Lodge  No.  340, 
L  ().  O.  F.;  Vienna  Lodge  No.  218,  K.  I'.;  and 
Vienna  Encampment  No.  53,  L  ().  O.  1''.  In  his 
political  relations  our  subject  is  allied  with  the 
Republican  party,  and  in  1886  he  was  chosen  to  a 
seat  in  the  State  Leirislature. 


^1- 


j^i  NIJREW  r.  KIDI).  The  fiirming  interests 
iCsOj     of  southern  Illinois  have  a  successful  rep- 

,'/(  1*1  resentative  in  this  gentleman,  who  culti- 
^^  vates  a  jjleasant  estate   adjoining  the  city 

of  Metropolis.  Hefore  mentioning  in  detail  the 
principal  events  of  his  life,  a  few  words  in  regard 
to  his  parentage  will  be  of  interest  to  our  readers. 
His  father,  Jacob  C,  w.as  born  in  York,  S.  C,  Feb- 
ruary 29,  1792.  When  four  years  of  age,  he  was 
taken  by  his  parents  to  Lexington,  Ky.,  and  in 
1811  he  accompanied  them  to  New  Lil)erty,  I'npc 
County,  I II. 

As  one  of  the  pioneers  f)f  soutlMMii  Illinois,  Mr. 
Kidd  was  an  interested  witness  of  its  growth,  and 
aided  to  no  small  extent  in  it^  development.  In 
his  old  age  he  delighted  to  recount  tales  of  pioneer 
life  and  thrilling  incidents  connected  with  the  early 
history  of  this  section.  He  well  renieml>ers  when 
he  saw  the  (irst  steamboat  that  plied  the  waters  of 
the  Ohio.  He  lived  to  see  this  great  State  grow 
from  thciountit- of  Hamlolph  and  Johnson  to  one 


hundred  and  two  counties.  From  March  19,  1829, 
until  July  30,  1877  (the  date  of  his  death),  he  lived 
on  the  same  farm  in  Massac  County,  a  part  of 
which  our  subject  now  occupies.  During  his  first 
year  here  he  cultivated  corn  on  the  present  site  of 
the  city  of  Metropolis,  and  was  here  before  the  ad- 
vent of  churches,  schools,  railroads,  mills,  or  indeed 
an3'  of  the  iinprovi'inonts  that  we  now  deem  ne- 
cessities. 

In  Nashville.  Tenn..  Mr.  Kidd  married  Nanc3' 
McCormick,  who  was  born  in  that  city,  and  died 
in  1842.  His  second  marriage  occurred  in  184G, 
and  united  him  with  Miss  l^lizabcth  Manville,  who 
died  after  twelve  years  of  married  life.  Subse- 
quently Mr.  Kidd  married  Mrs.  Luttrell,  who  is 
still  lixiiig.  and  makes  her  home  in  McCracken 
Counlv.  Ky.  Of  his  first  marriage  eight  children 
were  born,  namely:  James,  Er,  Andrew  V.,  Ceorge, 
Lucas,  Louisa,  Mary  .lane  and  .John.  Six  children 
were  born  of  the  .second  marriage,  as  follows:  I'e- 
leg,  residing  in  Tennessee;  Thomas,  a  resident  of 
Metropolis;  Catherine,  wife  of  Charles  Shelton,of 
Metropolis;  William;  Annie,  deceased;  and  Leora, 
who  married  Frank  Shelton,  a  farmer  residing  in 
Massac  County'. 

Andrew  I',  was  born  in  what  is  now  Mas.sac 
County  May  21,  1826,  and  remained  upon  a  farm 
until  he  wa.s  about  seventeen,  having  but  few  ed- 
ucational opportunities.  His  schooling  was  ob- 
tained in  a  primitive  "temple  of  learning,"  with 
its  rude  furnishings  and  pioneer  methods  of  in- 
struction. His  education  has  been  obtained  prin- 
cipally in  the  great  school  of  experience,  by  ap- 
plication and  strenuous  endeavor,  and  1)3-  actual 
contact  with  the  great  business  world.  After  his 
mother's  death  he  left  home  and  found  emplov- 
moiit  at  various  occupations,  but  was  principally 
on  the  river. 

The  s|)irii  c.i'  :ulvcnlnre  ;iiiil  ilesire  for  gold  in- 
duceil  our  subject  to  make  the  overland  trip  to 
California.  On  the  3 1st  of  March,  1852,  he  hitched 
his  ox-team  and  started  on  the  long  and  tedious 
overland  journey.  The  ilestiuation  in  the  far 
West  w.as  reached  on  the  7th  of  August.  Mr.  Kidd 
engaged  in  selling  lumber,  water-lime,  etc.,  and  ac- 
cumulated a  large  amount  of  inone3'.  He  was,  how- 
ever, so  lavish   with  his  mimey  that  *500    was  as 


r)80 


PORTRAIT  AND    I'.loCiRAl'llK'AL    UKVIKW. 


nothing,  and  his  friends  were  the  constant  recip- 
ients of  his  bounty.  He  loaned  ^5,000,  wliich 
was  never  returned.  In  these  ways  and  others  lie 
spent  his  large  income,  and  returned  at  the  ex- 
piration of  fifteen  years  but  little  belter  off  than 
when  he  went  West. 

In  18()7,  locating  on  a  farm  m  Massac  County, 
Mr.  Kidd  engaged  in  agricultural  operations  for 
about  fifteen  years.  In  June,  1881,  he  purchased 
the  place  where  he  has  since  made  his  home.  In 
18Gi)  he  marrried  .Tennie  Davisson,  who  was  born 
August  15,  1818.  They  are  tlie  parents  of  three 
children,  namel}':  Ilattie  I.,  who  is  at  home;  Mary, 
wife  of  A.  J.  (iivins,  of  Metropolis;  and  Ross  W., 
who  is  at  home.  Mrs.  Kidd  is  a  member  of  the 
Congregation.al  Church,  and  a  kind  friend  and 
obliging  neighbor.  It  w.as  her  ambition,  as  well 
as  that  of  her  husband,  to  fit  their  children  for 
positions  of  nsefulness  in  life,  and  witli  that  end 
in  view  thej'  gave  them  ever^y  opportunity  for  ac- 
cpiiring  splendid  educations.  The  daughters  hold 
certificates  to  teach,  and  the  son  is  a  young  gen- 
tleman of  culture  and  business  ability.  The  pol- 
itical atliliations  of  Mr.  Kidd  bring  him  into 
active  co-operation  with  the  Democrats,  and  he 
votes  the  ticket  of  Ills  chosen  party  at  th(^  various 
elections. 


r4&->-:i5^-r 


IKTRICII  BRKNNIN(iMKYi:R,  a  farmer 
residing  on  section  11,  township  \i>,  range 
;5,  is  a  son  of  William  Brenningmeyer, 
who  was  born  in  Prussia.  He  grew  to 
manhood  in  his  native  country,  .and  there  fell  in 
love  with  and  wished  to  marry  a  young  woman, 
to  whom  his  parents  ol)jected  on  account  of  her 
l)eing  his  inferior  in  r;nik.  I5eing  determined  to 
marry,  they  eloped  and  took  passage  on  board  a 
sailing-vessel  bound  for  America.  This  was  about 
the  year  1850. 

Arriving  in  New  Orleans,  the  young  couple  were 
there  married  and  thence  came  North    to  Cincin- 


nati, and  from  there  to  Massac  County.  Mr.  Bren- 
ningmeyer purchased  a  tract  of  one  hundred  .acres 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county,  upon  which  he 
located.  The  land  was  entirely  unimproved,  but 
soon,  as  the  result  of  his  exertions,  it  took  rank 
among  the  best-improved  places  in  the  commu- 
nity. There  he  remained  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  about  1852.  His  wife  died  about  eight 
years  later.  They  were  the  parents  of  four  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  are  now  living,  viz:  AVilliam 
Ilenrj',  a  resident  farmer  of  Massac  County,  and 
Dietrich,  the  subject  of  this  notice.  One  son  and 
daughter  are  deceased. 

Dietrich  Brenningmeyer  was  born  in  Massac 
County  in  Deceml)er  of  1853.  He  w.as  reared  upon 
the  farm  and  early  learned  to  work.  He  attended 
the  common  schools  for  a  time,  but  obtained  his 
education  mostly  in  a  German  school.  He  was 
obliged  to  spend  the  greater  part  of  his  time  at 
hard  work  upon  the  farm,  and  at  the  age  of  thir- 
teen years  hired  out  to  work  for  a  farmer.  He  re- 
ceived for  the  first  year  $50,  and  for  the  second 
year  was  to  have  received  $75,  but  after  working 
six  months  he  became  dissatisfied  and  quit,  receiv- 
ing nothing  for  the  six  months'  work.  He  then 
hired  out  to  another  farmer,  for  whom  he  worked 
two  years,  receiving  for  the  first  year  180,  and  for 
tlie  second  year  $100.  Afterward  he  worked  by 
the  daj'  for  four  years. 

At  the  expiration  of  that  time,  Mr.  Brenning- 
meyer decided  to  change  his  occupation,  and  with 
that  end  in  view  he  went  to  Cincinnati,  expecting 
to  learn  a  trade,  but  sliortl}'  after  arriving  there 
he  tool?  the  small-pox.  On  his  recovery  he  con- 
cluded to  return  home  and  abandoned  the  idea  of 
trying  to  follow  any  occupation  except  farming. 
Soon  afterward  he  married  Caroline  Windhorst, 
who  was  born  in  this  country,  of  German  parent- 
age. At  his  father's  death,  Mr.  Brenningmeyer 
had  inherited  one-half  of  the  estate,  consisting  of 
one  hundred  acres,  and  he  purchased  from  his 
brother  the  other  half,  ))!xying  for  it  $-150,  which 
amount  he  had  by  thrift  and  economy  saved  from 
his  earnings. 

Locating  upon  that  farm,  Mr.  Brenningmeyer 
continued  there  for  ten  years.  He  then  sold  out 
and  removed  to  Madison  County,  111.,  where   for 


POUTRAir  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


581 


four  yeare  he  rented  a  farm.  He  then  returned  to 
Massac  Count3',  and  for  two  j-ears  rented  land,  af- 
ter which,  in  1892,  he  bought  the  improved  farm 
of  eighty  acres  where  lie  now  lives.  It  is  his  in- 
tention to  make  this  his  permanent  homo.  Dur- 
ing his  residence  in  Madison  County,  he  was  be- 
reaved by  the  death  of  his  wife,  on  the  2!>tii  of  De- 
cember, 1888.  lie  w.is  again  married,  September 
lb,  188it,  choosing  as  his  wife  Mrs.  Anna  (Ella- 
basch)  Shaefer.  Iler  motlier  is  still  a  resident  of 
this  eountv;  her  fatiier  is  deceased. 

IJy  liis  iirst  marriage  ^Ir.  lirenningmeyer  became 
the  father  of  Ave  children,  as  follows:  Henry  Fred- 
erick, Catherine  W.,  Sophie,  Mary  8.  and  Emma, 
all  of  whom  are  living  at  tiie  parental  home.  Mrs. 
lirenningmeyer  h.as  three  children  b}'  her  former 
union:  Dietrich  William,  Sophie  and  Mattie.  Mr. 
Hrenningmeyer  is  a  believer  in  education,  and 
gives  his  children  the  best  of  opportunities  for  be- 
ing well  informed  and  educated.  With  his  wife 
he  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  In  his 
political  opinions,  he  adheres  to  the  |)rinciples 
adopted  by  the  Democratic  party.  While  he  de- 
votes his  attention  principally  to  general  farming, 
he  also  is  interested  in  stock-raising,  making  a 
specialty  of  hogs.  Throughout  the  community  he 
is  known  as  a  successful  and   enterprising  farmer. 


i^^IlOMAS  L.  HU15HRTS,  an  able, energetic  and 
f/^^  successful  general  agriculturist  and  highly 
^^y  respected  citizen  now  resnling  upon  section 
11,  township  15.  range  .'},  .loppa,  Mass.ac  County, 
III.,  h.as  a  valuable  homestead  under  a  high  state 
of  cultivation  and  well  improved  with  an  attrac- 
tive and  commodious  dwelling,  substantial  barns 
and  outbuildings.  For  over  a  score  of  yeai-s  in- 
timately associated  with  the  rapid  progress  of  the 
best  interests  of  his  home  locality,  our  subject  has 
ever  been  numbered  among  the  progressive  citizens 
of  Miissac  County,  and,  a  kind  friend  and  excellent 
nighbor,  commands  the  thorough  regard  of  a  large 
circle  of  old-time  acquaintances.    His  father,  Albion 


Roberts,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  was  reared 
upon  a  farm  in  the  (Juaker  State,  and  enjoyed  but 
limited  advant.iges  for  an  education.  While  yet  a 
j-oung  bo3',  his  good  mother  died,  and  his  father 
not  very  long  after  remarried.  Not  liking  his 
stepmother,  Albion  resolved  to  run  away  from  the 
home  now  so  distasteful  to  him,  and  although  ab- 
solutely- penniless,  managed  to  re:ich  Kentucky, 
where  he  went  to  work  upon  a  farm,  and  continu- 
ing in  the  occupation  of  agriculture,  remained 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  State  for  a  term  of 
yeai's. 

Having  attained  to  manhood,  Albion  Roberts 
was  united  in  marriage.with  Miss  Luciuda  Gatlin, 
a  native  of  Hopkins  County,  Ky.,  and  about  1815 
removed  with  his  wife  and  family  to  .Johnson 
County,  111.,  which  part  of  the  country  w&s  then 
a  S))arsel3'  settled  wilderness.  Remaining  but  a 
brief  time  in  this  locality,  Father  Roberts  soon 
made  his  home  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Massac 
County,  locating  upon  Government  land.  After 
making  improvement-s,  he  sold  his  claim,  and  again 
settled  upon  Ciovernment  land.  He  improved  sev- 
eral places  in  this  waj',  afterward  selling  out  his 
interest  in  the  land,  and  thus  continued  to  lead 
the  life  of  a  rugged  pioneer,  working  hard  and  en- 
joying but  few  of  the  comforts  of  life.  In  Octo- 
ber, 18G1,  he  forsook  the  peaceful  avocation  of  a 
tiller  of  the  soil,  .and  enlisted  in  the  service  of  the 
Government.  .Joining  the  Twenty-ninth  Illinois 
Infantry.  Companj-  I,  he  served  with  brave  lidel- 
ity  until  February,  18G2,  when  his  health  became 
seriously  impaired,  and  on  account  of  disabilitv, 
he  was  discharged  and  returned  home  to  die  about 
one  month  later.  His  estimable  wife  passed  awav 
in  Johnson  County,  III.,  in  18G7.  These  worths- 
pioneers  were  the  parents  of  seven  children. 
James,  the  eldest,  is  deceased;  Thomas  L.  is  our  sub- 
ject; Louis  J.  is  a  Mas-sac  County  farmer;  Nathan 
S.  farms  in  Mai-sliall  County,  Ky.;  William  La  Fav- 
etto  is  deceased:  Lizzie  is  the  wife  of  Washington 
Sigler,  of  Metropolis;  and  Martha  is  deceased. 

Our  subject,  the  second  child  of  .Mbion  and  I.u- 
cinda  Roljerts,  was  born  February  8,  1840,  in  Mar- 
shall County,  Ky.,  and,  reared  upon  a  farm,  began 
ploughing  when  only  eight  yeai-s  of  age.  His 
oarlj-    opportunities  for   schooling  were  very  few. 


582 


I'OlMWAir  AM)    r.loCliAl'lllCAl,    liKVIKW. 


in  fact  the  onl}'  instruction  then  atlainalili'  in  Ins 
locality  was  coiirmed  to  the  little  .subseiintion 
school  of  his  home  iiciyhhorliood.  In  IHCl,  about 
the  time  he  reached  his  majority,  the  war  broke  out, 
and  in  October  he  enlisted  in  Company  I,  of  the 
'rwenly-ninth  Illinois  Infantry,  and,  imiiiediately 
forwarded  to  the  front,  bravely  participated  in 
the  battles  of  Ft.  Donclson,  Ft.  Henry,  Corinth. 
Shiloh,  Mobile  Bay,  and  gallantly  took  part  in  the 
siege  of  N'icksburgh.  Jlr.  Uoberts  [lassed  through 
the  entire  cami)aign  and  escaped  without  any  ser- 
ious injury,  and  in  W.asliington  County,  Tex.,  was, 
at  the  close  of  the  war  in  I8G.5,  mustered  out  of 
the  service,  and  returned  at  once  to  Springfield, 
where  he  received  his  honorable  discharge.  His 
health  was  temporarily  affected  1)3- the  constant  ex- 
posures incident  to  army  life,  Init  in  time  he  re- 
cuperated and  entered  .again  into  the  pursuit  of 
agriculture.  In  December,  180(5,  Thomas  L.  Rob- 
erts and  Miss  Margaret  E.  Willet,  a  native  of  Ten- 
nessee, were  united  in  marriage.  Mrs.  Roberts  was 
one  of  a  family  of  five  children,  of  whom  she  is  the 
sole  survivor.  Iler  parents,  who  were  among  the 
early  settlers  of  Illinois,  are  now  deceased. 

Immediatel3'  following  his  marriage  our  subject 
bought  fort^'  acres  of  land  in  Johnson  Count}',  upon 
which  he  lived  two  j-cars,  at  the  ex[)iration  of  that 
time  purchasing  his  present  homestead  of  sixtj- 
acres  in  Mass.ac  County,  then  all  unimproved  land 
located  in  the  woods.  Having  built  a  substantial 
log  caliiii  and  settled  therein  with  his  family,  he 
proceeded  to  clear  the  land,  and  now  has  one  of 
the  most  liighl}-  cultivated  [jieccs  of  fanning  prop- 
erty' in  this  part  of  the  State.  A  good  house  has 
long  since  replaced  the  cabin  of  otlicir  d.a\'s,  and 
the  various  excellent  and  valuable  improvements 
denote  the  successful  and  thrifty  farmer.  The  live 
children  who  brought  sunshine  into  the  home 
are  Mary  Melissa,  now  deceased;  Lois,  deceased; 
Thomas  W.,  at  home;  lona,  also  with  her  p.iicnts; 
and  Osmond,  the  youngest,  yet  a  nuMnlici- of  the 
home  circle.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roberts,  who  thoroughly 
appreciate  the  inestimable  advanl.ages  of  agood  edu- 
cation, are  giving  their  children  eveiy  possible  op- 
portunity to  obtain  knowledge  and  worthily  lit 
themselves  for  the  battle  of  life.  The  fatlicr  and 
mother   are    members  of    the  Christian  (Inuxhof 


.luppa,  and  liberally  aid  in  social  and    benevolent 

enterprise,  Mr.  Roberts  being  especially  active  in  the 
Sund.ay-school  work.  Our  subject  is  in  |)oliti(al 
alllliation  a  IJc^pulilican,  and  although  not  a  poli- 
tician in  the  common  acce[)tation  of  the  word, 
takes  a  deep  interest  in  local  and  national  affairs, 
and  is  to-day,  as  thirty  jears  ago,  a  true  and  loyal 
American  citizen. 


^ ^^- 


11^,  AVID  IIKNHV  FREEMAN,  who  resides  in 
IMetropolis,  Massac  Count}',  was  born  near 
Meadville,  Pa.,  .June  13,  1838.  His  fa- 
ther, Wilson  Freeman,  was  born  in  the 
same  place  to  Alexander  Freeman,  who  was  born 
in  New  .Jersey  and  was  one  of  nine  brothers.  He 
removed  to  I'ennsylvania  and  located  in  Crawford 
Count}',  where  he  bought  land  and  lived  upon  it 
for  some  years,  when  he  removed  to  Ohio,  settled 
near  Worcester  and  died  there.  Tiie  maiden  name 
of  his  wife  was  I'hebe  Clarkson. 

The  father  of  our  subject  learned  the  tanner's 
trade,  and  followed  that  trade  in  addition  to 
farming  in  Crawford  County,  Pa.,  where  he  died 
in  1854.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Martha  McDowell,  who  was  born  in  the  same 
county  as  himself.  Her  father,  Maj.  John  Mc- 
Dowell, was  born  in  Pennsylvania  and  w.asa  Major 
in  the  War  of  1812.  He  at  one  time  commanded 
at  Ft.  Erie.  After  he  was  eighty  years  old  he 
wont  to  Iowa  and  spent  the  remainiler  of  his  life 
with  his  sons  in  Washington  County,  that  State. 
The  mother  of  David  Henry  went  to  Iowa  in  ISf);'), 
and  died  in  Warren  County  in  1888,  aged  eighty- 
six  \cais.  She  reared  seven  children,  viz:  Alex- 
ander, Perraelia,  Eli/.abctli.  Iia  R.,  David  Ileiirv. 
Margaret  and  Pliebo  A. 

David  Henry  Freeman  was  reared  and  educated 
in  his  native  county  and  in  1854  went  to  Iowa. 
He  traveled  on  foot  and  by  stage  to  Cleveland. 
Ohio,  and  then  by  railroad  to  Hock  Island,  thence 
by  steamboat  down  the  Mississippi  to  Muscatine, 
Iowa,    and    from     there    walked     to    Washington 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


583 


Country.  At  that  time  there  was  not  a  railroad  in 
Iowa,  and  the  greater  |)art  of  the  land  was  owned 
hy  tlic  (Jovernnient.  He  lived  in  'Washiugton 
Cuiinly  until  1858,  then  went  to  the  Territory  of 
Kansas,  locating  in  I'ranklin  County,  and  in  18r)0 
.started  West  with  ox-teams  and  made  an  overland 
joui-no\'to  New  Mexico  and  I'Ike's  Peak.  At  that 
time  Denver  was  a  hamlet  of  a  few  buildings, 
mostly  built  of  logs,  with  either  earth  or  tent  roofs, 
lie  .'issisted  in  raising  the  first  house  in  Golden 
City  and  assisted  in  o|)erating  the  first  steam  saw- 
mill in  that  Stale.  He  remained  thereabout  twenty 
months,  and  in  the  fall  of  18(50  returned  to  Kansas 
and  then  to  Iowa.  He  offered  his  services  to  the 
I'nion,  but  upon  examination  was  rejected.  lie 
then  went  to  Kansas  and  let  his  brother  Ira  go  to 
the  army. 

Our  subject  was  married  the  same  fall,  and  in 
18(J2  went  to  Iowa,  where  lie  learned  the  art  of 
photography  and  followed  that  profession  in  thir- 
teen different  .States.  In  18GG  he  came  to  Illinois, 
and  in  18(58  he  bought  a  farm  two  and  one-half 
miles  from  Metropolis,  his  father-in-law  being  as- 
sociated with  him  in  the  ownership  of  the  farm. 
He  did  not  at  once  settle  down  on  the  farm,  but 
traveled  a  time  longer  in  the  photograph  business. 
When  lie  di<l  settle  down  he  turned  his  attention  to 
horticulture  and  ijlanlcd  an  orchard  of  upward  of 
fifteen  hundred  trees,  and  also  started  a  vineyard 
and  set  out  small  fruit  vines  and  bushes.  In  Xt>- 
vember,  18(5 1,  he  was  married  to  Anna  F.  Fitton,wlio 
was  born  in  Miami  County,  ()hio,and  is  a  daughter 
of  William  Fitton,  who  was  born  in  Bury,  near 
Manchester,  England,  his  father,  Robert  Fitton, 
being  also  a  native  of  England.  He  came  to  the 
Ihiitcd  Stjitcs  in  182;'!,  locating  in  Miami  County, 
Ohio,  being  one  of  the  earl^' settlers  there,  lie 
made  his  home  with  his  sons  until  his  death.  The 
father  of  Mrs.  Fieeinan  came  to  the  United  .States 
when  a  young  man,  in  182:5,  locating  in  (ireene 
County,  Ohi(j,  where  he  followed  his  trade  tif  a 
woolen  manufacturer  until  1K,J7.  Then  with  his 
wife  and  five  children  he  went  to  the  Territory  of 
Kansas  and  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  in  Frank- 
lin County,  where  he  secured  a  traol  of  (!overn- 
ment  laiui.  Purchasing  a  liewed-log  house  lu;  re- 
moved   it    tci   hi-   iilaci- ami  li\i(l  in  it  uiiljl   IHdI. 


He  then  removed  to  Lawrence,  Kan.,  where  he 
lived  until  18G8,  when  he  remove<l  to  Ma.ssac 
County,  and  in  company  with  Mr.  Freeman  pur- 
chased a  farm.  He  died  in  Metropolis  in  1880,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-one. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Free- 
man was  Joanna  Dunn,  who  w.as  born  in  (ireene 
County,  Ohio,  and  her  father,  Simeon  Dunn,  was 
liorn  in  New  .Jersey,  removing  to  Greene  County 
ill  181(1.  lie  secured  a  tract  of  Government  land 
covered  with  limber,  cleared  a  farm  out  of  the 
wilderness  and  there  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
d.ays.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife,  the  grand- 
mother of  Mrs.  Freeman,  w.as  Plia'be  Cory, and  she 
w.as  also  a  native  of  New  .Jersey.  Mr.  and  Jlrs. 
Freeman  are  members  of  the  Presliyterian  Church 
and  he  is  an  Elder  of  the  church.  They  both  for 
many  years  were  zealous  workers  in  the  Sunday- 
school.  Mr.  Freeman  is  Secretary  of  the  Mass.ac 
County  Horlicullural  Society,  \'ice-president  of 
the  .Southern  Illinois  Horticultural  Socielv,  and 
also  of  the  Stale  Historical  .Society. 

(ioing  over  his  life  in  another  line  of  thought, 
it  should  he  staled  that  Mr.  Freeman  from  expos- 
ures iiici<leiil  to  life  in  a  new  countr}-,  from  1858 
to  18(51,  found  himself  in  quite  poor  health.  And 
thus,  while,  as  h.as  been  stated,  he  w.as  unfitted  for 
military  service  in  the  field,  yet  he  joined  the 
Kansiis  militia  and  saw  more  actual  service  than 
many  of  the  regular  volunteers.  At  the  time  of 
the  Price  raid,  when  all  the  able-bodied  men  in 
Kansas  rushed  to  the  Jlissouri  border,  Sergt.  Free- 
man was  left  in  command  at  Lawrence  of  an  army 
of  two  hundred  men,  some  of  whom  had  seen  more 
than  three-score  and  ten  years,  but  these  old  men 
bravely  guarded  the  city  until  the  danger  w.as  past. 
Ills  health  is  much  better  in  late  years  than  it  was 
during  the  war,  which  is  precisely  the  opposite  of 
that  of  most  old  soldiers. 

It  has  been  Mr.  Freeman  "s  l"orluiie  to  fie  .associ- 
ated ill  dilTcrenl  w.ays  with  numerous  men  who 
were  or  who  afterward  became  distinguished.  He 
was  a  cla.ssmate  of  James  Mc(iranalian,  of  Gospel 
Hymn  fame.  When  he  went  to  Kansas  he  was  a 
neighlxu-  of  old  .lolin  Hrown,  "whose  soul  goes 
marehing  on."  In  185,H,  lie  and  Dr.  .1.  (!.  Hliiiit, 
wild     afterward    became   a    majtir-geiieral    In     tiic 


58t 


I'OUTHAIT  ANI)  HIOdUAl'lIlCAI.  IJKVIKW. 


Union  army,  broke  prairie  together.  He  crossed 
tlic  [ilftins  Willi  Dudley  Ilaskel,  who  afterward  be- 
laiiic  a  member  of  Congress  of  more  than  ordinary 
fame.  He  worked  in  a  sawmill  with  United  States 
Senator  Caldwell,  of  Kansas,  and  lived  neighbor  to 
(ien.  James  H.  Lane,  of  Kansas,  and  also  United 
Stales  Senator  Uoss,  in  Lawrence,  Kan. 

Mr.  Freeman  is  the  representative  for  Massac 
County  at  the  "World's  C^olumbian  Exposition,  and 
tliiough  his  efforts  the  county  will  have  one  of  tlie 
largest  exhibits,  lie  is  also  a  representative  from 
IMass.ie  County  in  the  Southern  Illinois  Emigr.i- 
lion  and  Improvement  Association  and  is  spend- 
ing much  time  in  the  interests  of  the  association, 
riiere  is,  perhaps,  no  one  who  h.as  done  more  for 
his  section  in  the  matter  of  the  development  and 
inipidvciiunt  of  linilicullure  than  has  Mr.  Free- 
man, nor  in  the  improvement  of  horses  and  hogs. 
Some  of  his  neighbors  sa>-  that  he  is  very  set  in 
his  way  and  that  he  is  inclined  to  criticise  men  in 
places  of  honor  .'iml  trust,  Init  it  may  be  said  on  the 
other  hand  that  he  is  always  to  be  found  on  the 
side  of  (Jhristianity,  temperance,  morality  and 
justice,  which  may,  perhaps,  counterbalance  to 
some  extent  his  failings  in  the  respects  mentioned. 
In  1H;)2  he  sold  his  farm  and  removed  to  Metrop- 
olis, where  he  is  improving  the  property  lie  owns 
in    that  citv  and  is  attending  to  his  private  affairs. 


UCUST  lilCHTKli,  a  farmer  residing  in 
township  l.'i,  range  (!,  cast.  Pope  County^ 
'  is  a  son  of  Labr.acliter  IJichter,  who  came 
from  German}'  to  the  United  Slates  in 
1864.  The  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  was  made 
111  a  sailing-vessel  and  consumed  six  weeks.  Af- 
ter landing  at  Baltimore  he  went  at  once  to  Pope 
County,  and  lived  there  about  ten  years,  when  he 
died  at  (lolconda.  The  mother  of  the  family 
lived  until  188t;.  They  were  the  parents  of  thir- 
teen children,  Iwo  of  whom  are  now  living:  Au- 
gust, the  subject  of  this  sketch.  an<l  Ferdinand, 
who  lives  at  Golconda. 


August  Ricliter  was  born  in  Germany  June  8, 
1828,  and  received  his  education  in  his  native 
land.  He  was  educated  in  Germany,  and  since  com- 
ing to  this  country  has  made  a  study  of  English 
and  he  is  fairly  well  informed  on  all  general  sub- 
jects. In  CJermany  he  learned  the  butcher  business, 
and  thinking  to  have  a  better  opportunity  in  this 
country,  he  came  here  in  1856.  He  made  the  trip 
across  the  ocean  in  a  sailing-vessel,  and  was  seven 
weeks  on  the  deep.  This  was  not  considered  then 
so  long  a  voyage  as  it  would  be  now,  when  there 
are  numerous  steamships  capable  of  making  the 
trip  .across  the  Atlantic  in  less  than  seven  days.  He 
landed  in  New  Orleans  with  good  clothes,  boots 
and  shoes,  but  without  money. 

Arriving  in  Pope  Countj',  111.,  on  the  l.'ilh  of 
May,  and  being  industrious  and  determined  to 
make  his  fortune,  three  daj'S  afterward  Mr.  IJichter 
was  at  work,  having  hired  out  at  ^10  per  month. 
He  was  employed  in  this  w.ay  for  three  years,  and 
with  the  thrift  and  economy  char.acterislic  of  the 
German  people,  he  persistently  saved  what  money 
he  could  out  of  his  earnings.  Later  he  was  en- 
gaged for  two  years  at  his  trade  of  butcher  at  Gol- 
conda. He  then  bought  the  farm  of  ninety  acres 
which  he  owns  and  upon  which  he  lives.  It  was 
somewhat  improved  when  he  made  the  purchase, 
but  fire  destroyed  the  buildings,  and  he  then 
erected  his  present  home.  He  has  made  a  comfor- 
table home  for  his  family,  and  has  been  successful 
as  a  farmer. 

While  Mr.  Ricliter  was  following  his  trade  as 
butcher  in  Golconda  he  was  married  to  Christiana 
Rief,  who  came  from  Germany  with  her  parents. 
They  settled  in  Hardin  County,  and  lived  there 
until  their  death,  the  mother  dying  in  1868,  and 
the  father  in  1872.  Jlr.  and  Mrs.  Ricliter  have  had 
five  children,  one  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  The 
others  are:  Rosa  M.,  deceased ;  Christiana  and  Pau- 
line (twins),  the  first  deceased,  the  second  the  wife 
of  C.  Cluge;  and  Mary,  at  home.  Politically  Mr. 
Ricliter  is  a  Democr.at.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church  and  is  devoted  to  its  welfare.  He  is 
an  illustration  of  what  energj',  industry  and  econ- 
omy can  accomplish  in  a  country  where  the  insti- 
tutions are  free,  and  where  eveiy  man  is  given 
the  same  o|)porlunity  to  make  a  fortune.     He  be- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


585 


jran  in  ;i  new  country,  iiniong  a  strange  |)eople, 
and  witliout  capital;  now  he  lias  a  good  home  and 
is  in  good  circumstiinces,  and  is  wliat  ma^^  be 
called  a  thrifty  ( icrinan-Ainerican  citizen. 


E^M- 


;EK1)1NAN1)  I).  lU'DDENHAUM,  a  farmer 
of  Massac  County  residing  near  Round 
Kuob,  was-  born  in  Hanover,  Germany, 
April  14,  18r)9.  He  is  the  son  of  Charles  and 
Minnie  (Mjrcs)  I'uddenbaum,  natives  respectivel3' 
of  (Jermanj'  and  Hanover,  the  father  being  a  suc- 
cessful farmer.  Eight  children  comprised  the  par- 
ental family,  of  whom  we  note  the  following: 
Henry  and  August  are  farmers  in  Mass.ac  Coiiiit\'; 
Ferdinand  D.  is  the  next  in  order  of  birtli;  William 
resides  with  a  brother  in  Mass.ac  County;  Fred 
lives  on  the  old  home  place;  Carrie  is  dece.ased; 
Louie  resides  on  the  old  homestead;  and  .Millie  is 
the  wife  of  II.  J.  Dezel. 

In  1K(>8  the  parents  of  our  subject  emigrated  to 
America,  taking  p.assage  at  Hremen  on  a  sailing- 
vessel  bound  for  New  Orleans,  which  they  reached 
after  a  stormy  voyage  of  fourteen  weeks.  The  fa- 
ther, mother  and  five  children  arrived  in  that  cit}' 
with  only  ^5  in  cash.  However,  the^'  possessed 
an  abundance  of  hope,  together  with  fortitude, 
energy  and  patience,  and  were  well  ((ualified  to 
overcome  any  obstacles  there  might  be  to  en- 
counter. Thc3-  came  to  Pojie  County-,  III.,  where 
they  rented  a  farm  and  resided  thereon  for  one 
and  one-half  years.  By  that  time  they  had  ac- 
cuinulalcd  enough  money  to  i)urcli.ase  a  farm,  and 
removing  to  Massac  County,  they  bought  eighty 
acres  and  ])roceeded  to  improve  the  land.  Upon 
that  place  the  father  died  in  188(1;  the  mother  is 
still  living  and  makes  her  linnu'  with  her  sons  in 
Massac  County. 

Ferdinand  ]).  Huddenbaum  was  reared  on  a 
farm  and  had  few  opiK)rtuiiities  for  acquiring  an 
education.  He  attended  a  (ierman  school  for 
three  months  and  gained  a  good  English  education 
fidiu    hi-   iiinthcr.      He    was  attacherl   to    his  lunne 


and  parents,  and  remained  with  them  until  he  was 
thirty-two.  Afterward  he  worked  on  a  farm  for 
one  year,  saving  his  earnings  and  investing  them 
in  eighty  acres  in  Massac  County.  This  property 
contained  but  few  improvements,  and  after  cul- 
tivating the  land  for  one  year,  he  sold  it. 

On  the  28th  of  August,  1802,  Mr.  Huddenbaum 
married  Mrs.  August  Mischcr,  .an  estimable  lady 
who  occupies  a  high  place  in  the  regard  of  her 
neighbors.  Her  father  is  deceased,  and  her  mother 
makes  her  home  in  Mass.ac  County.  Jlr.  Hudden- 
baum now  occupies  and  cultivates  the  farm  which 
w.as  hers.  It  is  a  finely  improved  pl.ace,  iile.asantly 
situated  and  embellished  with  conveniently  ar- 
ranged and  substantial  buildings.  In  his  political 
alliliations,  Mr.  Uuddeiibauiii  votes  fi)r  and  uses  his 
influence  in  behalf  of  the  candidates  brought  for- 
ward by  the  Democratic  party,  believing  its  plat- 
form best  .adapted  to  promote  the  [irogress  of  the 
people. 


I  I^ILLIAM  HAHS  was  lM,rn  in  Missouri 
lLs#  March  6,  18;!G,  and  now  lives  in  Cache 
W^  Township,  Johnson  County.  He  is  a  son 
of  Francis  and  Array  (Nation)  Ilalis,  both  natives 
of  Missouri.  F'rancis  Hahs  was  a  fanner,  and  fol- 
lowed that  occupation  in  Missouri  until  he  sold 
his  farm  there  and  came  to  Illinois,  crossing  the 
Mississippi  River  at  Willard's  Landing.  He  set- 
tled on  a  tr.act  of  Oovernment  land  in  Johnson 
County,  cleared  off  the  timber  and  lived  there  un- 
til 1815.  when  he  died.  William  Hahs  remained 
at  home  until  lie  was  fifteen  years  of  age,  liavinc 
secured  but  about  six  months'  schooling  in  John- 
son County.  AVhen  fifteen  years  old  he  was  bound 
out,  the  consideration  being  a  horse,  saddle  and 
bridle  when  he  should  become  twenty-one  years 
(■111.  After  the  expiration  of  this  apprenticeship 
he  worked  by  the  month  until  he  was  twenty- 
eiglil  years  old,  by  which  time  he  had  saved  money 
enough  to  Imy  a  farm  in  Cache  Townshi]!,  Johnson 
County. 


r.so 


I'Oii'l'liAll"   AM)    I'.IOCUAIMIICAL    KKVIKW. 


When  the  war  came  on  our  subject  enlisted  in 
Cinnpany  C,  One  Hundred  and  Twentietli  Illinois 
Infantry,  and  parlifipali'd  in  the  bntllcs  of  Gun- 
lown,  the  sii'ijc  of  Vic-kshiirjj;,  and  nnnicrous  other 
lialtles  and  .skirniishes,  serving  all  through  the 
war.  lie  was  honorably  discharged  at  C'aini)  Bnt- 
Icr,  Sepleniljer  11,  1805,  after  which  he  then  re- 
liiiiicd  lu  .liilinson  County,  111.,  and  engaged  in 
f.'uiiiiiig.  lie  has  now  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres 
in  scflion  Id,  Cache  'rownsliip,  upon  which  he  has 
(Mcclcd  his  own  buildings.  He  was  married  in 
the  year  180(1  to  Mary  C.  Swim,  a  native  of 
.liilinson  County,  who  died  on  tlic  loih  of  .lune. 
1882.  He  was  married  again,  Scplembor  1,  1882, 
to  Mary  E.  Dunn,  who  was  born  in  'rennossce, 
December  1-2,  1858,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Will- 
iam and  Susan  (Muncrif)  Dunn,  both  natives  of 
Tennessee.  Mr.  llahs  and  his  wife  have  three 
children  living:  William  Riley,  Sarah  Jane  and 
Holly  Robert.  Mr.  and  IMrs.  llahs  are  members  of 
the  Methodist  Kjuscopal  Church,  and  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Moscow  Lodge  No.  Afu,  A.  V.  .V  A.  ]\1.,  and 
votes  the  Uei)ublican  ticket. 


\||  OSEPH  STONE,  a  prominent  farmer  of 
Pope  County,  who  has  resided  on  his  pres- 
ent two  hundred  and  sixty  acre  farm  on 
section  25,  Eddyville  Precinct,  for  the  past 
twcnl\-six  years,  was  born  in  Jolinson  County, 
111.,  in  18.)',).  His  father,  John  Stone,  removed 
from  North  Carolina  to  Kentucky  and  located  for 
a  time  in  Wayne  County,  whence  he  removed  to 
Illinois  in  l.s:i.s.  lie  and  a  brother-in-law  made 
llic  reuioval  logcllii'r  with  the  old-time  two- 
wheeled  cait  and  tar  spindle  drawn  by  a  single 
\(ike  of  oxen.  They  also  had  some  pack  horses. 
They  were  squatters  in  Illinois  for  more  than  flf- 
t.en  years,  when  Mr.  Stone  sold  his  improvements 
and  niade  others,  selling  again  for  a  small  sum. 

( lur  subject's  father  at  length  bought  forty  acres, 
for  which  he  received  a  deed,  then  laid  a  land  war- 
rant on  forty  acres, and  at  last  borrowed  *100  with 


which  he  purchased  eighty  acres,  making  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  in  all.  He  gave  one  cow  for 
the  interest  on  the  ^KW  for  twelve  months.  Still 
later  he  obtained  forty  acres  of  "IJitt  land,"  tliat  is, 
land  un<ler  the  IJitt  Act,  thus  bringing  his  farm  up 
to  two  hundred  acres.  Of  this  he  now  has  about 
one  liunilr('(l  acres  under  cultivation.  His  first 
wife,  the  mother  of  Joseph  Stone,  was  Susan 
Mouncc,  of  Kentucky,  in  which  State  they  were 
married  in  1831.  She  bore  him  foiu'  sons  and  two 
daughters,  of  whom  Joseph  was  the  third  child 
and  second  son.  One  daughter  died  in  infancy, 
the  rest  still  survive,  except  Wilford,  a  young 
man,  who  died  in  Arkansas  in  18C5.  The  mother 
of  these  children  died  in  Johnson  County  in  1849, 
in  middle  life,  and  the  father  was  married  the  sec- 
ond time,  to  Mary  A.  Jackson,  of  Tennessee.  She 
bore  him  eleven  children,  five  sons  and  six  daugh- 
ters,all  of  whom  arrived  at  adult  age  but  one.  The 
father  died  on  his  farm  in  1880,  aged  sixty-eight. 
His  widow  is  still  living  in  Pope  County,  at  the 
age  of  sixty -six. 

Joseph  Stone  was  reared  at  home  to  farm  labor 
from  early  boyhood,  and  received  but  little  educa- 
tion, and  that  little  in  the  rude  log  cabin  so  fre- 
quently described  in  these  pages.  This  jyas  in 
1844,  and  his  teacher  was  L.  William  Fern,  else- 
where referred  to  in  this  work.  Soon  after  this 
time  there  was  a  scboolhouse  with  a  plank  lloor 
instead  of  the  one  with  a  dirt  floor,  and  here  he 
learned  to  read  and  write  and  cipher.  Since  then 
he  has  so  well  api)lied  himself  to  reading  in  his 
spare  moments,  that  he  is  now  a  well-informed  man, 
I  and  has  a  good  practical  education.  In  Septem- 
ber, 18G1,  he  joined  the  Union  arm}',  becoming  a 
member  of  Company  B,  Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry.  He 
was  then  in  his  twenty-second  year.  He  served  three 
and  a  quarter  years,  and  during  the  whole  time 
was  ncv(M-  markccl  olT  duty.  In  the  battle  of 
Franklin,  Teuii..  be  recei\ed  a  gun-shot  wound  in 
the  ankle,  this  being  not  long  before  he  was  dis- 
charged. Returning  home  after  the  war,  he  was 
married  January  28,  1866,  to  Miss  Jane  Lay. 
daughter  of  Moses  and  Jane  (Reag.an)  Lay,  who 
were  from  Tennessee,  where  Miss  Lay  was  born  in 
1818.  Fpon  removing  ti)  Johnson  County,  111., 
her  father  became  a  farmer,  and  there  her  mother 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOftRArilH  Al,    i;i:VI  KW. 


587 


(iicil  ill  iiiiilillf  life,  leaving  five  sons  and  two 
daugiilors.  'I'lic  fallier  lived  man}'  years  afU'i- 
waid,  and  was  married  again,  to  a  widow  named 
Hrvant,  ncf  Hmns.  lie  died  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
two. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stone  liave  buried  one  son  and  one 
daughter:  Charles  S.  at  twelve,  and  Mary  E.  at 
seventeen.  The  children  living  are  !xs  follows: 
Frank,  who  has  a  wife  and  two  children,  and  who 
IS  a  farmer  in  the  vicinity;  John,  a  single  man  at 
home;  Ephraim,  nineteen  j'ears  old;  Jennie,  nine; 
and  Oracle,  six.  Thej' have  all  had  good  o|)i)or- 
tunities  to  secure  an  education.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Stone  settled  immediately  after  their  marriage  on 
one  iiundred  acres  of  land  which  he  liad  purchased 
during  the  war.  He  now  has  in  this  farm  two 
hundred  and  fifty-nine  acres,  and  in  Johnson 
County  he  lias  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres,  the 
old  farm  of  his  wife's  father.  Mr.  Stone  is  a 
Democrat  in  politics,  and  has  lieeu  all  his  life.  He 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  United  Baptist 
Church.  He  has  always  carried  on  general  farm- 
ing, and  raises  as  much  as  three  thousand  Ijushels 
of  corn  and  eight  hundred  and  fifty  busliels  of 
wheat.  He  also  raises  some  oats,  ha^'  and  clover 
seed.  He  realizes  more  than  man}'  farmers  do  the 
value  of  clover  to  the  soil.  He  also  raises  horses, 
cattle,  sheep  and  hogs,  and  markets  some  of  each. 
He  prefers  the  Poland-China  hogs  which  arc  of  a 
fine  registered  stock.  Mr.  Stone  is  a  successful 
farmer  and  a  highly  esleeniod  citizen. 


\vhi(li  i|ualilies  have  atoned  for  the  lack  of  seliool- 
ing.  His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Harriet 
Turner  and  is  the  daughter  of  Charles  -M.  Turner, 
of  Massac  County.  Their  marriage  was  solemnized 
February  8,  1891,  and  ha.s  been  blessed  by  the 
birth  of  one  child,  Ellie  May. 


^^w^m^^^mm^ 


i^+^e 


J|AMK>  KlCll.VKDSON,  a  farmer  residing 
u])on  township  15,  range  -I,  occupies  and 
manages  the  farm  belonging  to  his  mother- 
_  '  in-law,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  A.  Turner.  He  is  a 
young  man  of  good  habits,  industrious,  intelligent 
and  well  informed,  and  oecuiiies  a  prominent  posi- 
tion among  the  citizens  of  Metropolis.  Although 
in  his  boyhood  he  was  the  recipient  of  ver}- 
limited  educational  advantages,  he  has  always 
been   a  close    observer  an<l    a    piofouiul    thinker, 


^RJ Or.EKT  X.  S.AHTII  was  Im.iu  in  that  |i:ut  .iC 
"-^  Johnson  County  which  was  included  in 
Massac  County,  in  18il,  and  is  now  a  re- 
spected citizen  of  Metropolis,  Massac 
County.  His  father,  Elijah  Smith,  was  a  native  of 
Indiana,  and  went  to  Kentucky  in  an  early  day, 
later  locating  in  this  county*,  where  he  entered  a 
tact  of  Ciovernment  land,  u[)on  which  he  erected  a 
rude  log  house  six  miles  from  Metropolis,  in  which 
our  subject  w\as  born.  He  changed  farms  four  or 
five  different  times,  living  in  this  county  till  18().'), 
when  he  moved  to  Ottawa  County,  Kan.  There 
he  resided  for  some  time  on  a  claim,  and  then  went 
south  to  Indian  Territory,  where  he  lived  until 
his  death.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was  Miss 
Jemima  McCormick,  who  was  born  in  Kentucky,  a 
daughter  of  Hezekiah  JlcCormiek,  and  died  in 
Massac  County  in  1862. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  and  educa- 
ted in  this  county,  attending  the  district  schools, 
which  afforded  |)Oor  advantages  for  an  education, 
the  old  log  houses  which  were  devoted  to  the 
l)urpose  containing  no  conveniences  and  comforts 
whatever.  At  twenty -one  years  of  age,  Mr.  Smith 
w.as  permitted  to  teach  school,  which  occupation 
he  followed  for  seven  3'ears,  and  then  engaged  in 
farming.  In  1872  he  removed  to  Metro|)olis,  and 
a  year  later  was  elected  Police  Magistrate,  in  which 
ofUce  he  served  eight  years,  discharging  his  duties 
in  that  line  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned. 
In  1881,  he  was  appointed  Dei)nty  Clerk,  :ind  in 
1882  w.as  elected  County  Judge,  acting  in  that  ca- 
pacity four  years.  During  this  time  he  had  stud- 
ied law  and  had  practiced  several  years,  confining 
himself  [iriiicipally  to  Probate  and  Chancery  Courts, 


588 


l-OKTUAIT  AM)    r.lO(iKAIMII(AL    in;\- li;\\'. 


In  1 «()(!,  our  siil)ji'ct  was  uiiilod  in  iriaiiiiige  lo 
Nancy  (!race,  who  was  lioi'n  in  Massac  County,  in 
1811,  to  Solomon  and  May  Grace.  Mr.  Smith  is  a 
nuMnbcr  of  Metropolis  I.odjjc  Js'o.  91,  A.  F.  i^-A.  M., 
and  of  Chosen  Kricnds  Lodj'e  No.  86,  I.  O.  O.  K. 


^^nAI.VIN  a.  HII.DKHUI'X'K,  a  resident  far- 
[|(  .  mer  of  township  1  I,  range  7,  owns  and  op- 
v^^'  crates  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  ou 
section  2!)  and  is  numbered  emong  the  progressive 
farmers  of  his  community.  He  is  a  native  of 
souliiern  Illinois,  having  been  born  in  l(S(;i  u|)oii 
the  place  where  he  now  resides.  His  parents, 
Thomas  and  Melinda  Bilderbeck,  w-ere  married  in 
Tenncs-sec  about  1841,  and  thirteen  years  later 
they  removed  to  Illinois,  settling  at  Golconda. 
They  were  poor  and  made  the  journey  to  this 
State  with  an  ox-team,  a  tedious  mode  of  transpor- 
tation, but  quite  common  in  those  early  days. 

About  18ti(l  the  parents  of  our  subject  located 
on  a  farm  on  township  1 1,  range  7.  They  secured 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  and  afterward  pur- 
chased eighty  acres,  paying  $750  therefor.  The 
father  was  a  farmer  bj'  occupation,  and  was  an  in- 
dustrious, honorable  man.  His  death  occurred  about 
1871,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two.  His  widow  survived 
until  1885,  when  she  dei)artcd  this  life  at  the  age 
of  abt)ut  sixt3'-six  years.  They  hail  a  large  family, 
several  of  whom  are  deceased,  one  dying  in  infancy'. 
James  passed  away  in  Arkansas,  when  in  life's 
prime;  California,  wife  of  Jlilford  Kichardson, 
passed  from  earth  at  the  age  of  thirty  years,  leav- 
inga  daughter;  Melinda  1).,  an  accomplished  young 
lady,  died  when  only  eigliteen  years  old;  and 
AVilliam  married  and  when  thirty-seven  years  old 
was  called  hence,  leaving  a  family. 

Three  of  the  family  still  survive,  namely:  KIbert, 
who  cultivates  a  farm  adjoining  that  of  our  subject; 
Darthula,  wife  of  William  Robertson,  a  farmer  re- 
siding near  Burnside;  and  our  sul)ject,  the  young- 
est. The  last-named  was  reared  on  the  home  farm, 
and  during  his   boyhood  received  fair  educational 


advantages,  gaining  a  knowledge  of  the  "three  R's" 
in  the  distiict  school.  lJi)on  reaching  manhood, 
he  was  married,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  to  Miss 
Sarah  A.,  daughter  of  James  and  Sally  (Kwell) 
Towers,  natives  of  this  county,  where  their  daugh- 
ter was  born.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bilderbeck  have  a 
famil3'  of  six  children,  whose  names  are  Delia, 
James  L.,  Herbert,  Fred,  Bessie  May  and  John. 
The  children  are  bright  and  interesting,  and  will 
undoul)tedly  attain  to  honorable  places  in  the 
business  and  social  world  ^-ears  hence. 

As  a  farmer,  iSIr.  Bilderbeck  is  practical  and  far- 
seeing,  possessing  excellent  business  (pialities  and 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  agriculture.  He  de- 
votes his  eighty  acres  of  tillable  land  to  general 
farming  purposes  and  also  is  paying  some  attention 
to  stock-raising.  Politicallj",  he  is  a  Democrat,  and 
believes  most  heartily  in  the  adaptability  of  the 
principles  of  thatpart^'  to  the  wants  of  the  nation. 
Witii  his  wife  he  holds  membership  with  the 
United  Baptists,  and  is  a  generous  contributor  to 
religious  enterprises. 


W  EWIS  C.  (OX LEY  has  resided  on  a  fine 
I  (?^  farm  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres 
i^^^.  on  section  11  for  the  past  eighteen  years, 
and  his  estate  shows  every  indication  of  order  and 
thrift.  Upon  his  broad  acres  are  excellent  farm 
buildings,  and  this  valuable  property  is  the  direct 
result  of  the  labor  and  enterprise  of  this  excellent 
gentleman  and  his  wife.  He  was  born  in  Clinton 
Count}',  Ohio,  in  1812,  a  son  of  Anson  Conley,  a 
native  of  Erie  County,  N.  Y.,  born  in  1808,  his  fa- 
ther, Doniiny  Conley,  having  been  born  in  Ireland. 
He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  this  work 
received  his  time  and  attention  after  his  arrival  in 
America.  He  died  in  Ohio,  at  the  home  of  his  son 
Anson,  when  almost  ninety-four  years  of  age.  His 
wife  was  a  Miss  Hamilton,  a  cousin  of  Alexander 
Hamilton,  who  was  shot  by  Aaron  Burr,  and  she 
survived  him  three  mouths,  dying  at  the  age  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


589 


eighty-nine  yeai-s.  A  family  of  ten  children  was 
born  to  them,  eight  of  whom  were  sons  and  three 
•laugiiters. 

Anson  C'onley  was  nianiod  to  Melviiia  i''ilkins, 
of  (_)hio,  who  was  left  an  orphan  in  carl}'  girlhood. 
She  and  her  husband  were  farmers  of  Clinton 
County  and  other  portions  of  that  State,  but  in 
18.').')  became  residents  of  Saline  County,  111.,  re- 
moving thither  l)y  public  conveyance,  and  there 
piircliaseil  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land, 
for  the  most  of  which  he  paid  $2. .50  per  acre. 
They  resided  on  that  farm  for  three  years,  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  which  time  ^Ir.  Conley  was 
called  upon  to  mourn  the  death  of  his  wife  and  also 
that  of  a  daughter,  the  former  being  in  her  for- 
tieth year  at  the  time  of  her  demise.  She  left 
three  sons  and  three  daughters:  Silas,  the  eldest, 
died  in  Ohio,  at  the  .age  of  eighteen  years;  Lucy 
Ann  died  in  Saline  County  when  thirteen  ^-ears 
of  age;  and  Ephraim  died  iu  infancy.  Tliere  are 
but  two  living  at  the  present  time:  Lewis  C,  and 
his  youngest  sister,  Sarah,  wife  of  M.  L.  Burnett, 
who  resides  near  Vienna,  111.  Two  brothers  un- 
named died  in  infanc}'. 

Lewis  C.  Conley  was  brought  up  on  his  parents' 
farm,  and  in  his  ^-outli  h.ad  no  schooling  to  speak 
of,  as  he  was  grown  before  free  schools  were  estab- 
lished. He  remained  at  home  until  his  nineteenth 
3'ear,  after  which  his  father  gave  him  his  own  time, 
and  he  at  once  engaged  in  farm  work.  On  the 
2Ist  of  March,  1861,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Jlel- 
vina  Lightner,  of  .Saline  County,  the  daughter 
Milton  R.  and  Caroline  (Wonibel)  Lightner,  both 
natives  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  the  former  being 
of  fJerraan  descent,  and  the  latter  of  Irish  descent. 
Mr.  Lightner  died  in  Kentucky  in  185L  at  the 
age  of  thirty-two  j'cars,  and  left  his  widow    with 


in  the  Twent3'-ninth  Illinois  Infantry,  Company 
F,  and  followed  the  fortunes  of  his  regiment  for 
three  years,  after  which  he  re-enlistctl  in  the 
Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry,  Company  C,  and  was  dis- 
charged at  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  taken 
prisoner  at  Holly  Springs,  Miss.,  but  in  a  very 
short  time  was  released  by  the  termination  of  the 
war.  His  ej-es  were  greatly  injiucd  while  in  the 
service,  for  which  he  receives  a  pension.  He  and 
his  wife  have  lived  in  Illinois  the  greater  part  of 
their  married  life,  and  have  reared  three  sons  and 
four  daughters  to  maturity:  Ellsworth  McClellan, 
who  is  twenty-nine  ^ears  of  age,  and  resides  at 
home;  William  M.,  a  farmer,  with  a  wife,  son  and 
daughter;  Kann^-C,  wife  of  Andrew  Epperhcimer. 
a  farmer  of  Golconda  Precinct,  by  whom  she  has 
a  son  and  daughter;  I'lnebc,  Lily  ^I.,  .lames  L. 
and  Prudence  J.,  who  arc  at  homo. 

Mr.  Conley  is  engaged  in  general  farming,  and 
raises  the  usual  grain  and  vegeUible  [iroducts,  .as 
well  as  a  good  grade  of  animals,  having  in  his  pos- 
session a  line  horse  which  has  taken  i)reiniuins  at 
the  county  fairs  on  various  occasions.  His  colts 
are  all  promising  young  animals,  and  give  the  best 
satisfaction  when  broken,  lieing  gentle,  free  in  .ac- 
tion, strong  and  sound.  He  also  raises  cattle,  hogs 
and  sheep  for  his  own  use.  He  built  his  present 
excellent  frame  dwelling  in  188(),  and  in  the  con- 
duct of  his  place  m.ay  be  classed  as  one  of  the  stir- 
ring ami  thoroughly  neat  farmers  of  his  section. 


four    children  of   her  own,  and  a  son  of  his  by  a  ^OSEl'll   1'.  lUiOWN  ranks  among  the  piom- 

formcr    marriage,  to  care  for,   as  his  proiierty  at  I     inent  men    of    Metropolis,  Mass;ic  County, 

that  time  was  small.     .lefferson,  her  only  son,  was  j^n  I     •'""'   '*  noted    for  his   ability-,  kindness   of 

a  volunteer  in  the  Fifty -si.\th    Illinois    Infantry,  ,   *^^     heart,  and   interest  in  every  worthy  enter- 


frora  Shawncetown,  and  when  in  his  seventeeth 
year  died  of  me.asles  in  the  service.  Mrs.  Light- 
ner is  a  well-preserved  lady  of  si.xty -eight  years, 
and  is  living  in  I'ope  County  with  her  grandchil- 
dren. 

On  the  .3tliof  August,  18(jl,  .Mr.  Conley  enlisted 


l)rise.  15y  occupation  he  is  a  carpenter,  and  h.as 
ever  been  successful  and  |)ros|)erous  in  that  line. 
He  is  always  ready  to  extend  a  helping  hand  to 
those  in  need,  and  justly  stands  high  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  people. 

Mr.  Ijrowii  is  the  son    of    Aaron    lUirr    15rt)wn, 


590 


rdlMIIAir  AM)    liKKJKAlMlICAI,    KKNIKW. 


whose  father  was  an  Englislunan  ainl  c;iiiic  overto 
America  dui-inj>:  tlie  Revohitiouiiry  struggle,  join- 
ing llie  C'ontincnlals.  After  liie  war, (^I•:ln(lf!ltllCl• 
|{l•o^v^  settled  in  New  York,  where  his  son  Aniuii 
was  1)0111,  and  he  subsequently  moved  to  St.  Louis 
in  LSI  I,  where  he  purchased  a  large  interest  in  the 
lead  mines  and  lived  the  rest  of  his  life.  Aaron 
was  born  February  12,  1793,  in  New  York, 
where  he  was  reared  and  given  the  advantages  of 
a  liberal  education.  He  was  married  in  1817  to 
the  lady  of  his  choice,  Elizabeth  Wilcox,  whose 
father  was  commander  of  old  Ft.  Massac  and  moved 
to  that  fort  in  18()(;.  Mrs.  Hrown  bore  her  husband 
thirteen  children,  namely:  Isaac  Anderson,  Robert 
.lames,  Mary  C,  Angeline,  Thcrdisia  C,  .Joseph  P., 
Cleorge  Wescott,  Eliza  .lane,  Ann,  Samuel,  rhilli[), 
Danrthula  and  Fannie.  Those  living  are  Joseph,  our 
subject;  George,  of  Ohio;  Eliza,  of  Colorado;  Ann, 
of  California;  Daurtliula,  of  Chicago;  and  Fannie. 
The  mother  of  these  children  passed  away  .lanuaiy 
15, 1850, and  wasburied  in  MassacCouuty ;  the  father 
survived  two  years  and  tiied  April  2,  1858.  lie 
was  married  again,  liowcvcr,  his  second  choice  be- 
ing Mrs.  Amanda  I'adgetl,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Chapman,  and  who  became  the  mother  of  one  child, 
Aaron  Burr.     She  is  now  living  in  Chicago. 

Joseph  P.  was  the  sixth  child  in  order  of  birth 
and  was  born  in  Lawrence  Count}',  111.,  July  11, 
1829.  He  was  reared  to  farm  work  till  he  reached 
his  niiietecntli  year,  at  which  time  he  learned  the 
cariienter  trade  with  a  l)i other.  In  March,  1852, 
our  siil)ject  started  on  an  overland  trip  to  Califor- 
nia, :uiiving  there  August  7,  where  he  remained 
for  almost  two  years,  working  in  the  mines.  He 
returned  from  the  West  in  1851,  coming  to  Massac 
Count}-,  where  he  engaged  in  merchandising.  Later 
he  embarked  in  the  grocery  business,  but  not  being 
satisfied  thought  to  try  oi)cratiiig  a  wharf-boat. 
This  did  not  prove  as  iirolilable  as  he  expected,  so, 
selling  out  and  again  trying  the  dry-goods  busi- 
ness, he  tinally  decided  that  carpentering  was  cer- 
tainly his  vocation  in  life,  and  has  since  continued 
to  follow  that  pursuit. 

In  October,  185(),  Mr.  Hrowii  was  wedded  to  M. 
l{.  Uussel,  formerly  Jliss  Brooks,  who  was  born  in 
Union  County,  this  State,  where  her  parents  were 
early  settlers.     By   his   union   with  this  lady   our 


subject  became  the  father  of  three  children:  Arthur 
1$.,  who  is  in  St.  Louis;  Helen  L..  'wife  of  L.  W. 
Whitlow,  of  Henderson,  Ivy.;  ainl  I'aiinic.  deceased. 
Politically,  Mr.  Brown  is  a  Hepul)licaii  supporter 
and  has  been  since  186(1,  In  religious  afliliations, 
he  is  a  Methodist,  as  is  his  wife,  who  is  miicli 
interested  in  the  Sunday-school  work, and  has  been 
a  mcmlier  of  the  church  for  tweiit\-six  years. 


^  OSES  M.  PICKLES  was  born  in  Sainte 
Genevieve  Count}',  Mo.,  in  1854.  His  fa- 
ther, William  Pickles,  w.as  born  in  Y'ork- 
shire,  England,  in  1805.  He  married  Anna 
Ambler,  a  native  of  the  same  county  in  England 
as  himself.  They  came  to  the  ['nited  States  as 
early  as  1845.  The  father  and  husband  came  in 
1842,  leaving  his  family  in  England  until  such 
time  as  he  could  earn  and  save  up  means  to  send 
for  them.  He  sailed  from  Liver[)ool  to  New  Or- 
leans, and  came  thence  up  the  Mississippi  River  to 
Sjiarta,  111.,  and  bjing  a  machinist  by  trade  soon 
earned  the  necessary  means  to  send  for  his  family. 
He  was  a  master  mechanic  and  made  good  wages. 
His  family  joined  him  atSparta,  Randolph  County, 
111.,  after  a  tedious  passage  on  a  sailing-vessel. 

Mrs.  Pickles  brought  with  her  to  this  country 
three  children,  leaving  one  daughter  in  England 
with  her  grandmother.  Tliis  daughter,  named 
Hannah,  some  years  later  sailed  frum  England  to 
join  her  parents,  but  w.as  never  afterward  heard 
of.  The  family  made  several  iiuives  after  leaving 
Sparta,  living  in  two  counties  in  Missouri,  Saint 
Francois  and  Sainte  (ienevieve,  before  the  war. 
Having  lost  one  leg.  our  subject's  father  could  not^ 
join  the  army,  but  he  was  a  staiu  h  I'liioii  man  and 
boldly  advocateii  the  cause  of  the  Government  in 
private  and  in  public.  For  so  doing  he  was  foully 
murdered  on  Sunday  evening,  August  11,1861, 
by  a  band  of  guerrillas.  Thej'  came  to  his  home 
on  his  farm,  called  him  out  and  sht)t  him  down. 
In  November  following,  his  devoted  wife  died  of 


roRTHAir  AND  I'.IOCKAI'IIICAI,    KK\1KW. 


591 


a  broken  heart,  leaving  a  family  of  seven  children, 
of  whom  Moses  M.  is  the  youngest.  Tiiey  had 
bulled  one  infant  son  and  one  infant  daughter, 
and  had  lost  the  daughter  Ilannaii  already  men- 
tioned, and  had  at  the  time  of  tiieir  deatii  four 
sons  and  three  daughters.  They  left  a  large  es- 
tate, nine  hundred  aeres  of  laud  and  *2,IK)()  wortii 
of  personal  property,  none  of  wiiich  the  family 
ever  received,  exc'e[)t  ^1,000  due  from  a  German 
on  a  mill  purchase,  which  he  paid  after  the  war. 
The  family  was  then  scattered  and  came  to  Illi- 
nois. The  two  older  sisters  were  married,  Fannie 
becoming  the  wife  of  William  Terr^',  of  Kngland, 
and  Maria,  the  wife  of  John  IJaker,  with  whom  llie 
yiiungcr  or|»haned  children  lived.  Mr.  Baker  re- 
turned to  Missouri  to  look  after  the  estate,  and  met 
there  the  same  fate  as  had  the  father  of  his  wife, 
being  shot  on  his  horse  in  tlie  streets  of  Farming- 
ton,  Saint  Francois  County,  where  the  paients  of 
his  wife  lie  buried. 

Moses  M.  Pickles  lived  at  the  home  of  his  sister, 
Mrs.  Terry,  and  received  but  a  limited  education. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  went  out  into  tiie 
world  to  begin  life  for  himself,  with  but  little  or 
no  capital.  lie  taught  school  in  the  winter  and 
spring  and  worked  summers  as  a  farm  hand  for 
some  six  years.  He  was  married  October  16, 1881, 
to  Martha  E.  Iludgens,  of  Johnson  County,  III., 
daughter  of  John  and  Minerva  (Grisham)  Hud- 
gens,  who  came  from  Tennessee  about  1832.  The 
Iludgens  family  had  been  in  Illinois  many  3'ears. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pickles  began  married  life  at  llioir 
present  home.  He  bought  at  lirst  one  iiuiidrcd 
and  five  acres  of  land  in  188f),  and  to  his  liomeon 
this  laud  he  took  his  wife  upon  marriage.  Six 
years  later  he  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
more  for  %3,20(l,  on  which  he  now  lives  in  his  neat 
farm  cottage.  He  lias  since  then  sold  theone  hun- 
dred and  live  acres  for  which  he  paid  ^1,2(10.  lie 
has  been  a  farmer  and  teacher  ever  since  he  began 
life  for  himself,  and  he  has  made  a  success  of  lx)th. 
He  taught  his  first  school  at  |;2(l  per  month  and 
hoarded  himself,  and  since  then  his  wages  have 
advanced  to -iifiO  per  month.  He  has  two  daugh- 
ters, Klla  J.,  ten  years  of  age,  and  .lulia  Ann, 
eight,  both  bright  and  healthy  girls,  o(  whom 
their    parents   aje   justly    proud.     .Mr.    .■ind    Mrs. 

33 


Pickles  are  both  healthy  and  active  people  and 
among  the  leading  citizens  of  Johnson  County, 
and  Mrs.  Pickles  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church.  Mr.  Pickles  is  a  Republican, 
loyal  and  true  to  the  party  and  its  principles,  and 
is  one  of  the  few  men  that  use  neither  licpiors  nor 
tobacco. 


■-5— =:i=:^^ 


i>^^<l 


<|  ffclLLI  AM  P.  HRIINEP,  of  the  firm  of  IJrown 
\&j//  <^  Kruiier,  bankers  of  Metropolis,  111.,  was 
WW  born  in  Perry  County,  Pa.,  January  1, 
1820.  His  father,  Owen  Hruner,  was  born  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  father  of  Owen  Hruner  was 
a  native  of  Switzerland.  He  came  to  America  with 
his  parents,  .but  little  of  his  history  is  known  to 
the  present  generation.  Owen  Bruncr  learned  the 
trade  of  a  miller.  During  the  War  of  1812  he 
bought  a  tractof  land  which  had  upon  ita  flourmill. 
At  that  time  the  currency  of  the  country  was  very 
much  depreciated,  and  prices  were  high  in  propor- 
tion. The  panic  which  followed  the  war  ruined 
him.  ai\d  in  1822  he  removed  to  Cumberland 
County,  Pa.,  and  was  employed  in  an  iron  works 
there  until  1836,  when  he  went  to  York  County 
and  there  was  overseer  on  a  large  farm  three  )'ears. 
He  then  removed  to  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  and  acted 
as  overseer  there  ten  months,  when  he  and  his  sons 
bougiit  a  farm  near  Portsmouth  and  engaged  in 
farming.  After  working  this  farm  some  years,  he 
sold  out  and  came  to  Illinois  and  bought  a  farm 
four  miles  from  Metropolis,  ui)on  which  he  resided 
until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  eighty.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Annzell.  She  was  born  in 
I,:iiua^liT  ('(Miiity,  Pa.,  of  Irish  ancestry,  and  died 
Jn  Porl.-moulh,  Ohio,  I)cceml)er  .'!,  183'J.  She  and 
her  husband  were  the  parents  of  eleven  children, 
viz:  John  W.,  Samuel  N.,  Eliza,  Wesley,  Abram, 
William  P.,  Eucinda,  Owen,  Sophia,  Ann  and  Eli. 
William  P.  Hruner  was  two  years  old  when  his 
parents  removed  to  Cumberland  County,  and  as 
they  were  in  limited  circumstances  he  was,  when 
very  young,  compelled  to  assist  in  the  support  of 


592 


PORTKAIT  AM)  lil(  t(;KArilI(  Al,   KK\Ii:\V. 


the  family.  When  he  was  twelve  yeais  old  a  fire 
swept  over  the  mounlains  and  killed  the  timber. 
In  those  days  all  the  fuel  used  in  furnaces  was 
charcoal,  and  as  cliarcoal  could  not  be  made  from 
dead  wood  it  was  necessary  to  cut  the  limber  at 
once,  and  he  with  others  began  work  m  the  early 
spring,  receiving  thirty-three  cents  i)er  cord.  lie 
was  able  to  cut  only  one  cord  per  day.  The  older 
men  used  to  pile  their  wood  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  make  it  measure  as  much  as  possible,  but  Mr. 
Hruncr,  against  the  advice  of  the  older  hands, 
packed  his  wood  in  such  a  manner  as  to  get  as 
much  as  possible  into  a  cord.  The  consequence 
was  that  when  the  surveyor  came  round  and  saw 
how  lie  had  (liled  his  wood  he  rewarded  him  by 
allowing  him  one  cord  for  every  three-fourths  of 
a  cord,  as  it  .actually  measured.  He  finished  his 
job  of  cutting  cordwood  in  time  to  go  to  the 
harvest  field,  where  he  was  employed  to  carry 
water  to  seventy-five  men  and  women  at  work  in 
the  field.  When  he  began  this  work  another  boy 
had  been  employed,  but  he  could  not  do  the  work. 
After  a  day  or  two  young  Bruner  told  his  em- 
ployer he  could  do  the  w^ork  alone,  and  by  doing 
so  he  received  the  pay  that  both  boys  would  have 
received.  The  next  three  years  he  was  employed 
on  the  farm  at  $2.50  per  month,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  first  eight  months  he  had  saved  *12  of  the 
$20  earned.  After  the  removal  to  York  County 
he  received  $6  per  mouth.  In  1838  he  began  an 
apprenticeship  at  an  iron  forge,  and  in  1839  his 
employer  removed  to  Ohio  and  he  continued  in 
his  employ  one  year  longer  and  then  purchased 
his  time.  During  the  time  of  his  apprenticeship, 
he  had  saved  about  $90  of  his  earnings  and  that 
he  put  with  his  father's  money  to  assist  him  in 
paying  for  a  tract  of  timberland  he  had  bought 
near  Portsmouth,  Ohio. 

Our  subject  was  then  engaged  in  farming  and 
clearing  land  until  1843,  when  with  his  brother 
Samuel  he  rented  a  farm  and  a  flouring-mill  lo- 
cated on  the  Little  Scioto  River  in  Scioto  County. 
The  two  brothers  operated  the  farm  and  the  mill 
together  until  the  fall  of  1845,  when  William  P. 
came  to  Illinois.  He  came  down  the  Ohio  River 
to  Metropolis,  then  consisting  of  about  twenty 
houses.     Much  of  the  land  was  still  in  possession 


of  the  Government,  and  the  country  around  Me- 
tropolis was  sparsely  settled,  and  the  woods  were 
full  of  all  kinds  of  game  and  wild  beasts.  The 
county  had  just  been  organized,  but  it  contained 
neither  court  house,  schoolliousc  nor  church.  lie 
selected  eighty  acres  of  land  five  or  six  miles  from 
Metropolis,  bought  a  horse  for  $25,  rode  to  Shaw- 
neelown  and  entered  the  land  at  the  Government 
land  office.  He  then  commenced  cutting  down 
trees  and  splitting  rails.  When  he  came  to  have 
his  land  surveyed  he  found  that  a  man  had  built 
a  cabin  on  his  land  by  mistake.  In  building  this 
cabin  there  had  not  been  used  a  bit  of  sawed  wood 
or  a  nail.  It  was  built  of  round  logs  that  were 
scotched  inside  and  outside  after  the  building  was 
raised,  and  the  flooring  was  made  by  splitting  logs 
and  hewing  one  side  smooth.  The  roof  was  covered 
with  boards  rived  by  hand  and  held  in  place  by 
weight  poles.  The  boards  for  the  door  were  also  '^ 
rived  by  hand,  and  wooden  pins  were  used  instead  ■ 
of  nails  in  making  the  door,  and  the  chimney  was  I 
made  of  earth  and  sticks.  He  remained  here  until 
about  the  1st  of  February-,  when  the  ice  inthe  river, 
which  had  frozen  over  about  the  lime  he  went  to 
Shawneetown,  as  narrated  above,  broke  up  and  he  I 
then  returned  to  Ohio,  married  there  and  brought  fl 
his  bride  to  the  cabin  built  as  just  described,  and  ■ 
in  that  humble  home  they  began  housekeeping  in 
the  wilderness  among  strangers.  They  were  both 
of  robust  constitutions,  very  industrious  and  de- 
termined to  work  together  for  the  same  purpose, 
that  of  having  a  home.  They  brought  flour  enough 
with  them  to  last  a  year,  so  the  question  as  to  how 
thej'  were  to  be  fed  w.as  not  u|)perniost  in  their 
minds. 

Mr.  Bruner  commenced  in  earnest  to  clear  the 
farm.  The  first  year  he  did  not  lose  a  single  da3', 
and  in  addition  to  that  worked  forty  nights.  The 
result  was  ten  .acres  of  his  land  fenced,  .and  six  of 
these  ten  acres  cleared  and  cropped.  In  addition 
to  this  he  cultivated  fifteen  .acres  of  rented  land. 
Ill  the  fall  of  that  year  he  entered  another  forU-- 
acre  tract  adjoining  his  first  entry,  and  later  he 
purchased  forty  .acres  more,  making  in  all  one 
hundred  and  sixt^'  acres.  He  erected  a  neat  set  of 
farm  buildings  and  resided  there  until  1870.  when 
he  sold  out  and  removed  to  Metropolis,  where  he 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


593 


li.is  since  resided.  The  same  3'car  he  became  en- 
gaged in  the  banking  business  and  has  continued 
thus  engaged  ever  since.  lie  is  now  ranited  as 
one  of  tlie  solid  capitalists  and  financiers  of  soiilli- 
ern  Illinois. 

February  8,  IJSIG.  our  sulijoct  married  Miss  .Vn- 
geline  Grubb,  who  was  born  in  Muskingum 
County,  Oil io,  in  1 825.  Her  father,  Peter  O rubb.w.is 
born  in  Pennsylvania  and  was  of  ticrnian  ances- 
try. He  went  to  Ohio  a  30ung  man,  married  there 
and  died  in  1828.  The  maiden  name  of  Mrs. 
Bruner's  mother  was  Elizabeth  Beebc.  She  was 
born  in  New  York  and  was  tirst  married  to  a  Mr. 
Townsend  and  removed  to  Ohio  in  an  early  day. 
Mr.  Townscnd  died  a  few  3-ears  later.  The  mother 
of  Mrs.  Bruner  used  to  card  and  spin,  keep  silk 
worms  and  manufacture  silk.  She  died  in  1810. 
After  the  death  of  her  mother  Mrs.  Bruner  learned 
the  trade  of  a  tailor,  which  she  followed  until  her 
marriage.  In  1811  she  paid  her  first  visit  to  Mas- 
s;ic  Count}',  coming  down  the  Ohio  in  a  family 
boat  with  her  brothers  and  sisters.  She  spent 
nearly'  a  year  here  and  then  returned  to  Ohio.  It 
was  upon  her  advice  that  Mr.  Bruner  first  came 
here  to  seek  a  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bruner  have 
three  children  living,  viz:  Klizabetli,  wife  of  Mar- 
tin S.  Drake;  Owen  Isaiah,  and  Mariah  M.,  wife  of 
Eugene  Lafont.  Mr. and  .Mrs.  Bruner  are  devoted 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, which 
he  joined  in  184(J  and  she  in  1842.  He  has  been 
an  ollicer  in  the  church  for  fifty  years.  At  the 
time  of  the  building  of  the  first  Methodist  Episco- 
|)al  Church  edifice  in  Metropolis  he,  although  a 
member  of  another  church  near  his  home,  contrib- 
uted to  the  building  fund.  In  that  churcii  a  term 
•of  the  Circuit  Court  was  held,  at  which  time  Will- 
iam Huckleberry  wsis  tried  for  tlie  murder  of  At- 
kinson. John  A.  Logan,  William  J.Allen  and  .\.J. 
Kuykendall  were  the  lawyers  for  the  defense. 
School  was  also  taught  in  the  building.  At  the 
time  of  the  cyclone  of  1890  this  building  was  con- 
siderably damaged,  and  soon  afterward  steps  were 
taken  to  build  the  present  beautiful  edifice,  in 
which  the  congregation  now  worships.  Mr.  Bru- 
ner and  his  wife  are  liberal  contributors  and  look 
jin  active  part  in  raising  the  buiJding  fund. 

Mrs.  Bruner  joiuff)  tl|e    I.ndjes'  Sewing  Society 


upon  its  organization,  April  3,  1889,  the  object  of 
the  society  being  to  raise  funds  with  which  to  build 
the  church.  In  1890  this  society  turned  over  !}!  1,000 
into  the  fund,  and  in  1891  the  same  amount. 
Besides  this  the  society  has  paid  ^150  for  a  win- 
dow and  assisted  in  paying  for  the  furnace.  Mr. 
Bruner  has  been  very  active  in  Sunday-school 
work  and  has  served  as  Su|ierintendent  of  the 
Massac  County  Sabbath-school  Association, as  Pres- 
ident of  the  District  Sabbath-scliool  Association  and 
as  Vice-president  of  the  State  Sabbath-school  As- 
sociation. He  was  the  second  Sheriff  of  Massac 
County-  and  served  in  that  ofHce  two  terms.  Dur- 
ing his  first  term  he  collected  all  but  |!13  of  the 
tax  and  without  an^'  additional  expense  to  an}-  of 
his  constituents.  There  being  no  railroads  in 
those  da^'S  he  went  to  Springfield  to  deliver  to  the 
State  Treasurer  the  State's  portion  of  the  tax.  Mr. 
Bruner,  it  will  be  seen,  has  been  a  very  active  man 
in  many  directions,  and  he  is  still  one  of  the  fore- 
most and  best  citizens  in  the  county. 


OllN  C.  Bl'UToN.  Another  of  the  honored 
and  highly  respected  citizens  of  Metropolis, 
^^,  I  .  Massac  County,  is  the  gentleman  whose 
^^gj//  name  heads  this  biography  and  whom  we 
take  great  pleasure  in  representing  in  our  work. 
Mr.  Burttm's  father,  whose  given  name  was  also 
.lohn.  was  born  and  reared  to  manhood  in  Kent 
County,  Md.  He  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  which 
he  followed  very  successfully.  He  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Rebecca  Cannon,  also  of  Kent  County, 
who  became  the  mother  of  three  children,  namely: 
William,  John  C.  and  James,  all  deceased  Init 
John,  our  subject.  The  father  of  these  children 
died  in  Chestertown,  Md.,  about  the  ^-ear  182(),  and 
the  mother  followed  her  husband  to  her  final  rest 
about  one  year  later. 

Our  subject  was  about  ten  years  old  when  his 
father  died,  after  which  he  went  to  Millington, 
Md.,  and  lived  with  an  uncle  for  a  few  years,  that 
he   might   learn   the  cooper  trade.     Being  thrown 


594 


I'OKTKAI  r  AND    I5I()(  iKAI'IIICAI.    KI-:\IKW. 


on  his  own  resources  at  a  very  youtbful  age,  Mr. 
Hurton  was  deprived  of  the  advantages  of  an  edu- 
cation, conso(|iieut!y  he  received  Imt  a  limited 
knowledge  of  books.  lie  was,  however,  a  bright 
;uid  observing  lad,  quick  to  learn  and  of  an  indus- 
trious turn  of  mind,  so  he  ])ersevered  and  suc- 
ceeded remarkably  well.  After  learning  the  cooper 
trade  young  John  s()cnt  about  two  years  in  Wil- 
mington, Del.,  and  then  went  back  to  Millington, 
where  he  remained  but  a  short  time  and  then  went 
to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in  1812,  following  his  occupa- 
tion there  for  four  months,  lie  then  went  to  Mem- 
phis, Tenn.,  locating  near  there  temporarily,  and 
after  a  period  of  twelve  months  he  went  back  to 
Cincinnati,  and  thence  to  Lawrenceburgh,  Inci.  In 
the  last-named  place  he  remained  five  or  six  months, 
after  which  he  spent  a  brief  time  in  Rising  Sun, 
lud.,  and  then  returned  to  Cincinnati;  from  there 
lie  went  farther  south,  to  raducah,Ky.,  and  finally 
lauded  in  iMetropolis,  in  August,  184.5. 

At  the  time  our  subject  came  here  the  town 
was  a  very  small  one,  containing  but  a  few  scat- 
tered houses,  but  he  has  in  the  last  forty  years 
witnessed  a  great  transformation,  and  it  is  owing 
much  to  ISIr.  Burton's  interest  in  public  affairs  that 
Metropolis  has  developed  into  the  bustling  little 
city  that  it  now  is.  When'  the  gold  fever  was  so 
prevalent  throughout  the  United  States,  our  sub- 
ject, like  hundreds  of  others,  thought  to  try  his  for- 
tune  in  the  Western  States.  He  left  here  the  20th 
uf  March,  1819,  and  went  to  Independence,  Ind., 
where  he  stayed  until  ]May  4,  at  which  time  he 
started  overland  across  the  plains,  the  journey 
consuming  four  months  and  three  days.  Mr.  Bur- 
ton remained  in  California  for  three  years,  spend- 
ing the  first  part  of  that  time  searching  for  the 
hidden  treasure,  in  which  he  was  very  fortunate 
and  made  a  great  deal  of  monc}-.  At  the  expiia- 
lion  of  three  years  he  returned  to  Metropolis, 
having  previously  shipped  four  hundred  ounces  of 
gold  to  the  mint  at  Philadelphia  to  be  coined, and 
engaged  in  the  dry-goods  business  until  1859. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  the  fall  of  1852  to 
Miss  Rachael  Kennedy,  a  native  of  Ohio,  who  came 
to  Illinois  when  fifteen  years  old.  Mrs.  Burton 
bore  her  husband  seven  children:  Frank,  deceased; 
Robert,  the  proprietor  of  a  confectionery  store   in 


Metropolis,who  married  Alice  Kcclesand  became  the 
fatlier  of  two  children,  ChcUie  and  Roberta;  .len- 
nie.  wife  of  William  Ila^s,  a  lawyer  of  Paris, Tex.; 
William  and  Carrie,  both  deceased;  Cora,  wife  of 
.lohn  Antrim,  of  Cairo,  III.;  and  .James,  who  is  still 
at  home. 

Political!}',  our  subject  is  a  stanch  Republican, 
and  his  amiable  wife  is  a  zealous  worker  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burton  are 
well  known  in  this  community  and  have  a  host  of 
warm  friends  here. 


j^    »    ••♦ 


^  OriN  G.  ANDERSON.  For  the  past  twenty- 
seven  years  this  worthy  gentleman  has  re- 
,=>  sided  on  his  fine  farm  of  two  hundred  and 
vvS/'  forty  acres  on  section  23,  Golconda  Pre- 
cinct, and  during  that  time  his  operations  have 
been  conducted  on  scientific  princiijles  and  have 
resulted  .satisfactorily.  He  is  a  native  of  the 
county  ill  which  he  now  lives,  his  birth  occurring 
September  3,  1813,  and  during  this  time  the  people 
have  had  every  opportunity  to  judge  of  his  char- 
acter and  naught  has  ever  been  said  derogatory  to 
his  honor.  His  father,  AVilliara  Anderson,  was  a 
farmer  of  this  county,  his  birth  occurring  here  in 
1818,  he  being  a  son  of  ,Iohn  and  Eliza  (David- 
son) Anderson,  the  former  a  native  of  Pennsylva- 
nia and  the  latter  of  Indiana,  their  union  being 
celebrated  in  the  Hoosier  State.  They  came  to 
Illinois  before  any  of  their  children  were  born, and 
when  the  State  was  a  Territory,  and  here  they  had 
to  undergo  many  privations  and  hardships  before 
a  competency  was  secured.  This  worthy  pioneer 
couple  belonged  to  that  brave,  determined  band 
who  carved  out  a  home  for  themselves  and  de- 
.scendants  on  the  wild,  yet  fertile,  prairies  of  Illi- 
nois. 

.Tt)hn  Anderson,  our  suliject's  grandfather,  was  a 
brick  and  stone  mason  by  trade  and  made  this 
occupation  his  chief  life  work,  working  on  the 
first  brick  house  ever  erected  in  Golconda.  He 
was  three  times  carried  and   by  his  first  wife  be- 


fORTRAlT  AND   filOGRAPHlCAL  REVIEW. 


595 


came  the  father  of  several  children,  none  of  whom 
reached  maturity  with  the  exception  of  William 
Anderson,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  lliis  sketch, 
who  was  in  the  War  of  1812.  The  grandfather  was 
married  three  tiniesand  by  each  of  his  last  two  wives 
had  one  child.  His  second  wife  was  a  Miss  Hath- 
away, of  Indiana,  and  his  third  wife  a  Miss  Bos- 
well.  He  lived  to  bury  his  last  wife  and  himself 
died  in  18:33,  leaving  no  [)roperty.  In  his  3-outh 
and  early  manhood  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  stone 
mason,  but  did  not  follow  it  as  a  business.  He  left 
home  when  a  mere  youth,  without  means,  and  was 
compelled  to  struggle  with  adversity  for  a  long 
time  before  he  succeeded  in  gaining  a  foothold  on 
the  ladder  of  success.  William  Anderson  spent 
some  \ears  with  Dr.  Sims,  of  Golconda,  and  there 
eventually  married  Miss  Sarah  Galamore,  of  this 
county,  daughter  of  Asa  and  Rachel  (Murphy) 
Galamore,  the  former  being  a  native  of  Ohio  and 
the  latter  of  South  Carolina.  They,  too,  were 
earl3-  settlers  of  Illinois.  William  Anderson  and 
his  wife  started  on  tlicir  wedded  life  with  limited 
means  and  became  squatters  on  a  tract  of  Con- 
gressional land.  They  erected  what  would  now  be 
called  a  board  shantv,  and  while  it  was  in  process 
of  construction  by  the  groom,  the  bride  was  seated 
on  a  log  near  by  carding  wool  for  the  homespun 
linse\'-wuolsey  garments  they  wore  in  those  days. 
After  improving  this  and  another  farm  and  selling 
them,  they  made  a  permanent  location  on  four 
hundred  acres  of  land  one  mile  distant  from  tlic 
present  home  of  .lohn  G.  Anderson,  and  there 
William  Anderson  (puctly  breathed  his  last,  leav- 
ing a  fair  property  to  his  widow  and  nine  chil- 
dren, they  having  buried  one  daughter,  Mary  Ann. 
at  the  age  of  eight  years.  The  father  died  in  18G;i, 
at  the  age  of  forty-five  years,  and  the  mother  in 
August,  1888,  when  sixty-five  years  of  age. 

Their  children  were  as  follows:  Eliza,  who  dieil 
in  the  yeav  1801  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  years, 
leaving  her  husband,  Z.  1'.  Iiartholow,and  two  chil- 
dren; John  G.;  Andrew,  who  died  in  1878, at  the 
age  of  thirt^'-three  years,  having  been  a  soldier 
and  leaving  a  family;  William,  who  farms  the  old 
home  place;  Matthew,  who  tills  a  part  of  the  old 
home  farm;  .lames,  a  farmer  near  Creal  Springs; 
Frank,  a  barber  of  Duquoin,  III.;    Ellen  .1.,  wife  of 


Morgan  Downing,  who  died  in  1884  at  about  the 
age  of  twenty-seven  years,  leaving  three  children; 
and  I'riscilla,  wife  of  1.  N.  C'onley,a  farmer  of  this 
precinct,  who  has  five  children. 

John  G.  Anderson  was  the  second  child  born  to 
his  parents,  and  from  early  childhood  was  familiar 
with  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life  on  a  farm.  The 
shoes  he  wore  were  made  by  his  father  from  the 
hide  of  their  own  beef,  which  the  father  himself 
i  tanned.  His  school  days  were  very  limited,  as  his 
time  was  almost  whollj-  required  on  the  farm.  At 
the  age  of  nineteen  he  left  home,  and  on  the  8tb 
of  August,  1802,  he  enlisted  in  the  One  Hundred 
and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  but  only  served 
six  months,  ph^-sical  disability  compelling  his  re- 
tirement from  the  service.  He  was  married  August 
8,  1865,  to  Elizabeth  Gilbert,  a  sister  of  William 
H.  Gilbert,  a  sketch  of  whom  appears  in  this  work. 
They  commenced  life  together  on  a  small  farm  in 
Eddyville  Precinct,  which  was  owned  by  Mrs.  An- 
derson. In  Januar_v.  1866,  they  settled  on  their 
present  farm  of  sixty  acres,  for  which  they  paid 
$700,  at  which  time  about  thirty-five  acres  had 
been  cleared  and  a  small  and  poor  house  had  been 
erected  thereon.  Thev  have  since  added  to  this 
land  and  now  have  two  hundred  and  ninet}'  acres, 
a  large  and  modern  frame  residence,  which  was 
erected  in  1872,  and  two  good  barns,  which  were 
built  in  1880  and  1888,  respectively.  Two  hundred 
acres  are  under  cultivation  and  are  devoted  to 
general  farming.  Mr.  Anderson  has  grown  as 
high  as  nine  hundred  bushels  of  wheat  in  one 
year  and  twenty-live  hundred  bushels  of  corn. 
He  keeps  from  eight  to  ten  head  of  horses  and 
mules  for  his  own  use,  and  cattle,  Cotswold  and 
Shropshire  shee|)  and  Poland-China  lK>gs,  the  lat- 
ter sometimes  biinging  him  in  as  high  as  *800  a 
year. 

The  childri'ii  Ixiiii  to  himself  and  wife  were  as 
follows:  Sarah,  l.ily,  Andrew,  Levi,  Chester, 
Frank,  Finiey  and  .lesse  Pearl,  living,  and  Ida, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  eight  years;  Stella  at  about 
the  same  age;  Wiley  A.,  in  1888,  at  about  the  age 
of  twenty-two  years,  and  three  that  died  in  in- 
fancy, one  daughter  and  two  sons.  Mr.  Andereon 
is  a  Master  Mason, and  a  Republican  politically.  In 
1883  the  poslollice  of  Itaum  was  established  on  his 


.")9(; 


I'OKTRAIT  AM)    I'.K  K;  IJAl'llK'AL  HKVIKW. 


farm,  the  office  was  opened  by  liira,  and  he  caiiitd 
tlicinail  from  Golconda  twice  a  week  for  a  while. 
Ills  wife,  who  was  born  in  this  county  in  January, 
I  SIT),  is  a  member  of  the  Mctlioilist  Episcopal 
Cliurcli.  This  worthy  couple  reared  a  nephew  of 
Mr.  Anderson's,  William  Otis  Hartliolow,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  seventeen  j'ears.  In  addition  to  his 
farm  duties  Mr.  Anderson  opened  a  general  mer- 
cantile store  on  iiis  farm,  which  he  conducted  with 
the  aid  of  iiis  son  Wiley,  and  after  the  death  of 
the  latter  he  took  as  a  partner  William  II.  Cair,  a 
son  of  Thomas  Carr,  who  is  now  a  partner  of  the 
establishment.  The  maternal  grandfather  of  the 
suljject  of  this  sketch  was  Asa  Galamore,  a  soldier 
of  the  War  of  lHr2,who  for  his  services  was  given 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  by  the  Gov- 
L-rnnicnt. 


'^  ACOB  REBMAN,  a  resident  of  Elvira  Town- 
ship, went  into  the  army  during  the  war, 
and  won  a  good  name  as  a  loyal  and  capable 
soldier,  and  since  those  dajs  that  so  tested 
the  manhood  of  those  who  bore  the  brunt  of  bat- 
lie,  he  has  performed  good  service  in  the  interests 
of  agriculture  in  southern  Illinois  as  a  practical 
farmer,  lie  was  born  in  Rowan  County,  N.  C, 
.luly  1,  183G.  His  father,  whose  name  was  John 
I'rederick  Kebnian,  was  a  (ierman  by  birth,  and 
was  the  only  one  of  the  family  that  ever  came  to 
the  United  States.  He  came  when  he  was  a  young 
man,  was  married  in  North  Carolina,  and  after 
learning  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  followed  it  in 
that  State  until  1817.  In  that  year  he  came  to 
Illinois,  bringing  with  him  his  wife  and  five  chil- 
dren, making  the  journey'  overland  with  teams,  and 
camping  by  the  wayside  at  noon  and  night  to  rest 
and  cook  their  meals.  After  a  month  of  travel 
the  family  arrived  in  Montgomery  County,  and 
.Mr.  Rebnian  bought  a  tract  of  land  five  miles  from 
llillsboro,  upon  which  he  erected  a  dwelling  and 
other  needed  buildings,  and  worked  hard  to  de- 
velop   a    farm.     In    1859    lie  removed  to    Union 


County,  and  purchased  land  three  miles  north  of 
Joncsboro,  continuing  to  carry  on  farming,  and 
making  it  his  home  until  1861,  when  he  came  to 
Johnson  County  and  bought  land  in  I'.loomfield 
Township,  which  was  his  residence  until  he  de- 
parted this  life.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  w.as 
Margaret  Set/.er.  She  was  born  in  Rowan  County, 
N.  C,  and  died  in  Montgomery  County,  this  Slate. 
Her  father  was  John  Setzer,  a  native  of  Germany. 

J.acob  Rebman  was  ten  years  old  when  he  ac- 
companied his  parents  on  their  memorable  journey 
from  their  old  home  in  North  Carolina  to  a  new 
abode  in  the  wilds  of  Montgomery  County,  this 
State,  wliicli  was  then  but  thinly  settled,  much  of 
the  land  being  owned  by  the  Government.  There 
were  no  railways  there  for  several  j'ears,  and  St. 
Louis,  sixty-five  miles  distant,  was  the  principal 
market  and  depot  for  supplies,  and  there  the  far- 
mers sold  their  dressed  pin-k  at  the  rate  of  ^3  a 
hundred  jwunds.  Deer  and  other  kinds  of  game 
still  roamed  at  will  across  the  country. 

Our  subject  remained  with  his  parents  until  his 
marriage  in  1860,  and  then  settled  in  Bloomfield 
Township.  He  was  busily  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits  at  the  opening  of  the  war,  but  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  laid  aside  his  work  to  offer  his 
services  to  his  country',  and  September  13,  1862, 
he  became  a  member  of  Company  I,  One  Hundred 
and  Twentieth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  at  the 
front  until  after  the  rebellion  was  ended.  The 
most  important  engagements  in  which  he  took  part 
were  the  battle  of  (Uintown  and  the  siege  and  cap- 
ture of  \'icksburg.  He  was  honorably  discharged 
with  his  regiment  in  October,  1865. 

Returning  to  his  home  in  Bloomtield  Township. 
Mr.  Rebman  ijuietly  resumed  his  occupation,  and 
has  done  well,  showing  himself  to  be  an  industri- 
ous and  competent  farmer.  He  is  a  man  of  ster- 
ling merit  and  Christian  character,  and  in  him  and 
his  good  wife  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church 
has  two  of  its  most  worthy  members.  The  memory 
of  his  experiences  on  Southern  battle-fiehU  is  kept 
alive  b}'  his  connection  with  \'ienna  Post  No.  221, 
G.  A.  K. 

Mr.  Reliiiian's  first  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married 
in  1860,  was  Matilda  J.,  daughter  of  Daniel  and 
Melinda  Jenkins,  and  a  native  of  Tennessee.     She 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


597 


died  ill  1870,  leaving  six  children:  Victoria,  Ida, 
John,  Lutiier,  Maggie  and  Nellie.  Mr.  Hehnian  was 
again  married,  in  1872,  to  Margaret  A.  (Mathis) 
Shearer,  a  sister  of  H.  1).  Mathis,  of  wlioin  .see  sketch 
on  anotiier  page  of  this  vulimip.  Two  chihlren 
iiave  been  born  of  this  inarriage,  HoIxtI  and 
Grace  C. 


=^-^+^^ 


^f^^OU(;i,A.S(;.MAlM'IN,  I'nncipal  of  Schools 
at  Uclknap,  is  a  young  man  of  acknowl- 
edg(>d  talent  and  ability  as  a  teaeiicr,  and 
liy  liis  devotion  to  iii.s  profession  is 
iiilluciitial  in  raising  tiic  standard  of  education 
in  his  native  county,  tiius  conferring  upon  it  a 
lasting  benefit.  He  was  born  March  19,  18G'2,  on 
the  old  homestead  in  Cache  Township,  and  is  a 
sou  of  Naainaii  Martin,  who  was  a  pioneer  of 
that  township,  and  for  many  yeai's  one  of  its 
leading  farmers  in  the  matter  of  developing  its 
agricultural  resources. 

Naamaii  Martin  was  a  native  of  Tennessee,  born 
in  October,  ISOil.  His  father  was  Obadiah  Martin, 
who  at  an  early  day  removed  from  Tennessee  to 
Kentucky,  and  was  a  pioneer  farmer  in  l)otli  those 
States.  Naainan  Martin  had  no  cliauce  to  obt;iin 
an  education  in  the  schools  of  his  day,  whicli  were 
of  the  subscription  order,  and  his  father  was  too 
poor  to  pay  liis  tuition;  but  he  by  no  means  grew 
up  in  ignorance,  as  lie  was  a  bright  lad,  with  a 
keen  eye  and  an  impressionable  mind,  and  learned 
many  a  practical  lesson  that  was  of  value  to  him' 
in  after  life,  acquiring  a  wide  knowledge  of  men 
and  affairs  where  others  would  have  failed  to 
do  so.  He  was  early  inured  to  hard  work  on  his 
fatlier's  farm  and  to  the  hardships  and  trials  inci- 
dent to  pioneer  life.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  left 
his  father's  home  to  .seek  his  fortunes  in  the  more 
newly  settled  State  of  Illinois,  and  making  his 
way  to  what  is  now  Johnson  County',  he  at  once 
went  to  work  for  a  farmer.  He  was  absolutely 
pennilos.  but  he  was  brave  of  heart,  strong  of 
hand,  had  a  clear  brain,  and  iMisse^scd  in  a  remark- 


able degree  two  essentials  for  success  under  the 
circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed — industry 
and  economy,  lie  continued  to  work  for  small 
wages,  although  the  best  given  at  the  time,  for  a 
number  of  years,  keeping  constantlj^  in  view 
the  olijcct  of  making  a  home  and  securing  a 
competence,  so  that  when  he  desired  to  many  he 
had  saved  a  considerable  amount  of  money,  com- 
prising several  hundred  dollars  of  ready  cash.  His 
judgment  was  not  at  all  at  fault  at  this  important 
juncture  in  life,  as  subsequent  years  proved,  for  in 
the  selection  of  Temperance  Axley  for  a  wife  he 
found  a  true  helpmate  indeed.  .She  was  a  native 
of  Johnson  County,  of  which  her  ancestors  were 
very  early  settlers,  their  settlement  here  dating 
back  to  1812,  before  the  count\'  had  been  thought 
of  and  when  Illinois  was  still  a  Territory.  De- 
scending the  Ohio  in  a  dug-out,  they  landed  at 
Cache  Township,  and  found  themselves  in  a  wil- 
derness, where  the  red  men  still  reigned  .and  wild 
animals  abounded. 

After  marriage  Mr.  Martin  and  his  bride  moved 
into  a  primitive  log  cabin,  and  commenced  farm- 
ing on  rented  land.  The}-  began  in  the  humblest 
way,  and  all  their  furniture  was  plain  and  inex- 
pensive, their  table  consisting  of  a  dry-goods  box. 
For  eight  years  they  worked  hard,  and  managed 
to  lay  by  money  after  the  rent  was  paid,  and  at  the 
end  of  that  time  they  took  up  a  homestead  claim 
of  a  quarter-section  of  heavily  timbered  land  in 
Cache  Township,  built  a  log  cabin  in  the  forests, 
and  commeiice<l  the  making  of  a  home  of  their 
own  III  that  thou  sjiarsely  settled  region.  Mr. 
Martin  worked  with  unremitting  energy'  to  clear 
his  land,  burning  up  line  t.imber  to  make  room  to 
plant  his  crojis,  and  developing  a  fine  farm,  with 
good  improvements.  And  there  he  and  his  family 
continued  to  live  in  jjcace  and  comfort  for  many 
yeai-s,  although  for  a  long  time  they  were  re- 
stricted in  their  mode  of  life  by  their  pioneer  en- 
vironments, which  did  not  permit  of  many  social 
advantages,  and,  until  the  country  became  more 
thickly  populated,  there  were  no  schools  or 
churches;  but  such  a  life  had  many  compensations. 
1 11  18'i8,  at  the  persuasion  of  his  brother,  who  was 
in  Misstiuri,  Mr.  Martin  sold  his  pr»)perty  here  and, 
moving  tt)  that  State,  bought  a  good  farm  ii>  Scott 


598 


I'OK'l'liAir  AND    liloCKAlMirCAL   REVIEW. 


Couuty.  Notwitlist.'uiiliiii;  Uicy  wire  pk-asanlly 
situated  and  tlie  coiinUy  was  line,  lie  ami  his  wife 
)iiissed  the  old  associations  so  strongly  formed 
(luring  the  j^ears  of  struggle  and  saeriflce  amid 
|iioncer  scenes,  and  were  so  discontented  in  their 
new  home  they  sold  it,  and  returning  to  Johnson 
County  bought  a  fiuin  adjoining  the  old  liomc- 
-slcad.  and  happily  and  serenely  passed  their  re- 
maining days  thereon.  It  was  unimproved  when 
tliey  took  possession,  and  they  again  took  up  their 
aliode  in  n  cabin.  Mr.  Martin  renewed  liis  fight 
with  the  forces  of  nature,  cleared  liis  land,  made 
of  it  a  good  liome  and  farm,  and  had  it  well 
stocked.  Death  closed  his  labors  Octobei-  19, 
1809,  at  the  age  of  sixty  years,  and  deprived  the 
county  of  the  services  of  a  citizen  who  had  been  a 
useful  factor  in  its  upbuilding.  His  wife  passed 
away  in  1883.  The  farm  is  still  in  the  possession 
of  the  family,  being  occupied  by  the  eldest  son. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  had  sixteen  children: 
1  lOts}',  deceased ;  William,  who  was  in  the  army,  serv- 
ing as  a  member  of  Company  0,  Eleventh  Illinois 
Infantry,  and  died  for  his  countr}'  at  Memphis; 
Alexander,  who  is  engaged  in  farming  on  the  old 
home  place;  Robert,  who  was  also  a  soldier  in 
Company  G,  Eleventh  Illinois  Infantry,  during 
the  war,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Belknap;  Ovven, 
a  i)hysician  at  Belknap;  Ilenr}',  deceased;  Sarah, 
who  married  Joseph  Eddleman,  and  is  now  dead; 
Martha,  wife  of  II.  MorrcU,  of  Ft.  Smith,  Ark.; 
tieorge  Washington,  a  farmer  in  I'nion  County; 
Andrew  Jackson  and  Francis,  deceased;  Jehu,  a 
farmer  in  Belknap  Township;  Samuel  and  Nannie, 
deceased;  John,  a  farmer  in  .lohnson  County;  and 
Douglas,  of  whom  we  write. 

Douglas  Martin  attended  the  common  schools  in 
the  winter  seasons  and  worked  on  his  father's 
farm  summers  until  he  was  twenty-one,  when  his 
mother  died,  and  he  then  turned  his  attention  to 
the  more  congenial  pursuit  of  teaching,  entering 
upon  his  professional  career  at  Belknap,  and  he 
has  taught  ever  since,  except  when  attending 
school  to  perfect  himself  in  various  branches.  He 
was  especially  well  trained  for  his  vocation  in 
the  State  Normal,  at  Emporia,  Kan.,  and  at  the 
Normal  Universitj-  at  Salina,  in  the  same  State, 
two  of    the  best  institutions    in    the    West  for   the 


{'i|iii|iMi(iit  (if  teachers.  After  teaching  three  years 
in  Illinois  Mr.  Martin  went  to  Kansas,  and  taught 
the  same  length  of  time  at  Alma,  in  Wabaunsee 
County,  and  while  there  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Bertha  Lyons,  a  native  of  Kansas, 
whose  parents  were  from  l'ennsylv:inia.  Their 
pleasant  wedded  life  has  brought,  to  tlicin  one 
child,  whom  they  have  named  X'ietor  X'ivian. 

Our  subject  lived  in  Cowley  Countj',  Kan.,  for 
a  while  after  marriage,  and  also  in  Sumner  Count}-, 
where  he  taught  two  3'ears.  His  people  were  ver^- 
desirous  to  have  him  come  back  to  live  among 
them  once  more,  and  returning  to  the  familiar 
scenes  of  his  j'outh  in  Jolmson  County,  in  March, 
1892,  he  was  offered  the  I'rincipalsliip  of  the 
schools  of  Belknap,  which  he  accepted,  and  is  ably 
filling  the  oilice  to  the  manifest  advantage  of  the 
educational  interests  of  the  village.  As  an  in- 
structor he  is  second  to  none  in  the  profession  in 
the  county,  and  the  citizens  of  Belknap  have  rea- 
son to  congratulate  themselves  on  obtaining  his 
services  in  training  the  intellect  and  helping  to 
mould  the  character  of  their  children,  and  so 
fitting  them  for  the  better  performance  of  their 
duties  in  after-life.  Mr.  Martin  is  a  gentleman  of 
irreproachable  haliits,  of  a  strong  nature,  and  has  a 
broad  outlook  on  life.  He  and  his  amiable  wife 
stand  high  in  social  circles,  and  are  identified  with 
all  movements  for  the  uplifting  of  the  community. 
They  arc  active  in  chinch  matters  and  are  Sunday- 
school  woiUois,  he  lia\iiig  a  class  in  the  school  con- 
nected with  the  church  wiiich  they  attend.  In 
politics,  our  subject  is  with  the  Hepublieans. 


(^^.HOMAS  J.  UTLEV,  a  highly  respected  far- 
(fc^  nicr  of  Johnson  County,  residing  on  section 
^Vi^  1  '.I,  \'ienna  Township, was  born  in  Kentucky, 
November  8,  183(1,  the  third  child  of  Gabriel  and 
Elizabeth  (Miller)  I'tley.  His  paternal  grand- 
father was  Merrill  Utley,  who  lived  and  died  in 
Kentucky.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  native 
of  that  Stale,  and  was  brought  up  on  a  farm.     lie 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEA\'. 


59d 


was  mainly  self-educated,  as  the  schools  of  his  da_v 
wliere  he  lived  were  of  a  veiy  poor  class.  He  lost 
no  opportunity  to  acquire  book  learning,  and  by 
close  application  fitted  himself  for  a  teacher,  and 
engaged  in  that  vocation  a  number  of  terms.  He 
continued  for  ni.any  years  to  .assist  his  parents, 
working  hard  even  as  a  bo3',  and  finally  started 
out  into  the  world  to  see  something  of  life  beyond 
his  iilil  Kentucky  home,  and  went  as  far  .as  Mis- 
souri. Returning  to  his  native  State  after  that 
venture,  he  married  .ind  settled  down  there  for  a 
time. 

In  1849  Gabriel  I'tley  sought  to  improve  his 
fortunes  by  migrating  to  this  .State'  and  county, 
where  he  could  procure  cheap  .and  very  productive 
laud.  He  took  with  him  his  household  goods  in 
three  wagons,  besides  his  horses,  cattle  and  sheep, 
and  camped  and  cooked  by  the  wa\'  when  necessary- 
until  the  journey  was  completed.  He  first  located 
on  a  tpiarler  of  section  18,  ^'ienna  Township,  which 
he  purchased,  building  a  little  log  house  for  a 
dwelling.  The  country  was  but  thinly  inhabited, 
churches  and  schoolhouses  were  few  and  far  be- 
tween, and  it  was,  altogether,  a  rough,  wild  coun- 
try. Mr.  I'tley  made  the  best  of  his  position  as  a 
pioneer,  however,  and  went  to  work  witii  a  hearty 
will  to  clear  his  land  of  the  heavy  timber  standing 
on  it.  Many  fine  trees  were  thus  cut  down  and 
rolled  together  and  burned  to  get  rid  of  them,  as 
there  was  no  market  for  them.  He  pl.aced  much 
of  his  land  under  the  plow,  but  before  he  died  dis- 
jiosed  of  it  a  |)arlat  a  time.  He  passed  away  in 
188."j,  at  a  venerable  age,  leaving  behind  him  the 
record  of  a  hard-working  pioneer,  who  did  his  full 
sliare  in  developing  the  county.  His  wife  had 
preceded  him  in  death  eight  years  before,  and 
they  lie  si<le  by  side  in  Holt  Cemetery. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gabriel  I'tley  were  the  parents  of 
eleven  children:  one  that  died  in  infancy;  Carrol 
I).,  deceased;  Tliom:is  J.;  Frances,  wife  of  Hai-ris 
Harrick,  who  lives  near  \'ienna;  AVilliam  Wash- 
ington, who  is  dead;  a  child  that  died  in  infancy; 
James  H.,  a  resident  of  Hclknap;  Martin  1).  and 
one  other  deceased;  Sarah  H.,  wife  of  Henry  Huc- 
kleberry,a  farmer  of  l-lh  ira  Township;  and  llphraiin 
M..  who  is  dead. 

Thom.as  I  lley  was  a  lad  of  ten  years  when   his 


parents  brought  him  to  their  new  home  in  the  for- 
est wilds  of  this  county.  He  made  good  u.se  of 
his  infretpient  chances  to  attend  the  subscription 
schools  of  his  day,  which  were  taught  in  log  houses, 
that  were  roughl3^  built,  were  heated  by  large  fire- 
pl.aces,  wdiich  b)-no  means  warmed  the  room  evenly, 
those  nearest  being  too  hot  and  those  furthest 
away  loo  cold,  and  the  only  w.av  of  lighting  the 
building  w.as  through  a  hole  made  by  the  removal 
of  a  log,  a  board  being  arranged  outside  to  drop 
over  it  when  it  was  storm}-. 

In  November,  1857,  our  subject,  who  then  at- 
tained his  m.ajority,  left  the  old  home  to  try  life 
for  himself.  He  went  a  distance  of  ten  miles  and 
hired  out  to  a  farmer  named  Frank  AVhiteniore,  for 
^lU  a  month.  His  work  w.as  to  clear  ground  for 
cultivation,  an  occupation  with  which  he  was  verv 
familiar  from  past  experience.  He  remained  thus 
engaged  until  the  following  spring,  when  he  re- 
turned home  and  worked  some  for  his  father  and 
farmed  with  him  on  shares.  Wishing  to  have  a 
home  of  his  own,  he  took  unto  himself  a  wife  to 
preside  over  it  in  the  person  of  Miss  Rachel  A. 
Wile}-,  from  Ohio.  She  faithfylly  shared  with  him 
his  joys  and  sorrows  until  her  removal  by  death, 
Februarj-  12,  1892.  Their  happy  union  had  been 
blessed  to  them  by  the  liirth  of  eleven  children, 
namely:  Hannah  E.,  wife  of  T.  N.  Foreman,  of  Hel- 
knap;  William  C,  a  farmer  in  A'ienn.a  Township; 
Pembroke  D.,  a  resident  of  Johnson  County;  Jane 
Eliza,  who  lives  with  asister  in  this  county;  Thomas 
M.,  deceased;  Edgar  H.,  dece.-ised;  Benjamin  F.,  at 
home;  Arthur  JI.,  deceased;  Anna  May,  at  hume; 
Luetta  15.,  decea.sed;  and  .Sidney  N.,  at  home.  Our 
subject  was  married  to  his  present  estimable  wife, 
formerly  Elizabeth  C.  Emerson,  October  2(1,  1892. 
She  is  a  native  of  I'nion  County,  of  which  her 
parents,  who  came  from  North  Carolina,  were  very 
earl}-  settlers,  going  there  in  1822,  when  there 
were  but  few  [leople  there.  Her  mother  died  in 
Crawford  County,  and  her  father  in  Montana. 

Mr.  I'tley  was  actively  engaged  in  farming  un- 
til 18G2,  when  he  laid  .aside  his  work  to  answer  his 
country's  call  for  loyal  soldiers,  enlisting  in  C(un- 
p:iiiy  1,  One  Hundred  ami  Twentieth  Illinois  In- 
fantry. He  did  his  duty  manfully  at  the  front, and 
withstood  as  long  as  possible  the  sickness,  brought 


rolM'RAIT  AM)    r.IOCHAlMIlCAL    HKVIKW. 


on  by  exposure  and  liardship,  that  was  sapping  his 
life  away,  and  at  tho  end  of  six  montlis'  service,  lie 
was  disdiargod,  iuving  refused  to  go  to  tiie  hospi- 
tal. Returning  liome  in  the  spring  of  1!^6.'5,  as 
soon  as  he  was  able  he  resumed  his  old  occupation, 
renting  some  land  for  agricultural  purposes  in  the 
neighborhood  of  his  present  place  of  residence.  He 
subsequently  bought  a  farm  near  by,  improved  it, 
and  selling  it  in  1881  at  a  good  price,  purchased 
the  farm  that  he  now  owns  and  occupies.  This 
was  improved  when  he  bouglit  it,  and  he  keeps  it 
in  good  order,  and  has  a  valuabh'  property  in  its 
well-tilled  fields. 

Our  subject  is  a  Ciuistian  gentleman,  whose  life 
is  guided  by  high  jjrinciples,  and  tiie  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church,  to  which  he  has  belonged 
since  the  summer  of  1859,  finds  in  him  a  devoted 
member,  and  his  wife  is  also  a  communicant  of 
that  church.  He  is  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday- 
school  and  takes  great  interest  in  its  progress,  lie 
is  likewise  prominent  in  local  educational  affairs, 
and  holds  a  position  on  the  IJoard  of  School  Direc- 
tors of  the  townshi|)  the  most  the  time.  He  is  a 
man  well  known  in  the  county,  and  his  many  good 
traits  have  won  him  many  warm  friends. 


■^^•r 


<^- 


'ji?  EYI  LAY,  a  veteran  of  the  late  war,  and 
ll  (©  *""*  "'"^  ""*  '"  active  service,  owns  a 
JL-^^  well-improved  farm  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  which  is  situated  in  township  12, 
range  ;'),  Pope  County,  on  section  7.  Mr.  La^'  was 
born  in  Smith  Count}',  Tenn.,  in  1833,  his  father, 
Moses  l^ay.  being  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  a 
farmer.  The  latter  married  Jane  Reagan,  of  Ten- 
nessee, who  bore  him  four  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, our  subject  being  the  second  in  order  of 
birth.  In  the  fall  of  1817  the  family  went  to  John- 
son County,  1 11.,  making  the  trip  in  two  large  cov- 
ered wagons,  one  of  wliich  was  drawn  by  horses 
and  the  other  by  a  yoke  of  oxen.  Tliey  had  sold 
their  small  farm  in  Tennessee  and  brought  a  few 
household  effects,  saddlehorses  and  a  cow. 


On  their  arrival  in  Illinois  the  parents  pur- 
chased a  settler's  improvement  for  iKiO,  paying 
for  it  with  the  oxen  and  one  wagon.  This  eighty- 
acre  tract  was  Congress  land,  which  he  purchased 
at  11.25  per  acre,  and  he  later  added  to  this  forty 
acres,  bringing  the  whole  under  gf>od  cultivation. 
The  mother  w.as  called  to  her  final  rest  while  still  in 
the  prime  of  life,  leaving  four  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters. Her  family  had  been  ,as  follows:  Ephraim  F., 
who  died  in  this  county  aged  fifty-five,  leaving 
two  sons  and  two  daughters;  Levi,  our  subject, 
the  ne.xt  in  order  of  birth;  Fountain  M.,wlio  died  in 
Arkans.as  in  1875,  leaving  three  daughters;  Mary, 
now  deceased,  the  wife  of  Henderson  Jackson; 
.lane,  the  wife  of  Jose|)h  Stone;  Frank,  who  is  now 
^engaged  in  farming  in  Colorado;  and  George,  who 
died  in  cliildiiood.  The  father  was  again  married, 
and  of  his  second  union  were  horn  three  sons  and 
three  daughters.  He  died  in  1871,  aged  about  sixty 
years. 

Our  sul)ject  was  reared  on  his  father's  faim 
and  inured  to  hard  labor  from  earl}'  boyhood.  He 
assisted  great I3'  in  clearing  the  farm,  and  remained 
with  his  father  until  arriving  at  mature  years. 
Leaving  home  at  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he 
rented  land,  which  he  farmed  for  one  season,  and 
was  married  in  the  fall  of  1859  to  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Elijah  Reeves,  of  Kentucky.  Seven 
months  after  her  marriage  she  departed  this  life, 
and  on  the  17th  of  February,  1861,  Mr.  Lay  was 
married  to  Miss  Nancj'  Morray,  of  Williamson 
County,  111.  She,  too,  was  called  to  her  final  rest 
May  22,  1871,  aged  only  twenty-five  years.  She 
left  three  sons  and  two  daughters  to  mourn  her 
loss,  viz:  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Richard  Jackson,  a 
farmer  of  Johnson  County;  Mary,  who  became 
the  wife  of  William  Grissom  and  is  the  mother  of 
four  children,  her  husband  carrying  on  a  farm  in 
this  neighborhood;  Sherman,  who  carries  on  a 
farm  near  Glendale,  and  is  married  and  has  two 
sons;  Robert,  who  is  single  and  owns  a  farm  near 
his  father's;  and  William,  who  is  now  in  Indian 
Territor>'. 

In  the  fall  of  1861  Mr.  Lay  and  his  brother 
Fountain  enlisted  in  the  army,  our  subject  as  a 
private  and  his  brother  as  First  Sergeant  in  Com- 
pany  B,  Sixth    Illinois  Cavalr}'.     They    left    for 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEAW 


601 


the  front  on  Septeuiljer  10,  Mr.  l>ay  returning  to 
his  home  on  Christmas  Dixy  of  1H(!1.  With  the 
exception  of  four  montiis,  when  he  was  off  duty 
on  account  of  sickness,  lie  wjis  with  his  company 
all  this  time,  and  with  them  had  some  stern  and 
rough  experiences  of  war.  He  was  in  tlie  battle 
at  Mempiiis  (Tenn.),  Holly  Spring  (Miss.),  in  the 
Guntown  fight  at  Wyatt  (Miss.),  and  at  Collier- 
ville  (Tenn.).  During  these  numerous  hattles  lie 
escaped  from  serious  injury,  but  had  many  .i' 
narrow  escape.  At  one  time  he  had  his  horse  shot 
from  under  him  while  at  INIo.scow,  Tenn.,  and  at 
another  time  a  bullet  grazed  his  neck  in  danger- 
ous proximity  to  the  jugular  vein.  On  account  of 
rheumatism,  caused  by  exposure  to  all  kinds  of 
weather,  he  did  not  re-enlist  when  iiis  term  had 
expired,  but  retiu-ned  to  his  farm.  Ilis  brother 
was  wounded  in  the  hip  near  Murphysboro,  and 
was  a  prisoner  for  about  a  month,  when  he  suc- 
ceeded in  making  his  escape  and  getting  back  to 
ilis  regiment. 

.Mr.  Lay  was  married  to  liis  present  wife,  Mrs. 
Rlioda  IJorex,  on  her  thirtieth  birthd.ay  anni- 
versary, December  2.'),  1873.  Mrs.  L.iy  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  AVilliam  Watters,  and  is  a  native  of  Pope 
County.  Our  worthy  subject  and  wife  have  one 
son  and  throe  daughters,  viz:  Ida, aged  seventeen; 
Kf lie,  fourteen;  Arthur,  twelve;  and  Rosa,  seven. 
Mrs.  La^'s  first  husl)and,  James  Horex,  wasa  mem- 
ber of  Company  A,  Sixtcentli  Illinois  Infantry,  in 
which  he  enlisted  .as  a  private  soldier,  and  rose  to 
the  rank  of  Kiist  Lieutenant.  He  served  through 
the  war  and  diecl  in  l.sCC),  while  still  young  in 
years. 

Our  subject  h.is  always  engaged  in  general  farm- 
ing, and  the  present  secure  income  which  is  now 
his  is  entirely  due  to  his  own  efforts  and  industry. 
When  he  first  started  in  agriculture  he  commenced 
growing  corn  and  tobacco  extensively-.  He  culti- 
tivates  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  his  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acre  farm,  growing  from  seven 
hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  bushels  of  corn,  and 
from  three  to  four  hundre<l  bushels  of  wheat  an- 
nually. He  keeps  a  few  cattle,  raises  Poland- 
China  hogs,  and  owns  a  fine  large  Hock  of  Cots- 
wold  and  Southdown  sheep.  Of  late  years  Mr. 
Lay   is   making  a  specialty  of  raising   gooil  diaft 


horses,  and  has  several  fine  thoroughbreds.  He 
erected  a  commodious  barn,  and  in  1888  remod- 
eled his  house,  the  main  portion  of  which  is  42x18 
feet  in  dimensions,  and  having  an  L  14x20  feet. 
Everything  about  the  pl.ice  bespeaks  the  care  of  a 
thrifty  owner,  and  is  but  another  proof  of  the 
practical  and  eritcrprising  farmer  that  our  subject 
h.as  become. 


=^RANCI.S  M.  HANDOLl'H.  Initiated  into 
the  mysteries  of  farming  almost  from  in- 
fancy, it  is  perhaps  not  to  bp  wondered  at 
that  to  this  occupation  our  subject's  attention  has 
been  given  during  the  working  period  of  his  life, 
and  that  it  is  still  his  c-hief  means  of  subsistence.  The 
estate  over  which  he  presides  is  one  of  the  neatest 
in  his  precinct,  and  is  well  adapted  to  the  raising 
of  either  grain  or  stock,  to  both  of  which  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph wisely  gives  his  attention.  He  was  born  in 
Middle  Tennessee,  January  IG,  18;58,  but  his  father, 
John  Randolph,  was  a  North  Carolinian,  his  birth 
occurring  in  the  old  Xortli  State  in  1T9C.  He 
w!is  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  Ann 
Reevis,  of  the  same  Slate  as  himself,  and  together 
thej-  moved  to  Tennessee  at  a  very  early  day, 
when  hostile  Indians  were  numerous,  and  when 
prowling  wild  animals  thickly  inhabited  the  region. 
They  bravely  f.iced  those  dangers  and  the  hard- 
ships which  they  knew  were  to  be  their  lot  in  a  new 
country,  but  they  were  ambitious  to  become  the 
owners  of  a  home  of  their  own,  and  courageouslv 
faced,  and  in  time  surmounted,  the  many  dillicul- 
ties  that  strewed  their  pathw.ay.  They  made  their 
home  in  Tennessee  until  18IG,  when  they  came  to 
Pope  County,  III.,  with  their  six  children,  two 
daughters  and  four  sons,  the  most  of  the  journey 
being  made  !)}■  water,  and  made  a  settlement  on 
Lusk  Creek,  near  the  Jim  Gilbert  farm.  After 
renting  for  .about  two  years  they  bought  the  prop- 
erty, and  here  the  father  died  in  184 !t,  at  about  the 
age  of  lifty-three  years,  his  widow  aflei  ward  marrv- 


t;02 


roUl'KAir  AM)   r.l()(;KAlMlK'AL  RKVIKW. 


iiig  Cannon  Reid.  She  died  in  1883,  aged  about 
I'iglity-tliree  yeai'S.  having  buried  nine  children 
:ind  left  five  living:  Rial  M.,now  a  farmer  of  Polk 
Precinct,  Pope  County;  Nathaniel  E.,  a  farmer  of 
( idk-omla  Precinct;  Sophia  C,  widow  of  James 
liohlis,  who  resides  in  tiolconda;  Frances  E.,  who 
was  the  wife  of  Benjamin  Carrier,  and  died  in 
Stone  Fort  Precinct  in  ISi)l;  and  Francis  JI.,  the 
:~ul)ject  of  this  sketch. 

When  but  five  years  old  the  last-mentioned 
child  was  taught  to  ride  a  horse  in  the  cornfield 
and  also  to  pull  weeds,  but  he  was  fortunately 
given  the  advantages  of  the  common  schools  and 
l)ecanio  a  well-informed,  energetic  and  wide-awake 
\oung  man.  On  the  3()th  of  Maj',  1850,  when  a 
little  over  eighteen  years  of  age,  he  was  married 
to  Elizabeth  Reed,  who  was  four  years  his  senior, 
and  they  began  .life  together  on  a  rented  farm. 
After  laboring  thus  for  about  nine  years,  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph, in  IHfi;'),  purchased  his  first  piece  of  land, 
wliich  lies  near  his  priwent  jiroperty,  consisting  of 
eighty  acres,  but  in  1877  settled  on  the  farm  on 
which  he  now  resides,  and  which  comprises  one 
hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  fertile  farming  land, 
(in  which  is  a  substantial  and  i)leasant  farm  resi- 
dence, good  barns  and  well-kept  outbuildings  of 
various  kinds.  Mr.  Randolph  has  given  to  each 
of  his  three  children  eighty  acres  of  land,  or  its 
e(iuivalent.  He  and  his  wife  have  buried  an  in- 
fant daughter,  and  now  have  two  sons  and  a 
daughter  living.  George  IT.,  who  resides  on  a  farm 
near  his  parents,  is  married  and  has  two  sons  and 
one  daugliter;  Artimissa  is  the  wife  of  Marshall 
1!.  ,Ieid<ins,  who  has  a  faiin  adjoining  George  II. 
Kandol|ili's  and  is  tlie  niotiier  of  tw<i  sons  and  one 
daui^htei-;  and  .lolin  F..  who  also  lives  on  a  farm 
near  his  parents,  is  niai  ried  and  has  two  daughters 
and  one  sou. 

Mr.  Randolph  was  ord.ained  a  deacon  of  the 
Methodist  l'",piscopal  Cluucli  at  Edwardsville,  III., 
in  \XXC>,  bv  l>i^llop  Nindc,  .-ind  was  ordained  a 
local  elder  by  Hishop  Merrill,  at  Carbondale,  111., in 
September,  1890.  As  a  minister  of  the  Gosjiel  he 
has  been  a  worthy  and  active  laborer  in  the  vine- 
vard  of  his  Master,  and  his  example  of  true  [)iety 
has  been  of  great  beuelU,  not  only  to  his  children, 
but  also  to  all    with    whom  he  has  come  in  contact. 


On  the  lOtb  of  August,  1861,  he  volunteered  in 
the  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  Compan3'  D,  the 
well-known  John  A.  Logan  regiment,  his  Captain 
being  Thomas  J.  Cain.  He  was  in  the  service  a 
little  less  than  one  year,  and  after  a  severe  attack 
of  pneumonia  he  was  discharged  as  unfit  for  fur- 
ther service  in  the  field,  and  with  objection  to  his 
re-enlistment.  lie  was  in  the  lieat  of  battle  at 
lielmont.  Mo.,  and  although  many  of  his  com- 
rades were  falling  killed  and  wounded  around  him, 
he  remained  uninjured.  Mr.  Randolph  is  well 
known  in  the  section  in  which  he  resides,  and  his 
correct  mode  of  living  has  been  the  means  of  ob- 
tainini!  him  a  wi<le  circle  of  friends. 


■flfoSEPll  II.  lU'CIIANAN,  who  resides  on  a 
fine  farm  of  two  hundred  acres  on  section  14, 
Monroe  Precinct,  is  one  of  the  many  whose 
efforts  have  made  his  localitj'  so  distinctly 
productive  and  beautiful.  He  was  born  in  Dade 
County,  Ga.,  in  1816,  of  which  State  his  par- 
ents, William  and  Esther  (Morris)  Buchanan,  were 
also  natives,  their  marriage  taking  place  Septem- 
ber 4,  1823.  The  paternal  grandfather,  Joseph 
Buchanan,  was  born  in  Ireland  and  was  one  of  the 
patriots  of  the  Revolution  and  a  man  of  great 
force  of  character,  well  noted  for  his  sterling  hon- 
est}' and  upright  principles.  To  William  and 
Esther  Buchanan  a  famil}-  of  thirteen  children 
were  born,  all  of  whom  reached  maturity,  with  the 
exception  of  an  infant  daughter,  Martha.  In  the 
fall  of  1860  these  worthy  people  came  to  Illinois, 
having  alternately  lived  in  Alabama,  Georgia  and 
Tennessee,  and  of  their  children  only  three  sons  and 
three  daughters  came  with  them,  the  rest  having 
married  and  settled  in  homes  of  their  own.  They 
came  in  the  old-fashioned  covered  wagon,  drawn 
1)3'  oxen,  and  were  in  humble  circumstances.  They 
first  settled  on  rented  land  in  Cnion  County,  but 
in  1S(;(1  moved  to  Saline  County,  where  Mr.  Bn- 
chaiiim  lived  until  istiti.  his  wife  having  died  De- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIKW. 


G03 


lenilier  30,  18(!5,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two  years. 
The  family  tiieii  becamu  scattered,  and  later  Mr. 
l»iichaiian  died  at  the  home  of  his  daughter  Har- 
riet, wife  of  f^lijah  .Jackson,  of  this  county,  .Jan- 
uary 23.  l.sTO,  aged  si.xt^'-eiglit  years. 

.Joseph  II.  ]5uclianan  h.as  three  sisters  an<l  one 
lirother  living.  Ann,  the  widow  of  Henjamin 
Smith,  who  resides  near  Cobden ;  Caroline,  the  wife 
of  W^-att  Daniel,  a  farmer  of  the  county;  Harriet, 
above  menticmed;  and  William,  a  farmer  of  the 
county.  .Joseph  II.  was  the  youngest  child  horn 
to  his  parents  and  remained  at  home  until  after 
the  death  of  his  mother,  working  on  the  farm  by 
the  month,  and  did  not  receive  a  da^^'s  schooling  in 
his  youth.  February  21,  1870,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Mary  .Jane  Fulkerson,  a  daughter 
of  Richard  Fulkerson,  but  her  death  occurred  in 
1880.  at  about  the  age  of  thirty  years,  she  leaving 
him  with  four  children  to  care  for:  James  M.  (a 
young  farmer  of  this  county),  Charles,  William 
K.  and  Samuel  T.  Another  son  died  in  infancy. 
.July  '.t,  1881,  Mr.  Buchanan  was  again  married, 
Miss  Mary  L.,  a  daughter  of  .Jordan  Story,  l)ecom- 
ing  his  wife.  To  them  the  following  children 
were  given:  Walter  A.,  deceased:  John  II.,  .aged 
nine  years;  Lily,  seven;  I-oren,  five;  IJcrtha  May, 
four;  Ulius,  two;  and  an  infant  son,  Lewis  J. 
Walter  A.  died  August  G,  1889,  aged  seven  years, 
and  Julius  5L,  a  twin  brother  of  I'lius,  died  at  the 
.age  of  seven  months. 

Mr.  Buchanan  became  the  owner  of  his  first  farm, 
near  Ktldy  ville,  wliich  consisted  of  eiglity  acres,  in 
1871,  but  sold  it  in  1876  and  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres,  on  which  some  improve- 
ments had  been  made,  and  erected  thereon  his 
present  large  frame  house,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  conifortiible  and  convenient  of  the  houses  in 
that  section,  although  a  portion  of  it  is  the  old 
liewed-log  liouse  that  was  st:indiiig  on  the  place 
when  he  purch.ascd  it,  weather-boarded  and  ceiled. 
Mr.  Buchanan  is  engaged  in  general  farming, 
raising  the  usual  grain  products,  his  yield  of  corn 
this  year  being  thirty  bushels  to  the  acre,  and 
amounting  in  all  to  fourteen  iiundred  bushels.  He 
has  also  grown  as  high  as  six  hundred  bushels  of 
wheat,  which  averaged  from  twelve  to  sixteen 
bushels  to  the  acre,    lie  uses  both  lioises  and  oxen 


in  tilling  his  farm  and  raises  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs 
for  the  market,  and  keeps  constantly  in  use  from 
four  to  seven  horses.  He  has  always  been  a  Dem- 
ocrat, politically,  anci  for  a  number  of  years  past 
has  kept  the  laith  in  the  I'.aptist  Church. 


lY.'OHN  KCCLKS,  a  leading  and  progre.-isi ve 
general  fanner  and  prosperous  stock-raiser 
of  Massac  Count}-,  111.,  is  locateil  upin 
section  19,  townshii)  1.5,  range  I,  wiiere  for 
many  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  .agricultural 
pursuits,  and  has  brought  an  extended  .acreage  up 
to  a  fine  state  of  cultivation,  annually  yielding  to 
the  tiller  of  the  soil  a  most  bounteous  harvest  and 
rich  returns  for  time  and  labor  expended  upon 
the  fertile  land.  Oursuljject  was  born  in  Lancashire, 
England,  December  26,  1830,  and  was  the  son 
of  Thom.as  Eccles,  a  native  of  Lancashire  and  a 
carpenter  b^-  trade,  who  early  in  life  married  Miss 
Nancy  Ainsvvorth,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Thom.as 
Ainsworth,  a  neighboring  farmer.  The  father  had 
received  only  a  limited  education,  but  was  an 
able  and  intelligent  man.  He  died  in  England  in 
18.09,  but  his  good  wife  survived  him  many  years, 
passing  away  in  ISTI.  They  were  the  parents  of 
nine  children,  of  wliom  the  eldest  w.as  John,  our 
subject;  Bcttie  is  living  in  England;  Thomsis  re- 
sides in  Jacksonville,  111.;  Michael  was  the  fourth 
in  order  of  l)irth;  Alice  is  dead;  Lettie  makes  her 
home  in  England;  David  patriotically  entered  the 
army,  and  died  in  Camp  Butler,  near  Springfield; 
Sarah  .Jane  lives  in  England;  and  Samuel  reside.-; 
in  Scotland. 

Our  subject  began  the  hard  work  of  life  at  the 
tender  age  of  nine  years,  then  receiving  employ- 
ment in  a  woolen  factory,  where  his  hours  of  la- 
bor extended  from  ,5:30  a.  .m.  to  7:30  i-.  m.,  a 
continuous  period  of  fourteen  hours  of  fatiguing 
service.  For  four  years  the  little  fellow  uncom- 
plainingly thus  earned  his  daily  bread,  butat  thir- 
teen yeai-s  of  age    he  received   promotion  and  an 


604 


I'OlJllJAir    AM)    liKMiK AI'IIICAI.   l!K\li;W. 


easier  position.  His  opportunities  for  gaining  an 
education  were  necess-arily  limited,  hul  .lulm  Kc- 
cU's  had  a  thirst  furknowie(lg:e,  and  wvU  ini|)i()vod 
iii.s  leisure  moments.  Arriving  at  manhood  a  self- 
reliant  and  energetic  man,  he  desired  a  home  of 
his  own,  and  upon  Fel)ruarv  8,  1H,")."5,  was  nianied 
to  Miss  Saraii  Ann  llolden,  tlic  fourth  child  of 
William  llolden,  and  the  only  one  of  her  father's 
family  who  came  to  Aiiiciica.  Ilcr  parents,  who 
■were  most  worthy  jjeople,  and  highly  respected, 
long  since  passed  awa\'.  Mr.  Eccles  was  vai-iously 
employed  in  the  Lancashire  factory  until  lliirty- 
two  years  of  age,  when,  desiring  to  hotter  himself, 
after  much  earnest  thought  he  finally  decided  to 
try  liis  fortunes  in  the  United  States.  Taking  pas- 
sage with  his  family  upon  the  steamship  "Iliber- 
nia,"  he  was,  after  a  short  voyage  of  thirteen  da3's, 
safel}'  landed  at  Portland,  Me.  Although  a  piu- 
dent  man,  Mr.  Kccles  had  been  able  to  sa\e  little 
money,  and  was  the  possessor  of  but  ^500  when  he 
made  America  his  home.  To  obtain  and  own  land 
which  he  might  prolitalil\  cultivate  was  his  ardent 
desire  and  |)urposc. 

In  a  comparatively  brief  time  the  family  were 
on  their  way  to  the  West,  and  locating  in  Illinois, 
settled  in  Massac  County  upon  a  forty-acre  tract 
of  land  in  the  woods  which  our  subject  had  bought. 
Mr.  Kccles  knew  absolutely  nothing  about  farming 
and  had  never  cho[)ped  even  a  stick  of  wood  or 
seen  growing  wheat  or  corn.  With  the  courage  of 
determined  resolution  he  set  to  work,  and  first 
built  a  log  house,  afterward  entering  into  all  the 
trials  and  didiculties  of  pioneer  life,  but  with  a 
stout  heart  and  ready  hands  overcame  difficulties 
and  won  ultimate  success.  It  was  at  first,  however, 
a  somewhat  desperate  struggle,  and  before  long  it 
was  painfully  evident  that  there  was  but  little 
money  remaining  in  the  treasury  and  that,although 
they  had  a  house  and  acres  the  land  must  be 
cleared  and  many  expenses  incurred  before  there 
could  be  any  income  from  the  farm. 

Nothing  daunted,  our  subject  looked  about  him, 
and  after  some  investigation  discovered  that  there 
was  a  shipyard  in  JNIassac  City,  some  six  miles 
distant  from  his  home,  where  he  might  lind  work. 
Securing  the  needed  employment,  he  bravely 
walked  to  and  from  his  work,  for  which  he  received 


fair  wages,  which  ciiabliil  him  to  hire  men  to  clear 
his  land  and  thus  facilitate  matters  in  that  direc- 
tion. Finding  that  he  could  earn  sufficient  to  keep 
his  family  and  retain  a  good  farm  laborer,  he  de- 
cided to  continue  in  his  position  in  the  shipyard. 
His  original  farm  cleared  and  improved,  Mr.  Kc- 
cles added  forty  acres  more  to  the  old  homestead, 
which  is  now  a  most  desirable  and  valuable  piece 
of  property'.  Meantime,  in  these  past  years  our 
subject  h,as  become  an  adept  in  farming  duties  and 
is  thoroughly  at  home  in  the  tilling  of  the  soil. 

Kight  childien  gathered  in  the  home  in  the 
woods,  and  those  surviving  occu|)y  positions  of 
usefulness  and  influence.  Rachael  Allen,  born 
September  23,  IS.'iS,  died  November  8,  1853,  in 
Kngland;  Nancy  Alice,  born  in  England  August 
22,  185t,  is  now  the  wife  of  Robert  K.  Burden,  of 
Metroi)0lis;  William  Thomas,  born  in  Kngland 
April  I  f,  1857,  is  now  a  resident  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.; 
Margaret  Klizabeth,  born  December  31,  1859,  in 
Kngland,  is  the  wife  of  ('.  L.  Lord,  of  Pomona, 
Cal.;  .lohn  Mitchell,  born  in  Massac  County  June 
11.  18(;3,  graduated  at  C'arbondale,  and  now  re- 
sides in  Pomona,  Cal.;  Mary  Kllen,  born  December 
4,  1865,  died  February  21,  18(58,  in  I\Iassac  County; 
Timothy  II.,  born  January  27,  1809,  is  b.aggage 
master  on  the  Short  Line  Railro.ad  between  Padu- 
cali  and  St.  Louis;  Lawrence  S.,  born  Octolter  7, 
1873,  is  at  home. 

Appreciating  the  value  of  an  education,  Mr. 
Eccles  has  encouraged  his  children  in  their  efforts 
to  gain  knowledge  and  has  materiall3'  assisted 
them  on  their  upward  way  in  life.  He  and  his 
faithful  and  devoted  wife  arc  members  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  are  liberal  supporters  of  it« 
religious  influence  and  work.  Politically,  our  sub- 
ject is  a  stalwart  Republican  and  is  thoroughly 
loyal  to  the  laws  and  inslitiiticms  of  his  adopted 
country,  where  he  has  gained  financial  prosperity 
and  worthily  won  a  comfortable  and  happy  home. 

Among  the  most  treasured  articles  in  Mr,  Kccles" 
possession  is  the  following  letter,  received  on  his 
departure  from  Kngland: 

()\  in  Dauwk.n,  Lancasimui;, 

February  16,  1863, 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Good  Samaritan  Tent  of 
the    Independent    Order  of    Rechabites  held   this 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAI'IIK  A  I,  RKVIEW. 


605 


fvcnitig,  it  was  slated  tliat  Brotlier  John  lurles, 
the  Worthy  Chief  Ruler,  was  about  to  leave  ICng- 
hmd  for  Canada.  It  was  moved  by  lirotiier 
Richard  Maudsh'v,  secoiide<l  by  15rotiier  .Joseph 
(ireeiiwood,  and  carried  unanimously,  that  the 
members  of  this  Tent  express  their  sincere  and 
hearty  sympathy  and  best  wishes  to  IJrother  >lolin 
Keeles,  trusting  he  may  have  a  prosperous  voyage 
and  that  he  may  be  successful  in  his  undertakings 
and  Ijusiness  niattris,  and  tliat  the  same  honorable 
and  manly  courage  be  shown  in  tlie  distant  cnun- 
trv  to  which  he  isgoing  thai  have  hitherlo  marked 
his  life. 

.John  C.  Coss,  C.  R. 

Wri  I  I  \M  II.  MoHitis,  D.  R. 

N  V  111.  Jki'son,  Skcv. 


^>^^^m 


sf,  AMl'KI.  M.  (;i.AS.SFl)KD,  one  of  the  most 
successful  business  men  of  Klvira  Town- 
ship, Johnson  County,  was  born  in  Indi- 
ana County,  Pa.,  November  IT),  1825.  His 
father,  (leorge  Ol.assford,  was  born  in  Ohio,  of 
Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  He  followed  the  black- 
smith's trade  in  Oiiio  forsomc  time,  having  served 
an  apprenticeship  in  Zanesvillc.  Upon  going  to 
Indiana  County,  Pa.,  he  established  himself  in 
business  as  a  blacksmith,  and  resided  there  about 
ten  years,  when  he  removed  to  Rl.ason  County, 
Ky.,  opened  a  shop  at  May 's  Lick,  and  remained 
thereuntil  1841.  During  that  year  he  removed 
to  Johnson  County,  I II.,  .accompanied  by  his  wife 
and  four  children.  He  made  the  removal  on  the 
rivers  to  Copeland's  Landing,  and  then  by  team 
to  what  is  now  Klvira  Township.  He  purchased 
of  Samuel  Copeland  a  tract  of  land  in  section  ."it, 
of   Elvira  Townshii). 

There  were  at  the  time  a  few  acres  cleared  and  a 
log  house  erected,  which  constituted  all  the  im- 
provements on  the  place.  Thenceforward  Mr. 
Glassford  devoted  his  time  to  agriculture,  and  re- 
sided upon  his  farm  until  184(5.  At  that  time  he 
rented  the  place  and  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where 
he  was  engaged  for  a  short  time  in  the  sugar  re- 
fining business,  and  remained  there  until  some  lime 
in  1847.     The  maiden  name  of   his  wife   was   Eli- 


zabeth Wolf.  She  was  b  )rii  in  Iiidi  i;ri  C  mnlv. 
Pa.,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Wolf,  and 
died  in  Elvira  Townshii)  .March  ;!.  1.S77.  She 
reared  four  children,  viz.:  Eliz-ibisih  .1.,  .S.iinu  I 
M.,  John  W.  and  Abraham  I). 

Samuel  ."M.  was  eight  years  old  when  his  p.irciits 
moved  to  Kentucky.  He  .•ittended  school  In  thai 
Slate  as  opportunity  olTered,  rcmxining  there  until 
1811,  when  he  came  to  Illinois.  At  thai  time 
Johnson  County  w.as  sparsely  settled,  and  much  of 
the  laud  was  still  owned  by  the  Governiiu'iil.  In 
V'ienna  Township  there  were  but  a  few  houses; 
Vienna  itself  was  but  a  hamlet,  and  the  couil- 
liouse  and  jail  were  built  of  logs.  Mr.  Glassford 
went  to  St.  Louis  in  1849,  ami  entered  the  employ 
of  lielchcr  &  Bros.,  sugar  refiners.  After  remain- 
ing there  for  a  few  years,  he  purchased  their  min- 
ing interests  and  teams  and  cnsraged  in  the  coal 
business.  In  1800  he  sold  an  interest  in  the  busi- 
ness to  his  brother,  and  retired  to  his  farm  in 
Elvira  Township.  He  had  inherited  a  part  of  the 
old  homestead,  and  bought  tiic  interest  of  tlm 
other  heirs.  He  has  resided  on  the  farm  since 
that  time.  A  very  successful  farmer,  he  purchased 
dilTercnt  tracts  of  land  until  at  one  lime  he  dwiu-d 
about  fifteen  hundred  acres  of  land.  He  still 
owns  upward  of  eight  hundred  .acres,  and  his 
buildings  and  other  improvements  rank  with  the 
best  in  the  county.  About  1861  .Air.  Glassford 
formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother  John,  and 
I  erected  a  woolen  mill  in  N'icnna,  i)ut  in  the  neces- 
j  sary  machinerv,  and  bought  a  supply  of  wool,  but 
'  before  the  mill  started  it  was  burned  down  with 
all  its  contents,  causing  a  loss  of  upw.-ird  of  *!(),- 
j    000,  with  no  insurance. 

I  In  1846  our  subject  married  Elizabclli  .loiies,  a 
native  of  Jolinstui  County,  and  a  daughter  of 
James  and  Elizabeth  J<)nes.  .She  died  in  184;i. 
His  second  marriage  occurred  in  1851,  and  united 
him  with  .luliet  .lonos,  who  w.as  born  in  what  is 
now  Elvira  Township,  July  31,  18.'iii.  Her  father, 
James  Jones,  was  born  in  Tennessee.  He  was  one 
of  the  pioneers  of  Johnson  County,  111.,  where  he 
established  his  home  in  Elvira  Township,  and 
cleared  up  a  farm  and  lived  here  until  his  death. 
The  mother  of  Mr.  Glassford  spent  the  list  years 
of  her  life  in  .luliiison  Cmiiilv.     She  was  educated 


t;or. 


l-olMKAir  AM)    r.loCI.'AI'IIIC.M,    KKN'IKW. 


In  tin'  |iiimitive  schools  of  the  days  of  lier  yontli, 
wlik'li  liave  been  described  numerous  limes  in  con- 
nection with  oilier  early  settlers'  sketches.  Her 
talher  raised  slieei)  and  cotton,  flax  and  hemp, 
and  she  with  her  sister  used  to  card,  si)in  and 
weave.  She  taught  these  then  useful  arts  to  all 
her  daughters,  and  made  all  the  clothing  used  in 
the  family.  She  resided  with  her  parents  until 
their  death,  and  tlien  with  her  brother  until  her 
marriage.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  (Jlassforil  have  three 
chihhon  living,  viz.:  .Toscphine,  wife  of  Dr.  R.  M. 
Mi( 'all,  a  successful  physician  of  Vienna;  Charles 
A.,  of  whom  a  biographical  sketch  ai)pears  else- 
where in  this  volume;  and  Mary  E.,  wife  of  Theo- 
dore E.  Williams, of  Jonesboro.  In  tiieir  religious 
cf>nvictions  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Glassford  arc  members 
of  the  C'luistian  Church.  Mr.  Gl.assford  is  a  Pro- 
liiliitionist  and  a  stanch  advocate  of  all  that  is 
uplifting  and  progressive. 


^OSIAII  P.  GORE  w.as  born  in  Little  Rock, 
Ark.,  Sei)lember  12,  18.39.  lie  is  a  son  of 
.John  F.  and  Elizabeth  (Penrod)  Gore,  hfith 
/  natives  of  Illinois.  John  F.  Gore  was  a 
son  of  Thomas  and  Lydia  Gore,  the  former  of 
wliiim  was  one  of  the  (Irst  settlers  of  Union 
County,  111.  The  inhabitants  of  the  county  at  the 
time  he  moved  into  it  were  almost  exclusively  In- 
dians. He  resided  there  until  his  deatli.  .lolin  F. 
( iore  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  in  \'ienna 
Township,  .Johnson  County-,  lesiding  there  only  a 
sliort  time,  however,  when  he  died,  iu  the  prime  of 
life,  .losiali  P.  Gore  began  life  for  himself  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  years  by  first  carrying  the  mail  on 
iior.seback.  This  he  continued  four  years,  and  af- 
terward worked  at  anything  he  could  find  to  do 
until  the  war  broke  out. 

luilisting  at  Moscow  in  the  Ninth  lUinois  Regu- 
lars, Conii)an3'  A,  Mr.  Gore  was  in  the  battles  of 
I't.  Donelson,  Sliiloh,  Atlanta  and  .lonesborough, 
(Ja.  Thence  he  marched  to  the  sea  with  Sherman, 
and  remained  in  active  service    until  the  close  of 


the  war,  being  in  the  army  for  four  years  and 
eighteen  days.  lie  was  honorably  discharged  at 
S|)ringrield,  III.,  .luly  .'.ll,  lH(i,'>.  He  then  bought 
forty  acres  of  land  in  Cache  Township,  Johnson 
County,  and  followed  farming  for  one  year,  after 
which  he  traded  this  tract  for  eighty  acres  in 
Vienna  Township,  keeping  this  for  one  year 
and  then  selling  out  and  liuying  eighty  acres  in 
Cache  Townshi|i.  t)n  account  of  f.ailiug  heallh 
and  other  misfortunes  he  lost  this  farm,  but  finally 
rallied  and  bought  the  farm  upon  which  he  now 
resides  in  18.S1.  He  now  has  one  hundred  and 
forty-four  acres  in  section  7,  Cache  Township, 
having  on  the  farm  a  good  house  :uid  other  ini- 
|)rovements. 

In  June,  1862,  Mr.  Gore  married  Celia  Wadd, 
who  died  the  same  \'(!ar.  He  was  next  married,  Feb- 
ruar3'  28,  1863,  to  Nancy  E.  Wilhelm,  a  native  of 
Johnson  County,  her  parents  being  natives  of 
North  Carolina.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gore  have  reared 
eight  children:  Elizabeth,  Harnett,  Otto,  Josiah, 
Cassandra,  Peter,  Margaret  and  Rosetta.  The 
|)arents  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church.  Mr. 
Gore  is  firm  in  his  allegiance  to  the  Republican 
party,  and  is  identilied  with  the  Grand  Armj' Post 
at  \'ieinia. 


ll«^^^ 


F>NRY  BATH,  a  farmer  living  on  section 
21,  township  12,  range  7,  is  a  conspicuous 
illustration  of  what  nia^'  be  accomplished 
by  energy,  industry  and  good  management. 
His  father,  John  Bath,  was  boru  in  Germany  and 
remained  in  Ins  native  coinitry  during  his  life.  His 
wife  also  died  in  (lermauy  and  w.as  the  mother 
of  eleven  children.  Frcderica,  Minnie,  Mary  and 
Louisa  died  in  Germany;  Fritz  and  Caroline  died 
iu  the  United  Stales,  the  latter  iu  Pope  County; 
Fritzie  is  deceased;  Henry  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Soiihic  is  the  wife  of  John  Blezall;  John 
died  in  (iermany;  and  Theodore  is  also  deceased. 
Henry  Bath,  the  eighth  child,  was  born  in  Prus- 
sia Januar}'  30, 18-10.     He  was  brought  up  to  work 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


607 


on  the  farm  and  leceived  a  fairly  good  comnion- 
scliool  education.  When  al)Out  twenty-one  years 
old  he  was  married  to  Hannah  Hawker,  a  native  of 
Germany,  and  when  twenty-nine  years  old, having 
heard  a  great  deal  of  the  advantages  of  living  in 
the  I'nited  Slates,  he  concluded  to  come  here  and 
Ir}'  to  make  his  living  in  this  country.  He  crossed 
the  ocean  in  a  sailing-vessel  named  the  "Prince 
AUiert,  leaving  his  native  country  April  27,  and 
reaching  New  York  .June  27,  experiencing  all 
kinds  of  weather  on  the  sea.  When  he  arrived  in 
New  York  he  counted  up  his  assets  and  found  he 
had  just  ^10  left  with  which  to  get  to  their  destin- 
ation and  begin  life  in  a  new  country.  They  went 
first  to  Chicago,  where  Mr.  Hatii  found  work  in  a 
lumber-jard,  and  after  working  there  for  some 
time  and  accumulating  a  little  mone^'  he  removed 
to  Pope  County,  III.,  and  leased  some  land  one 
and  a-half  miles  from  his  i)resent  location.  He 
leased  for  five  years  a  tract  of  unimproved  timber 
land  in  the  wilderness,  upon  which  he  built  a  log 
cabin,  moved  into  it  and  began  work;  this  being  in 
1870.  He  cut  down  trees,  rolled  the  lugs  together, 
burned  them,  split  rails,  cleared  u|)  his  land, 
and  worked  hard  for  many  years,  but  had  few  of 
the  comforts  of  life,  such  as  farmers  enjoy  at  the 
present  time.  He  paid  111  per  barrel  for  Hour, 
and  in  conseciuence  of  the  high  price  of  this  article 
Ills  family  was  often  without  bread  for  days  at  a 
time,  living  on  potatoes  and  occasionally  a  little 
meat,  which,  like  Hour,  was  high  in  price,  pork  be- 
ing often  as  high  as  ten  cents  per  pound.  His 
wife  heli)ed  him  with  the  work  and  th<iy  were  suc- 
cessful. AV'ith  characteristic  thrift  and  economy 
they  made  progress  and  in  the  fifth  year  of  their 
occupancy  of  the  farm  they  cleared  ^'JOO.  He  was 
now  in  a  condition  to  buy  a  farm,  and  selecting  a 
good  place  near  by,  containing  one  hundred  and 
eighty  acres,  he  bought  it  and  moved  into  the  log 
cabin  already  erected  on  the  place.  This  was  the 
first  home  they  owned,  and  the  feeling  of  pleasure 
connected  with  ownership  after  so  long  a  period 
of  living  on  rented  laud  can  readily  lie  appreciated 
by  anyone  who  h.is  gone  through  the  .same  exper- 
ience. His  success  as  a  farmer  ha.s  been  remark.a- 
ble.  The  old  log  house  stands  there  still,  but  he 
has  since  erected  a  brick  residence  which  is  large 
34 


and  commodious,  and  in  addition  he  has  built 
good  barns  and  other  outbuildings,  such  as  are 
needed  on  every  well-regulated  farm.  To  his 
original  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  hehassince 
added  from  time  to  time,  until  he  now  owns  four 
hundred  and  forty-five  acres  of  good  land,  one 
of  the  best  farms  in  Pope  County.  He  and  his 
good,  haid-working  wife  are  enjoying  the  results 
and  sweets  of  their  labors. 

Our  subject  and  his  wife  are  the  parents  of 
eleven  children,  viz:  Caroline,  wife  of  Anton  Vol- 
kcrt,  of  Hardin  County;  Henry,  born  February 
25,  1865;  Mar^-  and  Louisa,  deceased;  Theodore 
born  December  2,  1869;  Lizzie,  January  9,  1872; 
Minnie,  January  3,  1873;  Emma.  October  18.  1874; 
John,  December  2,  1876;  Amelia,  October  4,  1879; 
and  Herman,  May  21,  1881.  Mr.  Bath  is  giving 
his  children  a  good  education.  Politically,  he  is  a 
Democrat,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  He  is  one  of  the  most 
progressive  farmers  of  this  count}'  and  rai.ses  fine 
cattle,  hogs  and  sheep.  His  success  has  been  such, 
and  his  character  is  such,  that  he  has  the  respect  of 
the  entire  comraunit}'. 


W 


V.  HOBERT.SON,  senior  menil)cr  of  the 
lirm  of  Robertson  it  .Stephens,  plumbers, 
of  Metropolis,  111.,  a  firm  which  was  es- 
tablished September  1,  1892,  is  a  son  of  William 
H.  Robertson,  who  was  bj-  trade  a  chairmaker,  as 
was  his  father  before  him.  He  had  a  fair  education, 
and  moved  about  from  place  to  jilace  and  from  State 
to  State,  being  also  engaged  in  various  ways  other 
than  at  his  trade.  He  was  one  of  the  police 
force  for  a  time  in  Springfield,  111.,  and  is  now  liv- 
ing in  Cairo.  He  was  married  in  Tennessee  to 
Martha  J.  Dunn,  by  whom  he  h.id  ten  children: 
Mary,  dece.ised;  Mont,  a  railroad  man  at  Cairo, 
111.;  Lazinkic,  wife  of  L.  M.  Wilfred,  of  Mallard 
County,  Ky.;  ()|)helia  and  Lula,  both  dece.-i.sed; 
is'annie.  wife  of  H.  E.  Johnson,  c)f  McCracken 
Countv,  Kv.:  Cora,  wife  of  William   (Middard,   of 


608 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


Nasliville,  Tenn.;  William  F.;  Florence,  wife  of  C. 
C.  Mingus,  of  I'adiic.ili,  K3'.;  and  .lolin  L.,  of 
Padiicah.  The  mother  of  these  cliiUhen  is  now- 
living  in  Kentucky. 

William  F.  Robertson  was  born  at  Si>ringfield, 
111.,  March  19,  18G9.  When  a  boy  he  worked  at 
anything  he  could  find  to  do,  and  appreciated  the 
advantages  he  had  to  secure  an  education  that 
would  lit  him  for  a  business  career.  But  when  fif- 
teen years  old  he  w.as  obliged  to  work  for  his  living. 
He  therefore  worked  sit  the  i)lumber's  trade  Ln 
Paducah,  Ivy.,  and  thoroughly  learned  the  busi- 
ness. He  remained  thus  engaged  seven  years, 
most  of  the  time  at  Paducah,  but  some  of  the  time 
at  other  places,  as  at  (irand  River,  Mayfield,  etc. 
Upon  coming  to  Metropolis  he  formed  a  partner- 
ship vvith  E.  G.  Stephens  and  they  then  com- 
menced business  as  a  firm.  Mr.  Robertson  was 
married  September  17,  1890,  to  Eva  B.  Shaw,  of 
Paducah,  by  whom  he  has  one  child,  Charles  J^. 
Politically  Mr.  Robertson  is  a  Democrat,  and  reli- 
giously he  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

Ed  (i.  Stephens,  junior  member  of  the  firm  of 
Robertson  iV  Stephens,  is  a  son  of  James  D.  Steph- 
ens, a  pilot  on  the  river,  who  has  always  followed 
that  .as  a  profession.  He  was  married  in  Kentucky 
to  Caroline  Bailey,  whose  parents  are  both  dead. 
The  father  of  Mr.  Stephens  is  living,  but  his 
mother  is  dead,  dying  in  April,  1888.  They  were 
the  parents  of  eleven  children:  J.  T.,  now  living 
at  Hickman,  Ky.;  Lizzie,  wife  of  G.  W.  Cliristy,  of 
Paducah,  Ky.;  William  T.,  F.  D.,  George  and  Josie, 
all  four  at  Shelby  City,  Ky.;  W.  E.,  at  Hickman, 
Ky.;  Edward  G.;  C.  L.,  at  Nashville,  Tenn.;  and 
two  others  dead,  making  eleven  in  all. 

Edward  G.  Stepliens  w.as  born  .Tuly  12,  1870,  at 
Alton,  111.,  and  had  excellent  opportunities  for  se- 
curing a  fine  education,  but, as  he  now  realizes,  he 
did  not  fully  improve  the  same.  His  father  was 
all  the  time  on  the  river,  and  he  w.as  with  him 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  time.  He  learned  the 
trade  of  a  machinist  at  Paducah.  and  when  lie 
came  to  Melroi)olis  he  formed  the  partnership  al- 
ready described  in  this  sketch,  lie  is  a  Republican 
in  [lolitics.  These  two  young  nicii  arc  now  start- 
ing out  in  luisiness  for  themselves.     They  are  lK>th 


peculiarly  well  qualified  for  the  trade  or  business 
which  they  have  selected,  and  it  is  confidently  an- 
ticipated, both  by  themselves  and  by  their  friends, 
that  success  awaits  their  honest  efforts  to  build  up 
a  good  and  useful  business  in  Metropolis. 


i^+^§ 


f|^^  ATIIAN  L.  CHESTER,  a  successful  .agricul- 
[j  jjj  turist  of  Burnside  Township,  .Johnson 
!i\.J^  County,  was  born  in  Calloway  County,  Kj'., 
February  4,  1844.  His  father,  John  Chester,  was 
born  in  Christian  County,  Ky.,  .September  17, 
1816,  to  William  Chester,  a  native  of  the  Carolinas, 
who  died  in  Calloway  County,  aged  about  seventy 
years.  John  Chester  had  by  his  first  wife,  who 
was  a  Miss  Elizabeth  Frizzell,  of  Calloway  County, 
Ky.,  four  sons  and  five  daughters.  She  died  in  John- 
son County  in  1871,  aged  fifty-two  years,  leaving 
four  children :  Nancy  Jane,  widow  of  Jolin  Rushing, 
now  residing  on  her  farm  in  Burnside  Township; 
Nathan  L.;  Rebecca,  widow  of  Thomas  C.  Cole,  of 
Burnside  Township;  and  James  M.,  a  farmer  in 
Kansas.  John  Chester  w.as  married  to  his  second 
wife  in  1873,  and  she  died  in  1880.  He  is  still 
living  and  resides  with  N.  L.  Chester.  John 
Chester's  mother  died  in  Calloway  County,  Ky.,  in 
1891,  at  the  age  of  ninety-five  ^-ears. 

The  parents  of  Nathan  L.  Chester  came  to  Illi- 
nois in  the  fall  of  1850  by  team,  and  drove  stock. 
They  bought  a  small  farm  and  deeded  eighty 
acres,  to  which  they  added  eighty  acres  more, 
making  one  hundred  and  sixty  .acres,  to  the  whole 
of  which  Mr.  Chester  h.asa  deed  from  the  Govern- 
ment. He  had  but  limited  opportunities  for  se- 
curing an  education  in  his  youth,  but  by  applica- 
tion to  his  books  he  made  himself  competent  to 
te.ach  school,  and  taught  seven  terms.  Failing 
health,  however,  compelled  him  to  desist,  and  he 
has  never  since  been  a  strong  man,  being  able  to 
do  but  little  hard  labor.  He  w.as  married  March 
2.  18(1;'),  in  Williamson  County,  this  State,  to 
Sarah  M.  Holland,  of   Kentuckv,  daui>liter  of  Hrv- 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW. 


609 


ant  Holland  and  his  wife,  Nancy  Ilarrell,  both  of 
Kentucky,  who  came  to  Illinois  in  the  spring  of 
1860,  and  died  in  Arkansas. 

Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Chester  have  buried  two  daughters 
and  two  sons,  all  of  whom  died  in  early  childhood. 
They  now  have  three  sons  and  five  daughters,  viz: 
Rilda  B.,  wife  of  .Joseph  Laj-,  a  farmer  of  Pope 
County,  and  who  h.-is  two  sons  living;  Lizzie,  a 
young  lady  of  twenty-one  j-ears,  who  is  te.iclnng 
her  second  term  of  school;  ,1.  Walter,  a  young  man 
of  nineteen;  Mary  S.,  sixteen;  Roxie,  fourteen; 
Arthur  L.,  twelve;  Emma  C,  seven,  and  John  K., 
five,  all  of  whom  are  still  under  the  parental  roof 
and  attending  school.  Mr.  Ciiester  has  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  .acres  on  section  26, 
liurnside  Township,  on  which  he  lias  resided  for 
twenty-five  years,  and  h.is  been  a  general  farmer, 
though  he  raised  some  tobacco  in  ftirmer  jears. 
He  has  been  .School  Trustee  six  years  and  Justice 
<if  the  Peace  three  years.  In  politics,  he  h.as  al- 
ways been  a  Democrat,  and  both  lie  and  his  wife 
are  regular  church-goers,  attending  the  Baptist 
Church,  of  which  they  are  inlluential  members. 


OBERT  A.DINWIDDIE  was  born  in  Henry 
County.  Tenn.,  in  184!»  and  is  now  a  i)romi- 
\V  nent  citizen  of  Tunnel  HillTownship,  John- 
"^p; son  County.  His  father.  W.  C.  l)inwiddie,a 
farmer  of  the  same  county,  w.as  born  in  1823,  and 
was  a  son  of  James  and  Polly  (Carson)  Dinwiddie, 
the  former  from  A'irginia.  Dinwiddie  Court  House 
was  named  after  Governor  Dinwiddie,  a  rela- 
tive. The  mother  was  from  Christian  County,  Kj-. 
These  grandparents  were  wealthy  planters  and 
the  lauded  estate  is  still  in  the  family.  The  grand- 
father l)ought  up  large  tracts  of  land,  which  he 
left  to  four  sons  and  one  daughter,  of  whom 
William  C,  the  father  of  Hoheit  A.,  was  the  third 
child  and  son  in  order  of  birth.  The  grandfather 
died  in  1860,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two,  and  was 
one    of     the    pioneers    of    'Virginia,    also    one  (>f 


the  ardent  supporters  of  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  that  State.  He  was  a  sol- 
dier in  the  War  of  1812  and  in  the  later  Indian 
wars,  distinguishing  himself  in  a  number  of  battles. 
He  was  twice  married,  his  last  wife  being  the  one 
named  above. 

The  mother  of  Robert  A.  Dinwiddie  was  a  Miss 
Helen  Dillahunty,  of  the  same  county,  whose 
father,  .lames  Dillahuntj',  was  of  French  ancestrj', 
and  his  wife  W.1S  Miss  Luzana  Greer,  of  David- 
son County,  Tenn.  W.  C.  Dinwiddie  was  a 
farmer  and  lived  and  died  on  his  own  farm  of 
over  one  thousand  acres,  as  did  also  his  amiable 
wife.  They  buried  two  daughters  in  early  child- 
liood,  and  reared  two  sons  and  two  daughters, 
viz:  Robert  A.;  Tabitha,  wife  of  J.  I^.  Ridle\-,  of 
Tennessee;  .Sallie  II.,  wife  of  George  T.  Ridley, 
also  of  Tennessee;  and  James  O.,  a  farnun-  in  the 
same  State.  The  mother  died  December  2.5.  1882. 
at  the  age  of  fifty-four,  and  the  father  followed, 
as  above  narrated. 

Robert  A.  was  reared  ou  the  farm  and  received 
his  education  in  the  district  schools,  although 
some  of  the  family  attended  school  in  Bethel 
College  at  McKenzie,  a  prominent  town  in  ante- 
bellum days,  but  now  a  deserted  village.  Our 
subject  left  home  and  school  at  the  age  of  twenty 
years,  going  to  McKenzie,  where  he  engaged  as  a 
clerk  in  a  general  merchandising  establishment, 
and  remained  there  over  one  year.  He  was  next 
a  traveling  salesman  for  the  drug  house  of  Ew- 
ing,  Pendleton  it  Co.,  and  traveled  some  four 
years,  when  he  returned  home  to  the  farm.  He 
managed  his  father's  farm  for  three  years,  and 
came  to  Illinois  in  the  spring  of  188.'?,  arriving  at 
Cairo  at  the  time  of  the  great  flood.  He  at  first 
engaged  as  salesman  in  a  house  handling  crockery, 
queen's  ware,  etc.,  and  remained  with  them  two 
years,  at  which  time  he  next  engaged  as  traveler 
for  a  New  York  companj'  at  Cairo,  covering 
southern  Illinois,  and  part  of  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee.  While  on  one  of  his  trips  in  this  part 
of  tlie  State  lie  met  Miss  Emma  Bcauman.  daugh- 
ter of  Dorrick  K.  Beauman,  whose  sketch  is  else- 
where in  this  volume,  and  wa.s  married  to  her 
October  1;"),  18!)0.  at  the  church  in  Tunnel  Hill, 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dee.  a  Methodist  clergyman.     In 


610 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


Septemlier,  1800,  lie  went  into  business  with  his 
fatlier-in-law,  and  is  still  in  that  eonncction.  Mr. 
Dinwiddle  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  is  re- 
spected and  liked  hy  all  who  know  him. 


^^ 


^f_^  ()N.  LKWIS  R  PL.\TP:R,altorney-at-lawof 
IVjji  Ehzabethlown,  HI.,  is  a  son  of  James  L. 
i^k^  Plater,  who  was  from  the  District  of  Colum- 
\^j  bia,  came  to  Illinois  in  1843,  and  sub- 
sequently removed  to  Maryland.  When  he  first 
came  to  Illinois,  he  engaged  in  general  merchan- 
dising at  Centralia,  Marion  County,  at  which  time 
goods  had  to  be  hauled  from  St.  Louis,  a  dis- 
tance of  sixty  miles.  James  L.  Plater  had  a  good 
education,  which  he  secured  mainly  by  his  own 
efforts  and  application.  He  was  married  to  Anna 
StuU,  who  is  still  living  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-nine  years.  AVhen  he  came  to  Illinois,  he 
was  a  poor  man,  but  being  a  good  business  man, 
he  was  successful  in  the  accumulation  of  property. 
Misfortune,  however,  attended  him,  for  his  store 
was  destroyed  by  fire,  together  with  most  of  his 
goods,  upon  which  there  was  no  insurance.  He 
then  removed  to  Union  County, 111.,  bought  a  farm 
near  Western  Saratoga,  and  followed  farming  suc- 
cessfully until  his  death.  His  widow  is  living  in 
Colorado  with  a  son,  W.  W.  Plater.  By  the  mar- 
riage of  James  L.  Plater  and  Anna  StuU  there  were 
born  ten  children,  viz:  John  S.,  a  farmer  in  Kan- 
sas; one  who  died  in  infancy;  Henry,  who  lived 
in  Union  County.  111.,  until  1886,  and  died  in  Kan- 
oHS  about  1890,  a  tariiuT;  .himes  L.,  a  druggist  in 
Rocky  Comfort,  McDonald  County,  Mo.;  William, 
a  farmer  of  Carbondale,  III.;  Thomas  J.,  a  mer- 
chant of  Walkins,  },[<>.;  I.uuis  V.;  Anna,  wife  of  J. 
F.  Casper,  of  Ozark,  HI.;  Charles  W.,  of  Murphys- 
boroiigli.  111.:  ami  .losi'pii  S.,  ;i  fariiu'i-  li\-iiig  near 
Vienna,  ill. 

Lewi.s  K.  Plater,  llie  scvenlli  chilil,  u.-i--  Ikjiii  in 
Jefferson  County,  111.,  DcccmliiT  17.  1.SI7.  lie  \va> 
reared    uniui    Ihc    f;uiii.  .-uul  cducali'd  in  the  sub- 


scription .schools,  kept  in  the  log  schoolliouse  of 
the  times.  His  early  education  w.as  therefore  lim- 
ited, but  as  he  had  a  great  desire  for  books  and 
learning,  he  largely  supplemented  the  education  of 
his  boyhood,  and  became  a  well-informed  youth. 
He  used  every  means  within  his  reach  to  earn 
money,  such  as  taking  tan-bark  to  town  and  sell- 
ing it,  and  then  using  the  money  to  buy  books 
with,  poring  over  them  by  the  light  of  the  fire- 
place or  by  the  "grease  dip"  lamp  far  into  the 
night.  He  was  always  anxious  to  attend  public 
speaking,  and  would  walk  bare-footed  for  miles 
to  hear  a  public  address.  15y  these  means,  his  hard 
study  at  night  and  his  attendance  upon  oratorical 
displays,  he  acquired  considerable  knowledge  of 
books  and  of  the  world.  In  1863  he  started  out  in 
life  for  himself.  From  the  County  Superintendent 
of  Education  in  Union  County,  who  was  his  friend, 
he  secured  a  third-grade  certificate  to  teach  school, 
and  taught  at  Smith's  Mills,  Union  County,  a  term 
of  six  months,  at  ^20  per  month.  With  the  money 
thus  obtained,  he  bought  books  and  attended 
school,  thus  further  storing  his  mind  with  knowl- 
edge. He  attended  McKendree  College,  at  Leba- 
non, .St.  Clair  Count}',  111.,  two  years,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1864,  the  crops  being  large  and  help 
scarce  on  account  of  the  war,  he  worked  in  the 
harvest  fields  at  good  wages,  13  per  day,  and  dur- 
ing Sundays  and  holidays  at  $4  per  da}',  thus  earn- 
ing about  $100  with  which  to  complete  his  course 
of  study.  He  then  went  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  where 
he  remained  some  time,  and  the  next  summer  be- 
gan reading  law  at  home.  At  the  same  time  he 
raised  about  six  acres  of  sugar  cane,  and  made 
about  $300  out  of  the  crop.  He  read  law  abont 
five  j'ears,  studying  not  onlv  Blackstone's  Com- 
mentaries, but  also  the  best  textbooks  in  law  that 
he  could  find.  He  then  taught  school  in  Goreville, 
Johnson  County,  two  years,  in  Williamson  County 
two  years,  and  in  Marion  one  year,  reading  law  as 
he  had  time  and  opportunity. 

Our  subject  began  reading  law  in  the  summer 
of  ISCi;.  with  .Judge  Crawford  as  his  preceptor,  at 
.lonesboro.  Union  County,  III.,  and  ('(iiitinued  with 
him  three  yenrs.  lie  u;is  M(!inllleil  to  the  I'.ar  in 
.laiiiiMiy,  1.^70.  at  .Mduiil  \eiiii)ii.  Judge  Urec^e 
presiiliiiL;-.    ami    (Miiniiieneed   the  active  practice  of 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW. 


611 


his  profession  April  28,  1871,  at  Elizabeth  town, 
wliere  he  soon  established  a  reputation  as  a  Ihor- 
ouiih  lawyer,  and  where  his  opinion:^  soon  became 
acknowledged  as  of  great  weight  and  value.  He 
thus  became  a  successful  lawyer  and  acquired  an 
extensive  clientage.  In  1873  a  law  was  passed 
creating  the  otlice  of  county  attorney,  and  Mr. 
Plater  was  the  first  appointed  to  that  otlice  in  Har- 
din County.  He  retained  the  position  until  the 
election  of  W.  S.  Morris.  In  I H74  he  was  elected  to 
the  Lower  House  of  the  Legislature,  and  repre- 
sented his  constituents  to  their  satisfaction  and  with 
credit  to  himself.  In  April,  1875.  he  was  elected 
State's  Attorney,  and  served  in  that  position  until 
1880,  and  was  an  ellicient  oflicer.  He  is  now  one 
of  the  most  prominent  and  able  attorneys  in  south- 
ern Illinois,  and  in  very  inipc>rtant  cases  is  usually 
called  in  as  counsel.  He  has  also  served  in  man^- 
parts  of  the  State  in  the  preparation  of  important 
papers.  Politically,  Mr.  Plater  is  a  Democrat.  He  is 
also  a  Ma-son.  a  Knight  of  Pytlr.as  and  an  Odd  Fel- 
low. He  was  married  June  18,  1873,  to  Miss  Ange  B. 
Steele,  a  native  of  Hardin  County-.  Mr.  Plater,  it 
will  have  been  seen  b}'  the  above  brief  narra- 
tive of  some  of  the  events  of  his  life,  is  a  self-made 
man  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  term,  and  his  suc- 
cess in  life  is  wholly  due  to  his  pei-severance  and 
application  to  study  when  he  was  young,  and  to 
his  duties  and  profession  as  a  man. 


^'OHX  M.  EI,1,H)TT,  who  keeps  a  furniture 
store  ancl  is  the  undertaker  of  the  city  of 
^letropolis.  is  a  son  of  James  Elliott,  who 
w.as  born  in  Allegheny,  Pa.,  in  181i».  James 
Elliott,  when  a  child,  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  be 
affected  bj'  a  disease  which  left  him  a  cripple  for 
life,  and  he  was  thus  unable  to  perforin  hard  labor; 
but  he  doubtless  fibtained  a  belter  education 
than  would  otherwise  have  been  the  case.  He 
came  to  Illinois  about  181'2,  and  first  located  at 
Vienna,  Johnson  County,  and  there  found  employ- 


ment in  a  general  merchandise  store.  Not  being 
able  to  continue  long  in  that  position,  he  sought 
for  something  better  adapted  to  his  condition,  and 
this  labor  he  found  in  school  teaching. 

James  Elliott  went  to  Massac  County,  where  he 
was  a  successful  teacher  for  some  years.  In  the 
meantime  he  managed  to  get  a  farm,  and  lived  on 
the  same  from  1861  to  186.5.  Being  a  man  with 
whom  the  people  S3'rapathized  and  in  whom  the^- 
li.ad  confidence,  they  elected  him  Circuit  Court 
Clerk,  and  he  filled  this  oflice  with  such  satisfac- 
tion that  he  was  re-elected  to  the  same  position. 
At  the  close  of  his  second  term  he  went  onto  his 
farm,  remaining  there  during  the  period  of  the 
war.  He  was  then  again  elected  to  the  oflice  of 
Circuit  Court  Clerk,  .and  during  this  third  term  he 
died  at  Metropolis,  in  1866.  He  was  married  in 
^Massac  County  to  Eliza  Laird,  a  native  of  that 
countj',  whose  father,  a  pioneer  settler,  came  from 
New  England.  Her  parents  are  both  dead,  and  she 
died  in  1888.  To  their  marriage  there  were  born 
the  following  children:  James  L.,  express  and  for- 
warding agent  at  Metropolis,  111.;  John  M.;  .S.ti-.iIi 
and  INIary,  both  of  whom  died  in  infancy;  William 
and  Robert  Henry,  deceased;  Joseph  T.,  a  farmer 
of  Hampton,  Livingston  County,  Ky.;  and  Svisan 
E.,  who  died  in  infancy. 

John  M.  Elliott  w.as  born  in  Massac  County,  111., 
November  13,  1847.  His  youth  was  spent  partly 
on  the  farm  and  partly  in  the  city.  He  attended 
the  common  schools,  and  obtained  a  fair  education 
in  them,  and  this  education  was  subsequently  sup- 
plemented, not  by  a  college  coui-se,  but  by  actual 
conUact  with  the  business  world  and  by  his  own 
private  study  and  reading.  So  close  an  observer 
was  he  that  he  has  become  a  vcr^'  successful  busi- 
ness man.  When  nineteen  3'eai-s  old  he  began  to 
make  preparations  for  a  business  career,  and  had 
learned  the  trade  of  a  cabinet-maker.  He  w.as  a 
thorough  workman  from  the  beginning  and  learned 
the  business  in  all  its  details.  He  then  opened  a 
shop  of  his  own  at  Metropolis,  and  while  he  had  no 
capital  with  which  to  begin,  yet  he  had  a  good 
trade  well  learned,  and  he  was  industrious  and  de- 
termined to  succeed,  and  soon  built  up  a  good 
business.  Now  he  has  an  extensive  establishment 
with  excellent  stock  in  all  its  departments,  and  he 


612 


I'OIJTKAIl'  AN'lJ    1!10(;K.\1'1II(AI>    KKVIKW. 


enjoys  his  full  shiiro  of  |uililic  riiiiliili'iice  and 
patronage,  lie  now  .--t:iiiiis  .-unoin;-  llic  U';i(ling 
merchants  of  [\w  iHy.  ;i  position  whicli  ho  lias 
honestly  won  by  his  own  in(l;isliv  and  slrifl  at- 
tention to  business. 

Mr.  Elliott  was  marriefl  in  1872  to  Parinelia  A. 
Smith,  a  native  of  Massac  County,  \v1k>  died  the 
following  year.  In  1875  he  was  married  to  Anna 
E.  Culver,  who  came  from  Michigan.  She  died 
rjeeember  16,  1884,  and  he  was  married  the  third 
time  to  Ida  Neer,  of  St.  Louis.  By  his  first  mar- 
riage he  had  one  child,  William  Lester,  who  died 
when  five  months  old.  While  his  second  wife  was 
living  they  adopted  a  daughter,  .Jessie  Bell,  and 
by  his  third  wife  he  has  two  children,  John  and 
Nellie.  Politically.  Mr.  Elliott  is  a  Republican, 
and  he  is  a  Mason  and  an  Odd  Fellow.  Rtligiously, 
he  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church,  lie  is  a 
strong  believer  in  education,  and  takes  great  in- 
terest in  all  educational  matters  and  movements. 
He  has  frequently  served  on  the  School  Board, 
and  is  giving  his  children  the  best  facilities  for  be- 
coming educated  the  country  affords.  He  has  also 
served  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
his  church,  and  takes  great  interest  in  Sunday- 
school  affairs,  having  served  as  Superintendent  of 
the  Sunday-school  for  several  years.  He  is  well 
and  favorably  known,  is  a  courteous.  Christian 
gentleman  and  is  always  on  the  side  of  the  right. 


--€>-^<^=^-5- 


^1] OWELL  Y.  MANGUM,  M.  I).     As   an  esti- 

llfjVi  mable  gentleman,  as  well  as  a  successful 
!^}^'  physician.  Dr.  H.  Y.  Mangum  is  well  known. 
(i^)  He  is  honest  and  conscientious  in  his  deal- 
ings with  his  patients,  upright  in  all  his  business 
transactions,  and,  courteous  in  his  intercourse  with 
other  members  of  the  profession,  he  commands 
the  respect  of  all  those  with  whom  he  is  at  all  in- 
timately associated,  and  has  much  more  than  a 
merely  local  renown.  He  is  the  son  of  Henry  L. 
Mano-uin,  whose  birth  occurred  in  North  Caro- 
lina in   the  year   1814,  and  although  possessed  of 


sound  (■(luiiiion  sense,  his  literary  education  was 
very  lirniled.  He  was  taken  with  the  Western 
fever  and  settled  on  an  unimproved  farm  in 
.lohnson  County,  111.,  on  winch  land  he  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  life  in  the  arduous,  jet  to  him  con- 
genial, occupation  of  farming.  He  was  married 
in  1832  to  Miss  Elizabeth,  a  daughter  of  Robert 
Barnett,  of  Tennessee,  and  the  fruits  of  their  union 
was  a  family  of  twelve  children:  William  A.; 
George  W.  and  Andrew  J.  (twins);  Howell  Y., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Thomas  S.  and  Robert 
F.  (deceased);  Basil  G.;  .lohn  W.;  Henry  F.;  Wiley 
Hamilton,  deceased;  Elizabeth  J.;  and  Martha  A., 
deceased.  The  wife  and  mother  died  in  1867,  and 
two  years  after  this  lamentable  event  Henry  L. 
Mangum  married  again.  Miss  Regina  Berringer, 
of  Illinois,  becoming  his  wife,  and  eventuallj- 
bearing  him  four  children:  Otis  O.,  Ollie  Belle, 
Charles  and  Lillie. 

Howell  Y.  Mangum  was  born  on  the  home  farm 
in  Johnson  County,  III.,  December  3,  1838,  and 
so  far  as  his  birth  was  concerned  started  on  an 
equal  footing  with  about  ninety  per  cent,  of  the 
men  who  have  become  prominent  in  professional 
life  in  the  West.  He  was  an  attendant  of  the 
common  schools  in  the  vicinity  of  his  home  dur- 
ing his  youth,  which  were  held  in  the  old-time 
log  schoolhouses,  in  which  he  acquired  a  practical 
education  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  thej'  were 
often  poorly  conducted.  While  attending  a  term 
of  school  at  College  Hill  in  1861  the  war  broke 
out,  and  August  22,  1861,  he  became  a  member  of 
Company  D,  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  the 
fortunes  of  which  he  followed  for  four  years, 
during  which  time  he  participated  in  a  number  of 
severe  battles,  the  following  of  which  are  emi- 
nently worthy  of  mention:  Ft.  Hcniy,  Ft.  Donel- 
son,  Corinth,  Port  Gibson,  Raymond,  Jackson, 
Champion  Hills  (in  which  he  was  wounded),  siege 
of  Vicksburg,  and  was  with  Sherman  on  his  march 
to  the  sea,  taking  i)art  in  all  the  eng.agements. 
He  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  of  his 
company  and  re-enlisted  as  a  veteran  volun- 
teer in  January,  1864,  terminating  his  military 
career  with  .  the  Grand  Review  at  Washington, 
D.  C.  He  was  mustered  out  at  Louisville,  Ky., 
and  received    his  discharge  at  Springfield,  111.,  in 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW. 


613 


.luly,  1865.     He  then  returned  to  liis  home  with 

his  lic-iltli  iinK-h  shattered  by  the  exposure  and 
haidsliips  he  liad  eiiduied  wliile  in  the  army,  and 
in  order  to  obtain  a  competency  first  turned  his 
attention  to  the  sawmilling  business,  but  after  five 
years  spent  successfully  in  tiie  business  he  lost 
liis  mill  by  fire.  He  then  decided  on  a  medical 
career,  and  to  this  end  began  his  studies  in  18()9, 
and  in  1875  he  bcj^an  the  active  practice  of  tlds 
noble  calling,  which  he  has  continued  up  to  the 
present  time,  and  from  this  source,  as  well  as 
from  his  farm  and  mercantile  business,  lie  li.as  ac- 
cumulated considerable  wealth.  Being  very  pub- 
lic-spirited, he  is  justly  regarded  as  one  of  the 
leading  citizens  of  tiie  county,  and  in  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  resides  he  has  numerous  warm 
personal  friends. 

On  the  21th  of  April,  18()4,  our  subject  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Elinira  .1.,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  .lobe, 
of  Iowa,  and  to  their  union  a  family  of  eight 
children  was  given:  Thomas  A.  and  Otis  O.,  de- 
ceased; Susan  J.,  wife  of  Thomas  Sheldon;  Eliza- 
beth E.,  William  Robert,  Samui'l  A.;  Leora  Myrtle, 
deceased;  and  Lulu  E.  Dt.  Maugum  is  a  member, 
of  the  Ancient  Free  tt  Accepted  Masons  and  the 
Orand  Arm}'  of  the  Republic,  and  politically  is  a 
Republican  of  strict  principles.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  while  his 
worthy  wife  is  a  Methodist. 


RANK    .S.     BARGER.       Although    Pope 

i,^iiif  County,  III.,  is  well  known    for   its  many 

I  ^S'y  •'  ■' 

l\  tine  farms,  the   estate   on    which    Frank  S. 

Barger  has  resided  since  1868,  and   which   consists 

of  one  hundred  and  fourteen  acres,  is  well  worthy 

of  mention.     This  farm   attests  by   its   thrift   and 

productiveness  the  excellent  (pialities  of  th'  rougli- 

iies.s  and  system  whicli  mark  the  owner,   who  was 

born  three  miles  north  of  Golconda  June  22,  182!), 

his  father  being  Isaac  S.  Barger,  who  was  born   in 

Pennsylvania  in  178."),  to  which  region    his   father 

came  from  (Jermany,takiiig  up  his  residence  in  what 


was  then  Montgomery  County.  He  reared  a  fam- 
ily of  four  sons  and  three  daughters:  Isaac,  Abra- 
ham, .Jacob,  and  .lohn,  who  died  in  Pennsylvania; 
the  three  others  coming  to  Illinois  with  their  par- 
ents. Isaac,  the  father  of  Frank  S.,  was  the  first 
to  remove  thither,  arriving  in  1822,  and  here  he 
purchased  an  improved  farm  of  Jacob  Storm,  upon 
which  he  lived  a  number  of  years.  Between  1837 
and  1810  he  moved  down  on  the  bottoms  six  miles 
below  Golconda,  where  he  bought  five  hundred 
and  twenty-five  acres  of  school  and  Congress  land 
at  ^1.25  per  acre,  and  there  he  lived  until  his  death 
February  10,  1848,  at  the  age  of  sixtj-three  years, 
from  what  was  then  called  "timber  fever,"  but  now 
l)neumonia.  His  first  wife,  the  mother  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  Elizabeth  Burton,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, where  they  were  married.  She  died  in 
September,  1829,  when  F'rank  S.  wsis  an  infant. 
Her  children  were  Anna  (deceased),  the  widow 
of  John  F'lick;  Abraham,  who  died  in  1873,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-four  years;  Dniscilla,  who  died  when 
past  middle  life,  the  wife  of  J.  F.  S.  Barger;  Letitia, 
who  became  the  wife  of  Silas  Gilbert  and  died  in  the 
'50s;  Margaret,  who  died  after  reaching  middle 
age,  the  wife  of  .John  Belford;  Isaac,  who  died  in 
1882,  aged  sixt^'-five  3'ears;  Elizabeth,  who  mar- 
ried John  AY.  King  and  died  in  the  '50s;  Jacob, 
who  died  in  1819,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  years; 
Sarah,  who  married  Ellas  S.  Barger  and  died  wiien 
in  the  prime  of  life  near  Raum;  John,  who  died  in 
early  manhood;   Elvina  and  F^rank  S. 

For  his  second  wife  Isaac  S.  Barger  took  Mar- 
garet Scott,  nee  Blanard,aiid  she  bore  him  these  chil- 
dren: Hiram,  who  died  when  a  young  man;  Mary, 
who  married  Jonathan  Abbottand  is  deceased;  Elias 
who  died  while  serving  in  the  Union  army;  Aman- 
da, who  married  Wile}-  Abbott  and  is  deceased; 
Esther,  the  wife  of  Samuel  Haiinan;  Dorothy,  who 
died  in  cliildhood,  and  Priscilia,  who  died  in  Ken- 
lucky,  the  wife  of  Rufus  Taylor.  All  of  these 
children  have  passed  away  except  Frank  S.  and 
his  sister  Elvina,  wife  of  Jacob  McDonald,  a  far- 
mer of  Pope  County.  Frank  S.  Barger  spent  his 
early  life  on  a  farm,  but  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
began  working  at  the  blacksmith's  and  wagon- 
maker's  trade,  which  occupation  he  followed  in 
Tennessee,  Missouri  and  Illinois.     He  w.as  married 


614 


l'()KTl{AIT  AM)   lilO(;KAPlllCAL  KKVIKW. 


in  West  Tennessee  in  1852  to  Miss  Margaret  Mc- 
Chiiii.  :i  (l;iu>rlitei-  ot  Ji'liii  IMfChiiii.  Mrs.  Rargcr 
\v;is  hoiii  ill  l«23,  and  in  1H,")7  inuNcd  willi  her 
liusbanil  to  Rlissoiii-i,  wiiero  lliey  lived  mild  1^04, 
llien  returned  to  Illinois.  Tlie  first  farm  of  vvliich 
he  became  the  owner  is  the  one  on  wliich  he  now 
lives.  lie  and  his  wife  have  buried  four  sons  and 
one  daughter,  who  passed  from  life  in  infancy. 
The  living  members  of  their  family  urc:  Kli/.abeth 
J.,  wife  of  James  A.  Anderson  of  Creal  Springs,  by 
whom  she  has  nine  childrer.;  Isaac  K.S.,  who  farms 
the  old  home  place,  and  is  married  and  has  three 
sons,  and  Robert  L.,  wlio  also  tills  the  soil  and  with 
whom  his  parents  make  tlieir  home.  The  latter 
was  a  school  teacher  for  some  years,  which  call- 
ing he  pursued  during  the  winter  months,  iiis 
summers  being  devoted  to  agriculture.  He  was 
married  to  Miss  Amanda  Jackson,  by  whom  he  has 
three  sons  and  one  daughter:  John  R.,  four  and 
a-half  years  old;  Isaac  R.  aged  three  years;  Mar- 
garet Ruth  aged  two  years,  and  Roy  B.,  a  babe. 
Mr.  Barger  and  his  son  have  always  supported  the 
Democratic  party,  are  wide-awake  men  of  affairs, 
and  are  highly  honored  in  the  section  in  which 
they  reside. 


eASI'ER  CUMMINS, a  prosperous  farmer  of 
section  13,  lovvnsliip  12,  range  7,  is  one  of 
the  early  i)ioneers  of  Pope  County,  and 
lias  seen  and  experienced  much  of  the  hardships 
of  life  in  an  uncultivated  and  wild  country.  His 
birth  occurred  in  Washington  County,  Ind.,  Octo- 
ber 16,  1835.  He  is  a  son  of  Benjamin  R.  Cum- 
mins, who  was  born  near  Beverly's  Ford,  Va.,  on 
September  9,  ISOO.  The  father  of  the  latter,  Ben- 
jamin R.  Cummins,  Sr.,  was  also  a  N'iiginian  by 
birth,  was  there  married,  and  in  1811  came  with 
his  family  to  southern  Illinois.  He  was  among  the 
early  settlers  of  Saline  Countj',  living  near  Equal- 
ity and  having  ciiarge  of  the  Government  Salt 
Works  at  that  place.  All  of  that  useful  article 
sold  in  t!iis  part  of  the   territory  was  made  there 


by  the  Government,  and  there  is  still  in  the  pos- 
session of  our  subject  a  large  iron  trough  or  kettle 
used  in  boiling  the  salt  in  his  yard  over  a  furnace. 
He  hewed  a  faru]  out  of  the  wilderness  and  re- 
sided there  until  he  departed  this  life  at  a  good 
old  age,  having  reared  four  sons  and  four  daugh- 
ters. His  wife  survived  him  many  years,  djingin 
1852  on  the  old  farm. 

Our  subject's  father  was  married  in  Indiana  to 
Miss  Mary  J.  Eslinger,  a  native  of  those  parts,  and 
of  German  parentage.  For  nine  years  prior  to  his 
marriage  Mr.  Cummins  drove  a  stage  in  Kentucky 
and  Indiana,  and  soon  after  that  event  camo  to 
Illinois,  settling  on  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  laud  one  mile  from  the  old  block  house  which 
his  father  had  left  him.  He  arrived  here  in  the 
spring  of  1832,  the  year  of  the  great  high  waters. 
He  remained  here  eleven  years,  removing  back  to  In- 
diana in  1843,  and  settling  in  Washington  County, 
near  Palmyra,  the  place  of  his  marriage  thirteen 
years  previous  to  this  date.  He  remained  in  this 
county  until  1849,  when  he  took  his  departure  for 
Illinois  again,  settling  this  time  in  Pope  Countj^ 
eight  miles  north  of  Golconda  on  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land,  a  portion  of  which  our  subject 
is  now  living  on.  The  date  of  their  arrival  in  this 
county  and  neighborhood  was  November  26,  1849, 
their  journey  having  been  made  as  far  as  Elizabeth- 
town  by  water.  They  look  passage  on  the  side-wheel 
steamer  -'Fashion  No.  2,"  which  sunk  in  the  river 
during  the  trip.  The  passengers  were  all  rescued, 
and  from  that  point  the  parents  proceeded  with 
their  teams  and  lumber  wagon  which  the}'  had 
brought  from  Indiana.  They  arrived  here  just  at 
dusk  on  November  26  and  obtained  a  brand  of 
fire  at  Thomas  Fulkerson's  to  make  their  first  fire 
with.  There  is  still  in  our  subject's  possession 
parts  of  the  running  gear  of  this  old  wagon,  which 
he  still  uses  and  which  has  been  in  use  since  that 
day.  In  the  earl}'  time  wagons,  houses  and  indeed 
everything  was  built  in  a  most  solid  manner,  as 
thougli  intended  to  last  a  century,  and  not  on  the 
modern  plan,  where  sham  and  shellac  cover  a  mul- 
titude of  defects  in  the  structure.  The  father 
first  bought  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  for 
$500,  which  he  had  purchased  the  previous  j-ear 
when  on  a  trip  to  this  localit}'.     Subsequently  he 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


615 


added  two  liimdred  and  eighty  acres,  making  the 
iioiueslead  one  of  four  hundred  acres. 

I'he  family  of  whieli  our  subject  is  tlie  eldest 
comprised  four  sons  and  two  daugliters,  the  eldest 
and  youngest  sons  being  natives  of  Indiana,  while 
the  girls  were  born  after  their  parents  removed  to 
Illinois,  the  other  two  sons  being  born  when  the 
parents  lived  in  Saline  Count}-,  111.  The  record  is 
as  follows:  Casper;  Wiley,  who  died  in  1884,  aged 
forty-seven  3-ears;  Isaac  L.,  whose  death  occurred 
in  1852;  John  S.,  a  practicing  physician  at  Raum; 
Sarah  E.,  wife  of  John  B.  Rose,  a  farmer  of  this 
neighborhood;  and  Mary  Jane,  now  Mrs.  R.  T. 
Ilufford,  a  farmer  of  Hardin  Connt}'.  The  father 
of  these  children  died  on  the  old  homestead  in 
1863,  and  IS  buried  in  the  family  cemetery  on  the 
place,  the  deed  of  which  tract  is  in  the  possession 
of  our  subject.  At  the  time  of  his  demise  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  lifi^'-seven  years.  His  wife, 
who  died  in  December,  1876,  was  just  three-score 
j'ears. 

Our  sul)ject  passed  his  bo^'hood  in  Indiana,  the 
place  of  his  birth,  and  at  the  tune  of  his  parents' 
removal  to  this  State  he  was  fonrteen  years  of 
age.  In  1851  he  went  to  Golconda  and  clerked  in 
a  dry-goods  store,  of  which  N.  D.  Clark  was  the 
proprietor,  and  remained  with  him  eight  years, 
then  returning  to  the  farm.  In  1860  his  father 
gave  him  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land, 
and  in  the  following  year  lie  was  married  to  Miss 
Margaret  K.  Dixon,  their  marriage  being  celebrated 
.lune  23,  1861.  Mrs.  Cummins  is  the  daughter  of 
Thomas  E.  Dixon,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  in 
which  State  her  birth  also  Occurred,  the  date  being 
May  13,  1845.  With  her  parents  she  went  to  Hel- 
ena, Ark,  in  1859,  from  which  i)lace  they  removed 
to  Illinois.  In  1878  the  father  died  in  Arkansas, 
aged  seventy-two  j'ears.  His  wife  survived  him 
for  about  two  years,  dying  at  the  home  of  our 
subject  in  1880.  Mrs.  Cummins  is  one  of  four 
children  who  are  now  living,  tlie  others  being 
Amanda  Simpson,  of  Arkansas;  J.  M.,  a  resident 
of  Louisiana;  and  Ki'iilien  1...  who  lives  in  Ar- 
kansas. 

Among  the  first  to  respond  to  the  call  for 
troops  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  was  Mr.  Cum- 
mins, who  enlisted  as  a  private  in  1861,  becoming 


a  member  of  Company  K,  Fift^'-sixth  Illinois  In- 
fantry. He  was  discharged  from  service  February 
18,  1862,  on  account  of  poor  liealth,  returning  to 
his  wife,  who,  during  his  absence,  had  remained 
at  the  home  of  her  father.  They  removed  to  their 
present  farm  in  November,  1866.  Their  family 
comprises  the  following  living  children:  John  R., 
aged  twent3--one,  who  is  married  (his  wife  having 
been  Miss  Ida  M.  Weekl}'),  and  is  assisting  in  car- 
rying on  the  home  farm;  Robert  A.,  Lollie  A.  and 
William  A.,  aged  respectively  eighteen,  ten  and 
five  years,  are  still  living  under  the  parental  roof. 
Edward  II.,  Mary  J.,  Lillie  M.  and  an  infant  son 
are  deceased.  The  children  have  all  been  given 
good  educational  advantages,  Robert  A.,  the  next 
eldest,  having  received  a  certificate  to  teach.  For 
many  years  Mr.  Cummins  has  been  School  Diree- 
\  tor  and  Road  Commissioner.  He  is  a  true  and 
j  stanch  Republican  and  a  member  of  the  Knights 
of  Honor.  On  August  12.  1891,  he  and  his  wife 
joined  the  Methodist  Church,  our  subject  having 
a  license  to  exhort. 


i^-f^^ 


\i^^^ ICHOLAS  C.  JONES  was  born  in  Kentucky, 
III  ))]  July  10,  1829,  a  son  of  William  W.  and 
/1\,^:'  Catherine  (Youngblood)  Jones,  the  former 
of  whom  was  born  in  South  Carolina,  and  the  lat- 
ter in  Georgia.  William  W.  Jones  was  a  son  of 
William  D.  and  Dolilah  Jones,  both  natives  of 
South  Carolina.  William  W.  Jones  came  to  Illi- 
nois in  1847,  and  resided  in  Union  and  Johnson 
Counties  until  his  death  in  1858.  His  son  Nicho- 
las remained  at  home  until  he  was  twenty-five 
years  old,  when  he  started  in  life  for  himself  by 
renting  land,  which  he  continued  to  do  for  three 
years.  At  the  expiration  of  this  time  he  purcha.sed 
a  tract  of  seventy-two  acres  in  Cache  Township, 
Johnson  Count}',  and  he  has  by  his  industry  and 
good  management  been  enabled  to  add  to  it  from 
time  to  time  until  he  now  has  three  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  acres  in  townships  13  and  14,  range 
2,  sections  6,  range    II,  section    31,  township   13. 


616 


PiJItrUAlT  AND  lUOGUAl'IIlCAL  UKMEW. 


Tliougli  his  I'diicatioii  in  tlie  eoiiimon  country 
schools  was  hmiUnl  U)  twenty  nionllis  all  told, 
yet  by  studious  ai)plicHtion  he  (lualilied  himself  to 
teach,  and  taught  school  one  term.  He  was  accus- 
tomed, as  were  all  other  youuj^  men  in  the  curly 
da3'S,  to  wear  home-spun  and  home-made  clothes, 
and  it  was  a  ver^'  unusual  thing  to  be  able  to  buy  a 
suit  of  ready-made  or  "store"  clothes. 

Our  subject  was  married  July  23,  1854,  to  Eliza- 
beth Wilhelm,  who  was  born  in  North  Carolina, 
and  die(J  November  14,  1857.  He  was  next  mar- 
ried, April  14,  ISo'J,  to  Levina  Norval,  a  native  of 
Kentucky,  who  died  May  14,  1860.  He  was  mar- 
ried the  third  time  to  Sarah  E.  Boslian,  who  was 
born  in  North  Carolina,  and  whose  parents  were 
natives  of  the  same  State.  Mr.  Jones  has  four  chil- 
dren living,  viz:  John  W.,  Isabella,  Dawsy  L. 
and  Ellen  J.  The  three  eldest  are  married.  Mr. 
Jones  is  a  genial  and  courteous  gentleman,  and  is 
known  for  miles  around  as  "Uncle  Nick."  His 
friends  and  guests  are  always  sure  of  a  hearty  wel- 
come. The  house  in  which  he  lives  and  the  other 
improvements  on  his  farm  are  all  of  the  best,  and 
he  is  looked  upon  as  a  model  farmer.  He  is  a 
Democrat  in  politics,  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  and  of  Belknap  Lodge  No.  822,  A.  F.  <fe 
A.  M. 


Mi-^i-i^ll 


J~  OHN  H.  JENKINS  is  a  son  of  Nimrod  Jenk- 
ins, a  native  of  Ohio  County,  Ind.,  who  was 
born  June  9,  1816.  He  was  reared  on  the 
farm,  receiving  little  education  in  school, 
but  being  a  young  man  of  bright  intellect  and 
quick  and  accurate  observation,  he  acquired  a  fair 
practical  education  and  made  a  fair  success  of 
his  life.  In  18.^)6  he  placed  all  his  household  goods, 
horses,  cattle  and  hogs,  on  a  tlatboat  and  floated 
down  the  broad  and  beautiful  Ohio  River  to  Cave 
in  Rock,  111.,  where  he  bought  a  piece  of  timbered 
land  and  began  to  improve  a  farm.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  1846  to  Margaret  Cooper,  a  daughter  of 
John  W.  Cooper,  a  native  of  Maryland.  To  this  mar- 


riage were  born  seven  children,  only  two  of  whom 
are  now  living,  William  O.  and  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  The  former  is  now  living  in  Hardin 
County,  engaged  in  farming.  The  father  died  in 
Hardin  County,  March  20,  1873,  but  liis  widow, 
since  then  married  to  James  Rose,  is  still  living  on 
the  old  homestead. 

John  H.  .lenkins  was  born  in  Ohio  County', 
Ind.,  on  the  24th  of  November,  1852.  In'  the 
summer  months  he  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm 
and  in  the  winter  attended  school.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  years  his  father  gave  him  one  day  out 
of  each  week  for  his  own  use  and  he  devoted  this 
time  to  the  raising  of  a  crop  of  wheat,  which  he 
sold  for  $65.  This  money  he  used  to  pay  his  ex- 
penses at  Ewing  College  for  six  months;  he  then 
taught  four  years  in  the  country  schools,  after  which 
he  attended  the  State  Normal  School  at  Carbondale 
for  two  years.  Returning  to  Elizabethtown  he 
taught  two  sessions  of  school  in  that  town,  and 
then  attended  the  State  Normal  School  at  Bloom- 
ingtou.  111.,  for  one  year.  Again  returning  to 
Elizabethtown,  he  taught  two  sessions  of  school, 
and  in  the  j'car  1881  was  appointed  County 
Superintendent  of  Schools  for  one  year  by  the 
County  Commissi  ners,  after  which  time  he  was 
elected  to  the  same  position  for  four  years,  in  the 
meantime  attending  the  State  Normal  School  at 
Carbondale,  111.,  for  one  year,  and  graduating  in 
1884.  After  his  graduation  he  held  the  posi- 
tion of  Principal  of  the  school  at  Elizabethtown  for 
one  year,  and  then  engaged  as  a  merchant  in  the 
same  place.  Relinquishing  that  business  at  the  end 
of  a  3'ear,  he  taught  for  another  three  years  in 
Elizabethtown,  and  for  one  year  at  Ilalstead,  Kan., 
and  then  returned  to  this  place  and  accepted  the 
position  of  Principal  of  Schools,  which  position  he 
still  holds. 

Mr.  Jenkins  w,as  married  April  8,  1885,  to  Mat- 
tie  E.  Wilkinson,  widow  of  Charles  Wilkinson,  an 
attorney  of  P^lizatiethtown.  Her  maiden  name  was 
Smith  and  she  is  a  daughter  of  Dr.  W.  E.  Smith, 
of  Benton,  111.  Mr.  Jenkins  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
he  is  a  member  of  Elizabeth  Lodge  No.  276,  A.  F. 
it  A.  M.,  and  also  of  Empire  Lodge  No.  54,  I.  O. 
O.  F.     In  politics,   he  is  a  member  of   the  Demo- 


PORTRAIT  AND    RlOGRArHlCAL    REVIEW. 


cratic  party.  In  social  circles,  our  subject  is  widely 
and  favorably  known  for  his  earnest  purpose,  use- 
ful activity  and  integrity',  and  is  a  credit  to  Eliza- 
Nethtown,  for  whose  support  and  advancement  he 
has  long  used  both    his  influence  and  finance. 


'td- 


VILLIAM  J.  J.  PARIS,  M.  I).,  is  a  resident 
of  Elizabeth  town,  Hardin  Count}',  and  a 
son  of  Dr.  J.  L.  Paris,  who  was  born  in 
Smith  County,  Tenn.,  January  30,  1830.  Dr.  Paris, 
Sr.,  was  reared  on  the  farm  and  at  the  age  of  ten 
years  he  removed  with  his  father  to  Crittenden 
Count}',  K}'.,  with  an  ox-team  and  wagon,  and 
settled  down  on  a  farm.  Young  .1.  L.  Paris  then 
worked  on  the  farm  summers  and  attended  school 
during  the  winter  months,  obtaiuing,  however,  but 
a  limited  education  in  his  youth.  He  studied 
medicine  and  graduallj'  drifted  into  practice.  In 
1871  he  removed  to  Hardin  Count}',  111.,  and  con- 
tinued in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  was  a 
very  successful  practitioner,  remaining  there  until 
1889,  when  he  returned  to  his  old  liome  in  Ken- 
tucky and  has  since  made  that  liis  home.  He 
was  married  in  May,  1852,  to  Nancy  S.  Smart, 
daughter  of  John  Smart,  a  native  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  by  her  had  fourteen  children,  five  of 
whom  are  still  living,  viz.:  William  J.  J.;  A.  M., 
a  farmer  in  Hardin  County;  T.  F.,  also  a  farmer  in 
Hardin  County;  W.  S.,  a  farmer  in  Crittenden 
County,  Ky.;  and  Louisiana  E.,  wife  of  E.  J.  Ox- 
ford, a  farmer  of  Hardin  County. 

William  J.  J.  Paris,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  Crittenden  County,  Ky.,  ApriI-27, 
1853,  and  spent  his  early  days  in  assisting  his  fa- 
ther in  summer  time  and  attending  school  in  the 
winter  months.  At  the  age  of  nine  years  he 
met  with  an  accident  in  a  sorghum  mill,  which 
caused  the  loss  of  the  entire  right  hand,  and 
also  the  loss  of  the  two  first  fingers  on  the  left 
hand.  He  began  the  study  of  medicine  while  yet 
a  boy,  and  as  he  grew  up  gradually  established  a 
good    practice   and  is    to-day  one  of   the  leading 


physicians  of  Hardin  County,  graduating  from  the 
N.ashville  Medical  College,  February  23, 1882.  He 
W.1.S  married  April  (i,  1875,  to  Elizabeth  F.  I.ee,  a 
daughter  of  A.  J.  and  Caroline  Lee,  of  Tenn- 
essee. By  his  marriage  he  has  five  children  liv- 
ing, namely:  James  Ernest,  Maud  Ethel,  Allen 
De  Witt,  Bessie  and  Augustus  Green.  Dr.  Paris  is 
a  member  of  Empire  Lodge  No.  54,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  at 
Elizabethtown,  and  of  Hardin  Lodge  No.  3,133, 
K.  of  II.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Democratic  party, 
and  both  he  and  wife  are  members  of.  and  earnest 
workers  in,  the  Jlethodist  Episcopal  Church.  He 
is  a  practical  business  man  of  integrity,  and  as  a 
citizen  is  ever  ready  to  do  his  share  in  the  promo- 
tion of  local  advancement.  Genial  in  manner, 
sympathetic  in  exjjression,  he  has  a  host  of  sincere 
friends. 


i^^HOMAS  BEAN  w.as  born  in  Kentucky,  Au- 
m^^  gust  4,  1827,  and  is  a  sou  of  Thomas  and 
^^  Elizabeth  (Martin)  Bean,  both  natives  of 
Tennessee.  The  father  owned  a  farm  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  followed  farming  until  his  death,  in 
1827.  He  remained  at  home  until  he  was  twentv- 
three  years  old,  having  had  during  his  home  life 
about  three  months'  education  all  told.  His 
mother  sold  the  farm  in  Kentucky  and  removed  to 
Illinois  by  wagon,  crossing  the  Ohio  River  at  New 
Liberty  Landing,  and  purch.ased  land  in  Johnson 
County  in  December,  18.')0.  She  lived  there  un- 
til 18t;0,  when  she  sold  her  land  and  resided  with 
her  children  until  her  death  in  18G6. 

When  the  war  came  on,  Thomas  Bean  enlisted 
at  Mt.  Pisgah,  Johnson  County,  as  a  member  of 
Company  C,  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Illinois 
Infantry,  and  served  until  March  5,  1863,  when  he 
wiis  honorably  discharged  on  account  of  physical 
disability.  He  was  in  poor  health  all  the  time  he 
was  in  the  service.  Returning  home  he  rented 
his  mother's  farm  and  lived  there  about  one  year, 
and  then  rented  another  farm  in  the  same  county. 


618 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RKVIKW. 


In  1880  and  1882,  he  purchased  land  on  sections 
2  and  35, Cache  Township,  and  now  lias  as  good  a 
farm  as  tliere  is  in  tlie  towiisliip,  upon  whicli  tlie 
house  and  oilier  buildinjis  are  also  first  class.  He 
was  married  January  22,  1851,  to  Martha  J.  Bry- 
ant, who  died  December  27,  1852.  September  24, 
1854,  he  was  married  the  second  time,  to  Naomi 
Jones,  who  was  born  in  Kentuckj-  on  the  20th  of 
July,  1883.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bean  have  seven  chil- 
dren, viz:  Martha  J.,  Thomas  M.,  William  Findlej', 
Mary  Ann,  Arna  T.,  Carlos  C,  and  Sarah  C,  who 
is  engaged  in  teaching  school  in  her  home  district. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bean  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  he  is  a  member  of  the  Grand 
Army  Post  at  Belknap,  and  of  the  Republican 
party. 


THOMAS  B.  TIIRELKP:LD  resides  on  an  ex- 
cellent farm  of  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  acres  on  section  24,  which  has  been 
his  home  for  the  past  twenty-two  years  and  which 
is  the  result  of  his  own  perseversince,  energy  and 
good  management.  He  is  deservedly  classed 
among  the  reputable  men  of  Pope  County,  for  in 
the  conduct  of  his  business  affairs  and  in  discharg- 
ing the  duties  belonging  to  the  various  relations 
of  life  he  has  been  conscientious  and  just.  He  is 
a  product  of  the  county  in  which  he  now  lives, 
his  birth  occurring  December  2,  1837,  his  parents 
being  Thomas  B.  and  Sally  (Kimberlin)  Threlkeld, 
both  of  whom  were  born  in  Kentucky,  the  former 
in  Henry  Count}'  in  1796,  and  the  latter  J\Iarch  25, 
1801,  and  as  they  were  married  in  1817,  Mrs.  Threl- 
keld was  but  seventeen  years  old  when  her  first 
child  was  born.  Thomas  B.,  the  father,  was  a  son  of 
Abram  Threlkeld,  an  Englishman  who  came  to 
America  when  a  young  man,  and  first  settled  in 
Pennsylvania  and  later  in  Kentucky,  wliere  he  fol- 
lowed agricultural  pursuits  with  reasonable  success 
throughout  life.  He  was  married  twice,  and  b}' 
his  first  wife  became  tlie  father  of  three  children, 
of  whom  Thomas  B.  was  one.     He  was  a  member 


of  a  wealthy  Englisli  family,  and  died  when  about 
eighty  years  of  age.  Thomas  B  and  Sally  Threl- 
keld came  to  Illinois  with  two  children  in  1824, 
and  as  they  were  well-to-do  tlie.y  settled  on  an  im- 
proved farm  four  miles  from  Golconda,  but  soon 
after  bought  a  farm  of  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  acres  one  mile  southwest  of  that  place,  on 
which  the  father  died  in  December,  18C8,  aged 
seventy-two  years.  He  left  his  widow  and  chil- 
dren a  fine  property.  He  was  a  carpenter  and 
builder  as  well  as  a  farmer,  and  worked  at  his 
trade  in  Goleonda  for  manj'  years,  and  a  number 
of  the  buildings  which  he  erected  are  still  stand- 
ing. He  was  a  soldier  in  the  AVar  of  1812  and 
Thomas  B.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  well  remem- 
bers his  old  musket  and  canteen.  A  family  of 
thirteen  children  was  born  to  himself  and  wife, 
three  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Those  who  reached 
maturity  were  Almeda,  widow  of  Frank  M.  AVea- 
ver,  who  is  sixty-nine  3^ears  of  age  and  lives  on 
her  farm  in  this  county;  Thomas  B;  John  K.,  who 
died  in  1845,  aged  twenty  years;  Harriet,  who  died 
in  Johnson  County,  111.,  the  wife  of  James  Ham- 
mons;  Daniel,  who  died  in  1890  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
one  years;  William,  who  died  in  1888,  aged  fifty- 
seven  years;  Mary  E.  in  1855,  aged  twenty-two 
years,  the  wife  of  James  H.  Terry;  Martha  in  1884, 
aged  forty-nine  years;  and  Sally,  wife  of  Milton 
Lucas,  in  1892,  aged  seventy-four  years. 

Thomas  B.  was  the  eleventh  of  the  family  and 
the  fourth  son.  His  youthful  days  were  spent  on 
a  farm  and  in  attending  the  common  schools.  Jan- 
uary 18,  1860,  he  married  Miss  Louamma  E. 
Thompson,  a  daughter  of  Gordon  and  Jane  (Clem- 
ents) Thompson,  the  former  of  Virginia  and  the 
latter  of  Kentucky.  They  were  married  in  Pope 
County,  111.,  in  1836,  both  being  twenty-six  years 
of  age.  Gordon  Thompson  first  came  to  Illinois 
to  visit  his  mother,  and  here  entered  forty  acres  of 
land  for  her,  after  which  be  intended  to  return 
to  Virginia,  but  liked  the  country  so  well  that  he 
decided  to  remain  here.  He  became  the  owner  of 
a  fine  farm  of  four  hundred  acres,  on  which  he 
died  in  1892,  aged  about  eighty  years.  He  was 
twice  married,  and  two  sons  and  two  daughters  by 
his  first  wife  survive  him.  She  died  November 
8,  1862,  aged  about  forty-nine  years. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW. 


619 


To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thrclkcld  eleven  children  h.ave 
been  born.  George  >.'.,  .a  farmer  near  by,  is  married 
and  has  three  sons  and  two  daughters;  Fanny, 
wife  (if  Willis  Cosby,  who  is  a  farmer,  has  one  son; 
.James  G.,  a  salesman  in  a  mercantile  establishment 
of  Golconda,  is  married  and  h.as  two  sons  and  one 
daughter;  Att^'S  E.,  Cora,  Orin  and  Ross  are  at  home. 
Nora  died  at  the  age  of  eight  years  and  three 
others  in  infancy. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  'I'hrelkeld  have  every  reason  to  be 
proud  of  their  children,  for  the}'  are  intelligent, 
industrious  and  law-abiding,  and  James  G.  and 
Cora  iiave  taught  school.  Mr.  Tiirelkeld  has  always 
been  a  Republican,  and  his  wife  is  a  member  of 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  15oth  are 
active  and  vigurcjus  for  tlieir  years,  giving  every 
promise  of  many  more  years  of  usefulness. 


\t/  .VBKN  M.  MrUKIK,  a  leading  citizen,  pros- 
I  (?g)  perous  business  man  and  successful  general 
1^^  agriculturist  and  stock-raiser,  cultivating 
his  line  farm  located  on  section  2,  townsiiip  1."), 
range  1,  is  also  profitably  engaged  in  handling 
merchandise  in  Hound  Knob,  a  village  in  the  same 
section,  Massac  County,  111.  A  native  of  the  .State 
and  county,  our  subject  is  widely  known  and  highly 
esteemed  as  an  enterprising  citizen  of  sterling  in- 
tegrity of  character.  His  father,  Green  L.  JIurrie, 
an  early  settler  of  Illinois,  was  born  in  North  Car- 
olina in  1832,  and,  brought  up  on  a  farm,  worked 
hard  from  his  l)oyhood.  Hcmoving  to  Tennessee 
with  his  ))areiits,  he  received  a  rudimentary  educa- 
tion, but  spent  most  of  his  time  in  farming  and 
experienced  the  privations  of  pioneer  life.  The 
family  tinally  removed  to  Massac  Count}',  111., 
where  Grandfatiier  Murrie  entered  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  land. 

The  inotlier  of  our  subject  was  in  girlhood  Miss 
Melinda  Walton,  a  Kentucky  lady.  She  died  in 
1^()1,  and  some  time  after  the  father  conti-actcd  a 
second  marriage,  with  Miss  Klizabeth  .1.  Smith,  who 
is  also  deceased.  When  first  married  (Jreen  L. 
Murrie  bought  a  farm,  tiie  soil  of  which  he  con- 
tentedly tilled  twelve  years,  when  he  sold  out  and 
went  to  western  Kansas,  thinking  the  climate 
would  be  beneficial  to  the  health  of  the  family. 
The  new  homestead  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  was  located  in  Ottawa  County  and  was  [tva'x- 
rie  laud,  partly  impro\c(i  and  a  violent  <'<intrast  to 
the  limber  land  hilhertu  owned  by  him.  Afli-r  a 
iinnil>erof  years  spent  in  this  (lart  of  the  State,  the 
father  of  our  subject  removed  to  .Mitchell  County, 
and  having  |)revioiisly  sold  out  his  lute  homestead 


Ijought  an  unimproved  farm,  broke  the  land,  built 
a  house  and  barns  and  made  a  comfortable  home,  but 
was  seized  with  the  spirit  of  unrest  and  removed 
to  Ozark,  Mo.,  where  he  purchased  land  and  re- 
sided for  the  four  succeeding  years.  At  the  expi- 
ration of  that  time  he  removed  to  Indian  Terri- 
tory and  dwelt  in  the  Choctaw  Nation,  where  he 
leased  land  and  farmed  until  his  death  in  18'.tl. 
15y  his  first  marri.age  Green  L.  Murrie  became 
the  father  of  four  children:  Dora,  deceased;  Eliza- 
beth, wife  of  Lee  Faulhalier;  .Tennie,  deceased;  and 
Laben  M.,  our  subject.  The  children  of  the  sec- 
ond marriage  were  William,  located  at  Ft.  Smith, 
Ark.;  Martha  -J.,  deceased;  Mary,  wife  of  C.  M. 
Dowell,  Indian  Tcrritor\-;  Hattie,  wife  of  J.  Upton, 
a  I!ai)tist  ministcrof  Indian  Territory.  Laben  M., 
the  fourth  child  of  the  first  marriage,  was  lK)rn 
ill  Massac  County  August  20,  1859.  lie  was  reared 
upon  a  farm  and  .accompanied  his  father  to  Kan- 
sas, but  when  thirteen  years  old  he  returned  to 
Massac  County,  and,  thrown  entirel}'  upon  his  own 
resources,  worked  upcm  farms,  a  portion  of  the 
time  being  in  the  employ  of  his  brother-in-law, 
who  lived  upon  the  old  homestead  of  Grandfather 
JIurrrie.  Our  subject  received  a  primary  education, 
and  through  close  observation  fitted  himself  for 
the  battle  of  life.  At  twenty-tw^o  years  of  age  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  .\.  May,  of  Massac 
Count}',  a  most  estimable  lady  and  a  true  help- 
mate, whose  parents  yet  reside  in  the  vicinity  of 
her  home.  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Murrie  rented 
a  farm  for  one  year  and  at  the  exi)iration  of  a 
twelvemonth  received  forty  acres  from  his  grand- 
mother's old  pl.ace,  and  buying  twenty  acres  more, 
made  his  home  there  fc>r  four  years,  when  he  sold 
out  for  $l,.')(lll  and  jiurchased  the  valuable  home- 
stead where  he  now  resides.  The  ninety-four  acres 
were  then  almost  unimproved,  but  our  subject  and 
his  wife  made  their  home  in  a  humble  little  log  cabin 
on  the  place,  and  with  stout  hearts  courageously 
toiled  until  the  hmd  was  brought  up  to  a  high 
state  of  cultivation  and  excellent  buildings  had 
repl.aced  the  rude  structures  of  early  days.  The 
home  residence  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  in 
this  locality,  .and  the  farm  is  one  of  the  he^t  in 
this  portion  of  the  State.  .Mr.  Murrie  is  a  self-made 
man,  who,  having  energetically  won  his  upward 
way,  is  fully  entitled  to  the  respect  now  paid  to 
his  business  ability,  (^ne  child,  a  daughter,  Eflie, 
has  blessed  his  marriage  and  brought  yet  more 
sunshine  into  the  jileasant  home.  Financially  pros- 
pered, Mr.  Murrie  is  puliticall}'  a  Democrat  aiuL  a 
lilieral-spiritcd  and  progressive  citi/.en,  is  ever 
ready  to  do  his  full  share  in  matters  of  public  wel- 
fare, having  long  been  .accounted  an  important 
factor  in  local  eulerpri.ses  and  improvement*. 


BIOGI^p^I^I^P^- 


Abb(»tl,  J.  M '2' 

Abbott,  J.  S 'Vi3 

Abbott,  W.  A i:" 

Adams,  G.  A 40(i 

Adams,  J.  A 5:» 

Adams,  John 2'' 

Adams,  John  Q 39 

Albrijjht,  W.  H MO 

Alexander,  Wilson 203 

Allsip.G.T 377 

Anderson,  E.  P 525 

Anderson,  J.  O 5M 

Arnold,  Martha 120 

Arthur,  Chester  A 93 

Atwell,  Capt.  Saninel 4U 


Bain,  Blevvett 303 

Bain,  W.  B 174 

Baker,  W.J 149 

Barger.  A.  S 304 

Barger.B.S 529 

Uarser,  F.  S G13 

Barger,  J.  S 365 

Barger,  N.  8 455 

Bar.'ur.S.S 422 

BargiT,  W.  S 379 

Bai-ham,  R.  C 420 

Barnctt,  Caswell 2S» 

Barnwell,  F.  M 368 

Barnwell,J.C 449 

Bath, Henry 6(W 

Bauer,  Capt.  Ottoman 168 

Beanies,  F.  F SaS 

Bean,  Thomas 617 

Boanman,  I).  F 250 

Bclfoitl,  Capt.  Peter 203 

Bender,  Benjamin 532 

Bengert,  Christian 218 

Benson,  A.  (i 318 


Ben.son,  J.  M 1,50 

Bilderbeck,  C.  A S88 

Billiriffton,  Hardy 367 

Blanchlill,  Mrs.  E.  M 234 

Boos,  G.  O .518 

Borniann,  John 509 

Boulden,  Thomas 498 

Bowker,  J.  I' 463 

Bradford,  Mrs.  Margaret 223 

Bradshaw,  A.  L Hi 

Bratton,  George,  M.  D 526 

Breedlove,  Malhew 154 

Brenningmeyer,  Dietrich . . .  .580 

Bridges,  D.  V 178 

Bridges,  H.  T 126 

Bridges,  J.  D 5U 

Bridges,  J.  S 139 

Bridwell,  W.  L 568 

Broadway,  J.  B 128 

Brockett,  S.  0 546 

Bronson,  J.  E.,  M.  D 239 

Brown,  Charles .5(i7 

Brown,  J.  P 589 

Brown,  J.  R 229 

Brown,  Hon.  W.  R 1)60 

Bruner,  A.  Z 478 

Bruner,  W.  P 691 

Buchanan,  James 75 

Buchanan,  J.  H fi02 

Buddenbaum ,  F.  D 585 

Burgess,  J.  W 426 

Burke,  J.  H 283 

Burnett,  Asahel 472 

Burnett,  Fred 145 

Burnett,  M.  L 122 

Burns,  B.R 300 

Burns,  \V.  A 138 

Burris,  ,S.  B 225 

Bunis,  T.  R.,  M.  D 2B.i 

Burton,  J.  C 593 

Butler,  John 280 


Caldw.ll.J.  I'. . 
C'alhoon,  a.  J.. 
Calhoon,  T.  H. 


Card,  James 1.58 

Carmichael,C(>l.  Eagleton..447 

Carson,  S.  VV 284 

Carter,  John 410 

Carter,  W.  P 494 

Casper,  Jenuah 502 

Casper,  J.  F  453 

Casper,  W.J 451 

Chapman,  Mrs.  M.  E 314 

Chapman,  Hon.  P.  T 375 

Chester,  N.  L COS 

Choat,I.  M 504 

Choat,  J.M .iC6 

Chrisman,  J.  M 332 

Clanahan.  S.  V 508 

Clark,  B.F 5.51 

Clark, L.J 399 

Clark,  W.H 5B5 

Clayton,  Mrn.  JIaria 481 

Cleveland,  S.  Grovci 103 

Clymer,  J.  H  134 

Collier,  Thomas 226 

Conley.  L.  C 688 

Conley ,  W  illiam 483 

Cooley,  J.  C 138 

Copland,  J.  S 3.53 

Copland,  L.  W .533 

Cotton,  J.  H 162 

Cover,  W.H 261 

Covington,  A.M.,  M.  D 424 

Co.\,J.N 432 

Craig,  P.  A 549 

Crow,  G.  A 210 

Crum,  J.S 421 

Cullum,J.G 240 

Cummins,  Casper G14 

Cummins,  J.  L 232 

Cummins,  J.  S.,M.  D 2.57 

Cummins,  J.  T Uo 


Dauiron.  J.  M.  C.  M.  I) lU.i 

Davtd.J.F 513 

Davis,  W.  Y 1»2 

Davisson,  J.  H 462 

Deans,  W.  D 1.54 


Deck,C.  S 1^:, 

Dinwiddle,  R.  A fifj;) 

Downey,  J.  M 43,; 

Driver,  I.  E r>4i 

Duncan,  F.  M 47,1 

Dunn,  Pnulia 2H.', 


Eccles,  John i^oi 

Edmondson.T.  A i.vs 

Elkins,  A.  H ...264 

Elkhis,  Joshua 55); 

Elliott,  J.  M en 

Estes,  C.  P  47, 


Feezor,  J.  G 2.K 

Fern,  A.  J :ji.s 

Fern,  L.  W 41,; 

Fern,  W.  J.,  M.  D 417 

Ferrell,  Milas 35rt 

Field,  Abner 141; 

Fillmore,  Millard 67 

Finny,  D.  A lou 

Fisher.  H.  C,  M.  D 439 

Fisher,  O.  M ,5«2 

Fisher,  R.  M 233 

Fitch,  W.  A no 

Flo.vd,  J.  B 43;! 

Flo.vd,  J.  K 499 

Foote,  W .  1 448 

Fowler,  Hon.  H.  R S8fi 

Francis,  J.  S 572 

Frayser,  Virginius .3.55 

Freeman,  D.  H 582 

Frizzell,  I,.  H 200 

Fry,  H.  D 42>i 

Fulkerson,  Newton .iSl 


r,  W.  E 2:io 


INDEX. 


Garfield,  James  A.. . 

(iarrett.  G.  W 

GibBOn.G.  E 

Gibson,  J  T 

Gilbert,  Jo.. 11,  Jr.... 

Gilbert   \v.  H 

Gill, J.; 

Gi"—-  B 

i 

.j.ass,  J.L 

Glassfortl, ''.  A 

Gla-f'         i.  M 

r  S 

Gore,  J   

Gore,  J.  \V 

G«re,T.  B.,  M.  I>.... 
Gowan,  J.  E.,  M.  D.. 

Graham,  J.  F 

Grant,  Uljsses  S 

Gregory,  F.  A 

GritUth.J.  M 

Grissom,  W.  M 

Gullett,J.  S 


Hahs,  William 585 

Flalcom.  J.  F 191 

Hammack.T.  A 251 

Hankins,  M.  A 214 

Harmon,  Rev.  J.  F 564 

Harner,  Preston 329 

Harrison,  Benjamin 107 

Harrison,  William  Henry  r. . .  51 

Hart,J.B .Wl 

Hart,  S.  F.,  M.D 411 

Hayes,  Rutherford  B SI 

Hazel,  F.  M 20S 

Heaton,  J.  C.  B 417 

Hcaton,  J.  W.,  Jr 408 

Heaton,  J.  W.,  Sr 442 

Hedriek,  W.  M 169 

Heideman,  J.  \V 501 

Helm,  Frank 197 

Henry,  L.  R 241 

Herring,  W.  J..  Jr  181 

Herring,  W.  J.,Sr 228 

Hess,  Col.  Samuel 572 

Hester,  S.  W 457 

Hicks,  H.  H 212 

Hicks,  W.J 4!4C 

llileman,  W.  K 279 

Hill,(!.  W.,M.  D 419 

HotlgcJ.  H 155 

Hood,  Robert 488 

Hood,  R.  F 201 

Horslcy,G.  W 491 

Hosick.J.T 170 

Houchiii,  E.  R 468 

H..USC,  Mrs.  Lisa 141 

lliiuis.  W.T 477 

Howell,  T..M 221 

llovvcrton,  Randolph 444 

Hughey,  W,  I j.vi 

MuMi,.hrey,T.  B 105 


Hunsaker,  Mortimer 

Hutchison,  R.  W.,  M.  D. 


Jack, John VI 

Jackson,  Andrew 43 

Jackson,  Samuel 492 

Jacobs,  Ij.  F 544 

Jeirerson.  Thoncas 27 

Jenkins,  J.  H 6in 

Jennings,  Daniel 476 

Jennings,  Elijah 172 

Johnson,  Andrew 8;j 

Johnson,  H.  J.  N 149 

Johnson,  J.  H 296 

Jones,  B.  0 404 

Jones,  J.  A 412 

Jones,  J.  H 5;i5 

Jones,  L.  G 211 

Jones,  N.  C (iir. 


Kelley.H.  R 205 

Kennedy,  J.  M 137 

Keltner,  J.  M 480 

Keltner,  S.  F 4.'>9 

Kerley,  Q.  T 472 

Kidd,  A.  V 579 

Kivitt,  J.  H 144 

Kraper,  W.  H 511 

Kuykendall,  J.  B 179 


tafont,  Eueene 19.1 

Laird, G.W.,Sr 514 

I.,ane,  J.  E 207 

Lange,  W.  M 519 

Lasley,  G.  W 376 

Lauderdale,  G.  W 512 

Laurence,  L.  1 161 

Laurence,  T.  N S41 

Lavender,  Lewis 339 

Lay,  Levi 600 

Leadbetter,  John 247 

Ledbetler,  G.  W 467 

Ledbetter.  J.  A 418 

Ledbettor,  J .  N 4M 

Ledbetter,  J.  y.  A :!50 

Letlbetter,  J.  T 366 

Leverelt,  David 297 

U-wis.  F.  G .571 

Liggett.  Thomas 131 


Lincoln,  Abraham.. 
Looney,  Hon.  W.  A. 


M 


Mackey,  J.  C 164 

Madison,  James 31 

Mangnm.H.  Y.,  M.  D 612 

Marshall,  Charles 524 

Martin,  A.  J 539 

Martin,  D.  G 597 

Martin,  William 461 

Mathis,R.  D 282 

Maupin,  James 198 

May,  A.  C 558 

May,  Merit 570 

May  nor,  J.  N 294 

McCall.R.  M.,  M.D 215 

McCormick,  C.  1 311 

McCoy.  H.  W.,M.  D 196 

McCoy,  T.  W 248 

Median,  W.  S .5.53 

MrCnlluch,  J.  M .575 

M.Evoy,  P.G 373 

Mcl-arlan,  J.  B 423 

MiKatiidge,  P.  W 380 

JI.Cfi-.Hon.  F.  M 495 

McGinis,  R.  J.,  M.  D 487 

McGown,  Thomas 157 

McKce,  R.  G.  B 573 

McKee,  J.  R 476 

Meier,  Z.T .160 

Melton,  D.  0 522 

Miller,  Henry .530 

Miller.J.H 467 

Miller,  Robert 441 

Miller,  S.D 547 

Mizell,  Josiah 577 

Modglin,  W. T 434 

Monroe,  James 35 

Moore,  J.  0 4«2 

Moore,  William 209 

Moore,  W.  H 242 

Morris,  D.  W 307 

Morris,  J.  H.,  Sr 516 

Morris.  Hon.  W.  S 193 

Morse,  F.  G 336 

Morse,  H.F 3!« 

Morse,  Levi 510 

Morse,  S.  L 185 

Morton,  J.  1 468 

Mosely,  J.  H 350 

Mount,  J.  L 171 

Mower.v,  John 551 

Moyers,  W.  H 312 

Moyers,  W.  C :157 

Mozley ,  A.  T 173 

Murray, T.J 190 

Murric,  L.  M 619 

Myi^es,  J.  W 518 


Noble,A.  H 

Norris,  J.  H.,  M.  D. 

Norris,  P.  H  

Nuckalls,  Robert... 


Oglcsby.T.  L... 
Orr,  J.  A.,  M.  D. 


Palmer,  T.  J 188 

Paris,  W.J.  J.,  M.D 617 

Parker,  Lucas 502 

Parker,  Hon.  I.  A.  J .187 

Parsons,  W.  B 333 

Patrick,  G.  W 511 

Pearce,  Gamer 2S6 

Peeler,  R.  D R.M 

Perkins,  A.J 124 

Petershagen,  J.  H .538 

Peterson, T.  G 369 

Petter,  A.  J .506 

Pickles.  M.  .M ,590 

Pierce,  Hon.  A.  D 117 

Pierce,  Franklin 71 

Pippins,  Gilford 251 

Plater,  Hon.  L.  F 610 

Polk,  James  K ' .59 

Poor,  Mrs.  S.  A I8« 

Poor,  S.  D 515 

Price,  J.  M 151 

Proctor,  J.  H 524 

Proctor,  T.  y 195 


yuaiilc.  August 415 


Rjlgain^,  Mrs.  S.  A a^ 

Rainpeiidahl.  Henry,  Sr .505 

Randolph,  F.  M 001 

Randolph.  J.  W ,152 

Randolph,  Ix>gan 288 

Ready,  James,  M.D 206 

Reagan,  Klisha 271 

Rcbninii .  Jacob 696 

Recs.S.  H 1.52 

Reeves.  D.  W 243 

Reeves,  W.J 324 


INDEX. 


Reid.J.  M SM 

Rcid.VV.  L 808 

KeniUiMimn,  D.  H 272 

Keiilfro.T  J 159 

Reynolds,  T.  B 317 

Khoads,  S.  .7.,  M.  D 383 

Rich.  Obediah 321 

Rirliardson,  James 587 

Richter,  August 584 

Ridcnhower,  C.  C 258 

ridenhower,  H.  M S97 

Kidenhower,  R.  R 212 

Riepe,  F.U.,Jr iW 

Roberts.  T.  L 581 

Robertson,  W.  K 6«7 

Rodenberg,  C.  H 575 

Rose.B.  VV 326 

Rose,  C.  C 530 

Rose,  J.  C 3(ifi 

Rose.l'.W 217 

Roskeinmer,  Henry 473 

Ross,  W.K 138 

Rustling,  J.  W 384 


Salvin,  Mrs.  Maria 2()fl 

Sanders,  J.  W 322 

Sawyer.  George 484 

Schmidt,  J.  H 4B6 

Schneemann,  William 477 

Schwegmann,  Henry 571 

Scott,  Theophilus 271 

Shearer,  J.  J 397 

Sheerer,  Mrs.  M.  M 321 

Shick,  Nathan 5.13 

Shufflcbarser,  G.  W .512 

Sim,  J.  J 287 

Simmons,  Wilej' 227 

Simpson,  F.  M 489 

Simpson,  J.  A 521 

Slack,  Gilson 100 

Slack,  James 245 


Slack,J.M 471 

Smith,  G.  W 344 

Smith,  J.  A 298 

Smith,  J.  M 182 

Smith,  R.N 587 

Smith,  W.F 2»9 

Smoot,  B.  F 277 

Smoot,G.  W 281 

Snow,  W.  A 123 

Sommer,  William 427 

Spann,  Hon.  W.  A 127 

Spear,  Prof.  J.  S 222 

Stahons,  J.  A 325 

Stanley,  Overton 30(i 

Stan.sberry,  Mrs.  S.  E 318 

Starkes,  A.N 456 

Steagall,  J.  R 33« 

Stewart,  G.  A.,  M.  D 460 

Steyer,  Theodore 142 

Stone,G.  W 318 

Stone,  J.  M 262 

Stone,  Joseph 586 

Stone,  U.  W 337 

Story, J. D 413 

Stoul,  VV.  W 316 

Stubbs,T.  H 391 

Suit,  W.J 276 

Swenner,  F.  A 331 


Taylor,  CM 

Taylor,  J.  P 

Taylor,  R.  F 

Taylor,  Zachary 

Thacker,  F.  B 

Thomas,  W.  G 

Thomas,  W.  H 

Thompson,  D.G 

Thompson,  W.  B 

Threlkeld.T.  B 

Throgmorton ,  Josiah . 
Throgniorton,  Josiah. 


Todd,  W.B 268 

Toler,  Larkin 368 

TroTillion,  Ferris HSl 

Trovillion,  J.  A. .  M.  D 244 

Trovillion,  J.  K 224 

Trovillion,  P.  V 188 

Tune,  C.  P .320 

Turner,  Daniel .347 

Turner,  Mrs.  E.  A 490 

Tyler,  John .55 


Utloy.T.  J .598 


Van  Buren,  Martin  

Vancleve,  Prof.  M.  T. . . 

Vaughn, S.E 

Veatch,  J.  A 

Veatch ,  Pleasant 

Veatch,  T.  F 

Vickers,  Hon.  A.  K 

Vinyard,  John 


w 


Walbright,  G.  W.,  M.  D. 

Walker,  W.  P 

Wallace,  J.  H 

Walter  Bros 

Walter,  Christian 

Walters,  Bordan 


Waltber,  Benjamin 335 

Washington,  George 19 

Wasson,  A.  E .5.55 

Wasson.J.  A.,M.  D 640 

Webb,  Elisha 278 

Weekly, E.C 559 

Weeks,  W.F 135 

Wellman,  H.  W 313 

Welty.J.  R 385 

Wheeler,  E.  R 311 

White,  W.  0.,M.  D 349 

Whiteaker,  W.  H :»8 

Whitehead,  Sylvester 440 

Whiteside,  J.  G 555 

Whiteside,  S.  D 371 

Whitnel,  Josiah,  M.  D .393 

Whittenberg,  Rev.  J.  S 289 

Whittenberg,  W.  P 396 

Wilhelra,  D.  F 548 

Wilkins,  Michael 485 

Williams,  G.B 407 

Williams,  J.  C 230 

Williams,  John .370 

Williams,  Robert 520 

Williams,  W.  L 496 

Williamson,  George 498 

Winders,  H.  M 369 

Windhorst,  Henry,  Jr 493 

Wise,  H.  H 24fi 

Wise.R.  H 338 

Woodside,  J.  P 268 

Wright,  J.  F 295 

Wyniore,  W.  S 507 


Yandell.M.  J 378 

Yost, H.I .' 427 

Young,  J.  B.,M.  I) 131 

Young,  J.  I).,M.  D 425 


IPOI^TI^^ITS. 


Adams,  John 22 

Adams,  John  Q :i8 

Alexander,  W 382 

Arthur,  Cliester  A 98 

Bean,  Thomas 310 

Bronson,  J.  E.,  M.  D 238 

Buchanan,  James 74 

Cleveland,  S.Grover 102 


Copland,  J.  S 34<; 

Fern,  A.  J 274 

Fillmore,  Millard i!S 

Gartleld,  James  A »l 

Gibfon,G.  E 1H6 

Grant,  U.  S i*fi 

Harrison,  Benjamin IOC 

Harrison,  W.  H 5<i 


Hayes,  R.B 9(1 

Jackson,  Andrew 42 

Jefferson,  Thomas 26 

Johnson,  Andrew 82 

Jones,  N.C ,364 

Kuykendall ,  J.  B 130 

Lincoln,  Abraham 78 

M.adison.  .James 30 


Monroe,  James 34 

Pierce,  A.  D US 

Pierce,  Franklin 70 

Polk.  J.  K 88 

Taylor,  Zachary 62 

Tyler,  John 54 

Van  Buren,  Martin 46 

Washington,  George 18 


Beaumau.I).  F 147 

Benson,  J.  M ...147 

Bradford,  Mrs.  Margaret. . .  .201 
Chrisman,  J.  M 183 


Cooley,  J.  C 327  Randolph,  l.oga 

Glasslord.S.  M 2.55  Scotl.  Theophilu 

Gore,  J.  P 2'.il  Slack,  James. . . 

Hilcman,  W.  R 291 


Smith.  J.  M 

Veatch,  Pleasant. 
Wpllinaii.H.  \V... 


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